Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1998 20:54:23 -0100 From: "G.Velema / M. Hilvers" <NOSPAMg.velemanopsamr.nl.net> Subject: Re: clutchless upshifts
William R. Dickson wrote: > > >SAABs up to +97 have a freewheel!! Clutchless shiftting, up or down, is > >as easy as automatic. > > How's this work? I'm planning to buy a 96, and the seller mentioned > freewheel shifting, but I'd never heard of it before... > > Thanks, > > -Bill > The freewheel is a remainder of the two stroke era. If you take your foot of the gas, a 2stroke engine does not get enough lubrication as the oil is mixed with the fuel. As in that case (when you take your foot off the gas - or going downhill) the engine is still driven by the wheels the pistons are likely to seize. The SAAB people (well, DKW actually) built the freewheel into the gearbox. The freewheel will disengage the engine from the gearbox as soon as the 'car is going faster than the engine'. It works with spring loaded rollers that lock inside a cylinder. So, it works like an automatic clutch; take your foot off the gas, the gearbox disengages from the engine, and you can shift up or down without depressing the clutch. However, if you want to stop the car you will either have to put it in neutral, or deprees the clutch anyway. This freewheel construction is not new. My 1938 Chrysler has exactly the same thing but here it is called an overdrive. -- MH ('78 95 '79 96)
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