2013 Pagani Huayra [w/video]

Matt Davis — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, First Drives, Luxury

The Most Lovingly Built Exotic on Earth

It feels wrong to be asking this question after another inspiring visit to Pagani Automobili in San Cesario sul Panaro, Italy: Where on Earth do they get the money to do all this at such a high level? The answer to this question is most certainly really long and, I would like to believe, swathed in at least a little dark intrigue. I'm also certain that it's none of my damned business.

For some reason, I never seem to find myself asking the same question after visiting Koenigsegg on the southwest coast of Sweden or Morgan in westernmost England. Even though Christian von Koenigsegg's operation comes closest in kind to what Horacio Pagani is doing, the Swedes do it with a very different attitude, and up north there is always that sense of a close-to-the-bone shop pushing to build the next pair of amazing $1.5-million Agera supercars. As for Morgan, when I go there I am made so drunken by the artisanal works involved in building a $40,000 3-Wheeler that I just forget to even imagine anything as sobering as the company's finances.

Maybe my inquiring mind regarding Pagani is due to the fact that they plan on building 40 units of the Huayra each year starting on January 1, 2013. That's veritable mass production for the Italians, and they've sold over 3.5 years' worth already. This, for a model whose base version starts north of $1.2 million.

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2013 Pagani Huayra [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Xtrac develops cheaper gearbox that behaves like dual-clutch

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:05:00 EST

Filed under: Technology

Dual-clutch transmissions are the current Holy Grail when it comes to transferring underhood power to the wheels of the car. Nearly every automaker that does serious business around the world offers DCTs, and the ones that don't very likely soon will.

It's easy to understand the draw of the DCT: better performance and greater efficiency. But there are also problems. For instance, two clutch mechanisms mean (theoretically, of course) twice the potential repair costs, and DCTs are generally more expensive than either standard manual transmissions or conventional automatics with torque converters.

Xtrac, a company firmly entrenched in transmissions for racing applications, has developed a new technology called the Instantaneous Gearchange System, which uses a ratcheting mechanism to couple the gear hubs with the main shaft. The system has been under development for two years and has reportedly been put into race duty by multiple motorsports teams.

Apparently, the IGS technology will be less costly than other dual-clutch transmissions and could potentially be adopted by various global automakers. Hat tip to David!

[Source: Gizmag]

Report: Xtrac develops cheaper gearbox that behaves like dual-clutch originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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