05 March 2004
	SIDELINES A gearbox for all motors

Gearbox technology may be in for a revolution worldwide. Inventor Dr Jan Naude has developed a new product in a joint venture with industrial conglomerate Barloworld. The "continuously variable transmission" (CVT) gearbox is suitable for racing cars, trucks and buses; construction, mining, agricultural and military vehicles; and bicycles and machine tools. Though the concept of CVT is not new, the locally designed gearbox results in a more efficient and versatile drive train compared with conventional drive trains, providing greater efficiency for equivalent cost. Current CVT technologies in the automotive industry are all friction-based, using a special oil called traction fluid. Naude's design meets the need for an all-gear, nontraction fluid, nonhydraulic, continuously variable gearbox or transmission. A company trading as Barloworld CVT Technologies was launched to develop and sell this new technology to industry. GA