Bruno, you actually have a very good point, you have an infinite set within a predefined range. In the case of Audi it goes from a max ratio of 2.4:1 to a max overdrive of 0.382:1 with a final drive of 5.39:1. Audi sets these into 8 virtual "gears" that range between that min and max. The range is comparable to…

I had an '81 Westy. It was slow, smelled funny, and had been party to more drug use than I care to think about. (None by me.) It was amazing, and the other VW people were amazing. Always a wave or peace sign from every passing airhead. Nothing but happiness and love in the Bus. I miss it so much. :)

Wow, good eyes. I can't believe that I looked at the same pictures you did and totally missed all of those very obvious flaws. :)

actually, no. I test drove a Fusion Hybrid about 3 years ago, but I honestly didn't notice the transmission. I was obsessively trying to keep the gas motor from running, and mostly failing.

oops. Said DSG, meant CVT. Sorry.

Those Allison T-56s are old friends. I had the privilege of flying the mighty P-3, same engine, just 4 of them.

I could never afford it now. I love driving it and am very lucky to be her current caretaker. I go by Ferry Porsche's maxim: the cars are to be driven. No garage queen here. :)

1969 911T (with a 2.2E motor)

Done some reading up on it... the Audis have had serious trouble with "multronic."

Wow, that's harsh. I just think it's awesome from an engineering perspective... I'd never buy one!

I lived in DC. The traffic there broke me. I finally bought my first automatic. (2010 Jetta TDI DSG, only autobox I could stand) Since then I've lived in Everett, WA and Monterey, CA. It's been all 5sp since leaving the hell that is Northern VA.

It's truly hilarious to watch James May try to park a Sensonic (automated manual, not dual clutch) in the Top Gear "worst car in the world" special.

For what it's worth- I heartily agreed with their choice. Ugliest car of all time. (and I won't post a spoiler)

Funny you say that... that's the one I hated too. (the Audi A4 CVT in a B7)

Difference being that a CVT is a good idea. The question was about ideas that sounded good, but actually sucked.... like key dingers. I hate those things.

I daily drive a dogleg 5sp. I doubt you could even find 1st on my car. I've used a clutch pedal since the day I learned to drive (in 1993.)

The key difference is that a good idea poorly executed can be fixed... a bad idea is always just that. The main problem with CVTs in the current day has nothing to do with them mechanically - they work great, it's all about how the computer controls them and what the consumer is demanding.

One of the worst I drove was…

You'll get no argument from me on that! Added weight and complication may help with ultimate handling, but they do fall down when it comes to repair frequency and cost. I respect what the new cars can do, but I wouldn't want to pay for the care and feeding.

Sadly, that wasn't specific to BMW... I had 2 Audis and 2 VWs that had similar awful cupholders. Pretty much every German car of the 90s and 2000s had some version of this awful joke.

I gotta fight you there: A CVT is a great idea that could be truly awesome if used right. Ideally something like a CVT would be amazing for most things - imagine if you will: you're getting on the freeway, you punch it, the engine goes immediately to it's max power setting and stays there, with the transmission…

He's absolutely correct about the H engine - as he said, it's two horizontally opposed engines stacked on top of each other - like an H8 made by stacking two WRX motors and adding a gearbox to combine the two cranks into one.

That Napier Sabre engine is one of my all time favorites. It also had a sleeve valve…