Racecar Engineering Magazine had a brief article on Zeroshift several months ago. According to the article, it's the real deal. But, I was still skeptical, so I contacted the Magazine's editor. He understood my skepticism but assured me it was the real deal. Racecar Engineering will have a follow-up article, in great detail, in a future issue.
Hi
Revealing the technology to respected journalists like Charles Armstrong-Wilson (RCE) and Keith 'Mainframe' Howard (Autocar) was to corroborate our claims. Apart from that we've elected to conduct our business away from the media glare. We'll be handing over our TVR Cerbera soon and it features a few tricks that we've not talked about at all so far.
Confidentiality can breed conspiracy theories and provoke the BS flag but such things bother me a whole lot less than the commercial risk of spilling our guts to the curious.
fletcher The 2.0AT/1.6MT/1.4ZS point is an illustration of the fact that ZeroShift enables downsizing. These are the basic assumptions:
- 0-60mph is parity between a 1.6MT and a 2.0AT.
- A manual shift in a 'normal car' takes around 750ms.
- Two shifts to 60 gives the 1.4 ZS-equipped car a 1.5 second advantage over the 1.6MT.
- There is rarely as much as 1.5 seconds between a 1.4 and a 1.6 ergo 1.4ZS is faster.
- 1.4ZS is likely to be up to 40kg lighter than the 1.6MT and as much as 80kg lighter than the 2.0AT. This is based on a NEW ZS box, not a converted MT. Weight saving, and maintaining momentum through the shift in the ZS car will give it another edge.
Granted, it's a generalism but it's not dishonest. For 8.0 litre 900bhp+ motorists
, it probably passes you by anyway!
Vic is correct in his explanation of overdriving gears as the means by which a zero time ratio switch is achieved. Overdriving gears has proven precedents on the quarter mile. Trouble is, you can only go up the gears and can't lift in any gear but top. Going both ways and having no backlash is the basis of the major inventive step.
The patent information is a red herring. Inventor Bill Martin has been pursuing zero time/uninterrupted torque shifting since the mid-90s. That patent is an old design. You'll find more if you look. The actual patents of the current system are too young to be available on the online systems - there's over 20 of them. Randolph Toom, I think, picked the link to that old patent off a Stock Exchange thread in the UK.
Two more points worth answering: price and torque/power rating.
- Our 'target' price includes installation, warranty and UK tax (17.5%) - i.e. it's complete. Beware of apparently lower prices where other parts, labour and tax need to be added.
- We've received quite a few enquiries from Viper owners quoting some spectacular torque/power figures. A UK Viper owner with a hot motor has volunteered his car so we'll give it a go. I've no idea what, if anything, would break but beefing up gears so they don't lose teeth and stiffening the case is basic stuff. I see the wild Vipers as the means of discovering just how much punishment our product will stand. We will certainly rise to the challenge!
Finally, the bottom line is that we're car enthusiasts at ZeroShift. I'm not here to sell/argue/mislead. I love Vipers (pretty rare over here!) and appreciate the emails we receive - especially the photos!
Best wishes
P.
