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In Europe there is considerable growth in the application of automated manual transmissions (AMT) predominantly for reasons of cost and CO2 efficiency. It is believed that restricted functionality and the poor shift quality of this “first wave” of manual-based transmissions may hinder this trend being repeated in markets dominated by conventional automatic transmissions (ATs) such as the USA. This paper addresses two areas: Results and analysis of measured and subjective data from a comprehensive, independent survey of six AMT vehicles available in Europe. Techniques to predict subjective ratings of shift quality from physical variables. Data is presented from a wider survey of current production “robotised” manual transmissions sold in the European market. This study included vehicles from B, C, and D/E classes and the light truck sector.

A driver's preference for one of two different vehicle models that have the same measurable acceleration may be explained by complicated factors such as styling, NVH or ergonomics. If the vehicles have identical appearance but different levels of engine tune, discrimination would probably be due to the measurable difference in performance although other factors cannot be entirely discounted. If however, the assessment is made of vehicles with identical appearance and identical performance then any preference is attributable to an area of human assessment that has been termed subjective performance. This paper discusses the first step in a qualitative approach to the analysis of driver perception of vehicle performance and more specifically investigates subjective performance. The proposed model ascribes distinct components such as induced and perceived performance to the total subjective performance rating.