Japanese vehicle producer Suzuki has unveiled its refined hybrid version of automatic and manual transmissions to be used in its range of motor vehicles.

The Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) technology, which has been refined and renamed Auto Gear Shift (AGS), uses a proprietary electrohydraulic actuator to auto- matically operate the mechanical clutch and allow the automated up- and down-shifting of the five-speed gearbox.

The driver can either choose the fully auto- matic mode or a sequential self-shifting option, which will keep the selected gear and only downshift automatically if the AGS sensors detect too little power in the chosen gear.

In contrast to a fully automatic gearbox, the AGS system uses the same basic componentry as a manual gearbox, but without a driver-operated clutch, torque convertor or double clutch mechanism.

The Celerio 1.0 GL AMT is currently the only South African offering available with the AGS gearbox but Suzuki Auto South Africa sales and marketing divisional manager André Venter believes that the little Celerio remains one of Suzuki’s most fuel-efficient offerings with the lowest range of 4.6 ℓ for every 100 km.

“Apart from the obvious price and maintenance benefit, the Suzuki AGS is also the most fuel-efficient gearbox in the range,” he says, adding that its advantage is that the AGS gearbox makes the Celerio a fun, easy-to-drive and efficient car.

To avoid excessive fuel use in dense traffic and shuddering shifts, Suzuki has also included creep and parking algorithms into the actuator control unit. These allow the AGS gearbox to detect bumper-to-bumper traffic or ultraslow parking manoeuvres and adjust engine speed and power delivery accordingly.

The widely accoladed AGS transmission received the thirteenth Chairman’s Award from the Japan Society for the Promotion of the Machine Industry (JSPMI) for the breakthrough in the driveability and user friendliness of the technology.

“Receiving the JSPMI Chairman’s Award is a welcome recognition of our hard work in bringing automatic gearboxes within reach of our entry-level customers,” Venter concludes.