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The most common driveline configurations in cars are the standard drive with front longitudinal engine and rear wheel drive and the front-transverse drive with east west installed powertrain as well as all-wheel drive variants derived from these. These driveline configurations are used in different vehicle segments. The transmission systems mainly used today are automatic transmissions with 4 or 5 speeds and manual transmissions with 4, 5 or 6 speeds. A small number of automated manual transmissions (AMT) and continuously variable transmissions (CVT) are in production. Various systems of automated manual transmissions, powershift transmissions designed as double clutch transmissions and toroidal transmissions are currently being developed. A brief explanation will be given about the structure of all different driveline configurations and the transmission systems will then be considered for specific applications in these different drivelines.

The CFT30 is a continuously variable automatic transmission with a chain driven variator. It will be used in the Ford 500, the Ford Freestyle and the Mercury Montego that go on sale in 2004. The CFT30 is the first CVT that uses a chain drive in a front-transverse installation combined with a torque converter for better launch performance. The transmission is capable of handling the 310 Nm engine torque of modern 6-cylinder engines. It employs fully electronic controls and achieves better performance and fuel economy results than today's 4-speed automatic transmissions and even newly developed 6-speeds in the same vehicle. Perfect shift-feel is increasing the driving comfort. The paper describes transmission system, design and main components. The contribution of the CFT30 specific design solutions to fuel economy, performance and comfort are explained. Most important test results of component and vehicle testing are shown.