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[simac]

hmmm, well, I think I must have missed something because I always thought that seamless changing gear boxes were against the rules ?

I thought that the gear change had to take at least 200 milliseconds, anything quicker would be considered to be seamless and thus illegal.

There are reports about the gear box which Williams intend to use, also other teams would plan to use a similar "seamless" box.

Maybe someone could shed some light on it for me ?

[Freddie]

I fully agree with you - that is also what I thought and I am just as interested in any explanations anybody could come up with

[simac]

I'll let you know if I find out anything !

[Stephen]

I'll let you know if I find out anything !

Please do, it was my understanding that these were banned!

[darwin dali]

It's a way to change gear without the engine electronics having to blip the throttle, so it's an instantaneous gearchange. Very similar in effect to the CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) gearboxes which were banned, but because this still uses gears (between 4-7 as per FIA regs) it's still a normal gearbox.

[Forza]

Yikes, nice explanation, but how do they actually do it?

[darwin dali]

Very, very carefully because if they get it wrong... After all, the laws of physics say you can't be in two different gears at the same time, you just can't.

[Marco]

Very, very carefully because if they get it wrong... After all, the laws of physics say you can't be in two different gears at the same time, you just can't.

How do you know all this, do you work in F1 or something?

[simac]

I think the likes of CVT gearboxes in road cars use belts ? instead of relying upon the mechanical movement of cogs ? the belts have a smooth transition between the gears.

However, I stand to be corrected !

[darwin dali]

Correct - CVT uses belts.