Cars Blog April Archive

• Vehicle clutches: There are many different vehicle clutch designs. Most are based on one or more friction discs, pressed tightly together or against a flywheel using springs. The friction material is like the material used in brake shoes and pads and contained asbestos in the past
• Clutches found in heavy duty applications such as trucks and competition cars use ceramic clutches that have a greatly increased friction coefficient. These have a grabby action and are unsuitable for road cars.
• While engaging the clutch, the engine speed may need to be increased from idle, using the manual throttle so that the engine does not stall
• Wet and dry clutches: A 'dry clutch', as the name implies, is not bathed in fluid that robs it of some energy. A 'wet clutch' is immersed in a cooling lubricating fluid, which also keeps the surfaces clean and gives smoother performance and longer life
• Clutch operation in automobiles: A manual transmission contains cogs for selecting gears. These cogs have matching teeth, called dog teeth, which means that the rotation speeds of the two parts have to match for engagement. This is achieved by a secondary clutch called a synchronizer, a device that uses frictional contact to bring the two parts to the same speed. A locking mechanism called a blocker ring prevents engagement of the teeth (full movement of the shift lever into gear) until the speeds are synchronized
• Cone Clutches: A cone clutch serves the same purpose as a disk or plate clutch. Instead of mating two spinning disks, the cone clutch uses two conical surfaces to transmit friction and torque. The cone clutch transfers a higher torque than plate or disk clutches of the same size due to the wedging action and increased surface area