Voith Turbo has announced its intention to supply to UK's midi bus market with a new automatic transmission.
The compact DIWA (differential torque converter) 823.3e – described by the company as "the perfect bus transmission" – claims to provide operators with reduced operating costs and further efficiencies, thanks to the use of several innovations.
Recent field trials in various European cities yielded fuel savings of up to 7% over conventional transmissions, and early results of trials in the UK are indicating similar performance gains.
David Holdsworth, who is responsible for the DIWA transmissions at Voith Turbo, says the company is working with Arriva on DB300 units and Stagecoach on 20 Enviro 400 buses to prove the technology.
Holdsworth adds that Voith has "more customers for the 823 [transmission], including an order for 40, placed in February and due to enter service in May this year".
Having tried to introduce a brand new transmission some years ago, the DIWA 823 carries around 90% of the parts of Voith's standard DIWA transmission, but has been re-engineered for the midi bus market.
Benefits cited include a long first gear, which eliminates the need for second and also aids ride comfort and performance. The technology comes from Voith's SensoTop, a topography-dependent gear shift program that reads the road, and is said to be able to match transmission power for all driving conditions.
