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115-486: The Lancia Beta (Type 828), stylised as Lancia β , was an entry-level luxury car produced by Italian car manufacturer Lancia from 1972 to 1984. It was the first new model introduced by Lancia after it had been taken over by Fiat in 1969. The Beta was made in several body styles, namely 4-door fastback saloon (Beta berlina), 4-door three-box , notchback saloon (Beta Trevi), 2-door coupé (Beta Coupé), 2-door targa (Beta Spider), 3-door estate (Beta HPE);

230-593: A Fiat -based engine. The Fiat Twin Cam engine , originally designed by Aurelio Lampredi , who built engines for Ferrari until Fiat employed him, was one of the most advanced 4-cylinder engines in Europe at that time. It continued in production well into the 1990s and, in highly developed form, was used in performance road cars such as the Lancia Delta Integrale and Fiat Coupé . The Lancia engineers made minor changes to

345-414: A countershaft (also called a layshaft ) and an output shaft . The input shaft is connected to the engine and spins at engine speed whenever the clutch is engaged. The countershaft has gears of various sizes, which are permanently meshed with the corresponding gear on the input shaft. The gears on the output shaft are also permanently meshed with a corresponding gear on the countershaft; however,

460-619: A mid-engined sports car was also sold under the Beta name, the Lancia Beta Montecarlo . The company chose the name Beta for a new vehicle to be launched in 1972, symbolising a new beginning as it reflected the fact that the company's founder, Vincenzo Lancia (1881–1937), had used letters of the Greek alphabet for his early vehicles – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on. "Beta" had been used before, first for Lancia's 1908 car and again for

575-566: A 'u' channel thus preventing dirt and water collecting and causing rust. Giovanni Michelotti produced three concept cars on Beta mechanicals. Two were four-door saloons based on the Berlina—one unusual in having four gull-wing doors —the other was a two-seater open-top car based on the Coupé. In 1980, Giorgetto Giugiaro built a concept car on Montecarlo mechanicals, called the Medusa . Unusually for

690-544: A 1.3L in early 1976. In 1978, the Beta Coupé became available with an automatic transmission and power steering. In 1981, the car received a minor facelift and at the same time the 2.0 became available with fuel Bosch electronic fuel injection. In 1983, a 2.0 VX supercharged engine became available with an output of 135 bhp. The bodywork was developed inhouse by Centro Stile Lancia led by Aldo Castagno, with Piero Castagnero acting as styling consultant. Castagnero had also styled

805-415: A 1953 bus. Lancia had previously used the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Alpha, but this was not chosen for the new 1972 Lancia due to the obvious confusion it might cause with Alfa Romeo models. When Fiat acquired Lancia in 1969, the company had been without a Technical Director for the year following the death of Technical Director Antonio Fessia . Ing. Sergio Camuffo was given the job of developing

920-450: A 6-year anti-corrosion warranty - an automotive first in the UK. Whilst later Betas (2nd Series cars) had reinforced subframe mounting points and post-1979 cars were better protected from the elements, these issues damaged the whole marque's sales success on most export markets. The revision to the crossmember was quite simple and meant turning it through 180 degrees forming an 'n' channel rather than

1035-689: A Lancia dealer for an inspection. If their vehicle was affected by the subframe problem, the customer was offered a part exchange deal to buy another Lancia or Fiat car. The cars that failed the inspection were scrapped. However, on 9 April 1980 the Daily Mirror and TV programmes reported on the issue. There were claims that the problem persisted in later cars by showing photographs of scrapped 1st Series saloons, referring to them as being newer than five and six years old. Other contemporary manufacturers whose cars also suffered from corrosion were not treated as harshly. Lancia had already introduced one year previously

1150-433: A centrally mounted cross member bolted to the underside of the floorpan. An anti-roll bar was fitted to the floorpan ahead of the rear struts with both ends of the bar trailing back to bolt to the rear struts on each side. This unique design went on to be used in later Lancia models. The design was never patented by Lancia, and consequently inspired similar rear suspension system layouts in other manufacturers' vehicles during

1265-675: A column shifter and more practical, as the gearbox was mounted in front of the engine. The linkage for the shifter could then be positioned on top of the engine. The disadvantage is that shifting is less comfortable and usually slower to operate. Newer small cars and MPVs , like the Suzuki MR Wagon , the Fiat Multipla , the Toyota Matrix , the Pontiac Vibe , the Chrysler RT platform cars,

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1380-417: A column shifter are the ability to switch between the two most commonly used gears—second and third—without letting go of the steering wheel, and the lack of interference with passenger seating space in vehicles equipped with a bench seat . Some smaller cars in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Citroën 2CV , Renault 4 and early Renault 5 feature a shifter in the dash panel. This was cheaper to manufacture than

1495-518: A column-mounted manual shifter. Outside North America, the column-mounted shifter remained in production. All Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric taxis in Hong Kong had the 4-speed column shift until 1999 when automatic transmissions were first offered. Since the late 1980s or early 1990s, a 5-speed column shifter has been offered in some vans sold in Asia and Europe, such as Toyota Hiace , Mitsubishi L400 and

1610-568: A fuel injected 2.0 engine. In 1984 a 2.0VX supercharged version became available. Like all other cars in the Beta range the HPE was discontinued in 1984. The final car to carry the Beta badge was the Pininfarina-designed and built two-door Lancia Montecarlo , announced in March 1974. This was a rear-wheel drive, mid-engined two-seater sports car that shared very few components with other Betas. The car

1725-411: A gear while the transmission requires the driver to adjust the throttle so that the transmission is not under load, and selecting a gear requires the engine RPM to be at the exact speed that matches the road speed for the gear being selected). Most motor vehicles use a pedal to operate the clutch; except for motorcycles, which usually have a clutch lever on the left handlebar . In most vehicles with

1840-425: A gearshift without fully disengaging the clutch). Larger differences in speed between the input shaft and the gear require higher friction forces from the synchromesh components, potentially increasing their wear rate. Even in modern transmissions where all of the forward gears are in a constant-mesh configuration, often the reverse gear uses the older sliding-mesh ("crash box") configuration. This means that moving

1955-549: A hiatus and did not bring any 1980 models. When returning in 1981, the Berlina was dropped as they focussed on the more popular sporting variants. Fuel injection increased the 2.0's power considerably, to about 108 hp (81 kW) (the published numbers vary considerably). 1982 was the last year for Lancia's half-hearted efforts in the United States. The Beta was available in a number of different body styles: Introduced in 1972,

2070-561: A little while longer than the other bodystyles. Late in the model's life Lancia released the Trevi VX, with a Roots-type supercharger fitted between the carburettor and low-compression two-litre engine; the Coupé VX and HPE VX followed soon after (June 1983). These three variants were known as Volumex models and had the highest performance of all the road-going production Betas, with 135 bhp (101 kW) and substantially increased torque over

2185-451: A manual transmission is an automatic transmission . Common types of automatic transmissions are the hydraulic automatic transmission (AT) and the continuously variable transmission (CVT). The automated manual transmission (AMT) and dual-clutch transmission (DCT) are internally similar to a conventional manual transmission, but are shifted automatically. Alternatively, there are semi-automatic transmissions . These systems are based on

2300-421: A manual transmission, the driver selects gears by manipulating a lever called a gear stick (also called a gearshift , gear lever or shifter ). In most automobiles, the gear stick is located on the floor between the driver and front passenger, but some cars have a gear stick that is mounted to the steering column or center console. The movement of the gear stick is transferred (via solid linkages or cables) to

2415-400: A mechanism is needed to stop the input shaft, such as using the synchronizer rings for fifth gear. However, some vehicles do employ a synchromesh system for the reverse gear, thus preventing possible crunching if reverse gear is selected while the input shaft is still spinning. Most transmissions include a lockout mechanism to prevent reverse gear from being accidentally selected while the car

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2530-428: A mid-engined car it had four doors, and the body was shaped to have a very low drag coefficient for the time. Lancia built one very special variant of the Beta themselves. The twin-engined Trevi Bimotore was used for tests related to Lancia's new four-wheel drive rally cars; it was powered by one Volumex engine under the bonnet driving the front wheels, and another in the back driving the rear wheels, with air scoops in

2645-538: A number of engine capacities ranging from 1.3 litre to 2.0 litre. Breathing was provided by a single Weber carburettor until fuel injection was introduced on late two litre HPE and Coupe models. As with a number of previous front-wheel drive-Lancia models, the engine and gearbox were mounted on a subframe that bolted to the underside of the body. However, in the Beta the engine and manual gearbox were fitted transversely in-line. This Fiat-inspired configuration not only enabled neat engine bay packaging, but also, by tilting

2760-416: A stream of unbound energetic electrons is commonly referred to as beta radiation or beta rays . Decays producing electrons or their antiparticles are called beta decays . In regression analysis , ⟨B⟩ symbolizes nonstandardized partial slope coefficients, whereas ⟨β⟩ represents standardized (standard deviation-score form) coefficients ; in both cases, the coefficients reflect

2875-441: A switch or pressing a button on the gearshift knob or on the steering column, or automatically by momentarily lifting the foot from the accelerator with the vehicle traveling above a certain road speed. Automatic overdrives were disengaged by flooring the accelerator, and a lockout control was provided to enable the driver to disable overdrive and operate the transmission as a normal (non-overdrive) transmission. The term 'overdrive'

2990-484: A synchromesh and teeth on each side in order to lock either gear to the shaft. Unlike some other types of clutches (such as the foot-operated clutch of a manual-transmission car), a dog clutch provides non-slip coupling and is not suited to intentional slipping. In order to provide smooth gearshifts without requiring the driver to manually match the engine revs for each gearshift, most modern passenger car transmissions use 'synchromesh' (also called 'synchronizer rings') on

3105-669: A technical inspection. It was not just the Series 1 cars or saloons - according to an employee of the recycling firm that disposed of the Betas, the Series 2, HPE, Coupe and Spider models were all affected and by late 1983, the scrap dealer Hallett metals in Crewkerne, Somerset had crushed the last of the affected cars. In fact, by 1983 Series 2 cars outnumbered Series 1 models by a large percentage. Deliveries to Hallett Metals were handled mainly by transport company Abbey Hill. Before being crushed (flattened),

3220-609: A third time for engine installation and final assembly. Lancia probably lost money on every car built. Number built: 9,390. In the early 1980s Lancia also produced a small number of Lancia Spider Volumex (supercharged) cars. This was the last Lancia to be offered in the United States, being the company's sole offering in 1982, their last year in the country. The Beta HPE was a three-door sporting estate or shooting brake introduced in March 1975. HPE stood for High Performance Estate, and then later High Performance Executive. This model had Berlina's longer wheelbase floorpan combined with

3335-411: A three-speed manual transmission. This transmission, along with many similar designs that it inspired, was a non-synchronous (also called sliding-mesh ) design where gear changes involved sliding the gears along their shafts so that the desired cogs became meshed. The driver was therefore required to use careful timing and throttle manipulation when shifting, so the gears would be spinning at roughly

3450-602: A transmission unit then being developed by Fiat-partner Citroën for a forthcoming model of their own. Above all, and in contrast with the Fulvia , the Beta design was relatively inexpensive to produce in volumes significantly higher than those achieved by predecessor Lancia saloons. All versions of the car came with DOHC engines, five-speed gearboxes, rack and pinion steering , fully independent suspension using MacPherson struts , both front and rear, with disc brakes on all four wheels. The front-wheel-drive models were available in

3565-596: Is a slang term for men derived from the designation for beta animals in ethology, along with its counterpart, alpha male. The term has been used as a pejorative self-identifier among members of manosphere communities, particularly incels , who do not believe they are assertive or traditionally masculine , and feel overlooked by women. It is also used to negatively describe other men who are not assertive, particularly in heterosexual relationships. In statistics, beta may represent type II error , or regression slope. In some high-quality typesetting, especially in

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3680-429: Is also used to describe a gear with a ratio of less than one (e.g., if the top gear of the transmission has a ratio of 0.8:1). Vehicles with a manual transmission can often be push started when the starter motor is not operational, such as when the car has a dead battery or when the starter motor itself has malfunctioned and is unable to deliver sufficient rotational energy to turn the engine over. When push-starting,

3795-427: Is connected via a pinion gear at the end of the counter/output shaft. In a modern constant-mesh manual transmission, the gear teeth are permanently in contact with each other, and dog clutches (sometimes called dog teeth ) are used to select the gear ratio for the transmission. When the dog clutches for all gears are disengaged (i.e. when the transmission is in neutral), all of the gears are able to spin freely around

3910-445: Is moving forwards. This can take the form of a collar underneath the gear knob which needs to be lifted or requiring extra force to push the gearshift lever into the plane of reverse gear. Another design of transmission that is used in older cars , trucks , and tractors , is a non-synchronous transmission (also known as a crash gearbox). Non-synchronous transmissions use a sliding-mesh (or constant-mesh, in later years) design and have

4025-746: Is not considered a manual transmission. Some automatic transmissions are based on the mechanical build and internal design of a manual transmission but have added components (such as computer -controlled actuators and sensors ) which automatically control the timing and speed of the gear shifts and clutch; this design is typically called an automated manual transmission (or sometimes a clutchless manual transmission ). Contemporary manual transmissions for cars typically use five or six forward gears ratios and one reverse gear, however, transmissions with between two and seven gears have been produced at times. Transmissions for trucks and other heavy equipment often have between eight and twenty-five gears, in order to keep

4140-404: Is used to reverse the direction in which the output shaft rotates. In many transmissions, the input and output shafts can be directly locked together (bypassing the countershaft) to create a 1:1 gear ratio which is referred to as direct-drive . In a transmission for longitudinal engined vehicles (e.g. most rear-wheel-drive cars), it is common for the input shaft and output shaft to be located on

4255-575: The Fiat 128 MacPherson strut front suspension and disk brakes at both front and rear. Lancia Beta parts were limited to those from the existing Fiat/Lancia standard parts bin: the transverse-mount version of the Fiat 124's twin cam engine and the five-speed gearbox and transaxle. Montecarlos were available as fixed head "Coupés" and also as "Spiders" with solid A and B pillars, but a large flat folding canvas roof between them. The very first examples had steel panels to

4370-410: The Fiat 132 . The Beta was very well received by the motoring press and public when launched. The various models were praised for their performance and their good handling and roadholding. They were widely regarded as a "driver's car" with plenty of character. The Beta was competitively priced in export markets and managed to become the highest ever selling Lancia model up to that point. Unfortunately

4485-647: The Honda Element , the Honda Civic , the Daihatsu Sigra , and the Honda Avancier , may feature a manual or automatic transmission gear shifter located on the vehicle's instrument panel, similar to the mid-1950s Chryslers and Powerglide Corvairs . Console-mounted shifters are similar to floor-mounted gear shifters in that most of the ones used in modern vehicles operate on a horizontal plane and can be mounted to

4600-427: The splines on the shaft, forcing that shaft to rotate at the same speed as the gear hub. However, the clutch can move back and forth on the shaft, to either engage or disengage the splines. This movement is controlled by a selector fork that is linked to the gear lever. The fork does not rotate, so it is attached to a collar bearing on the selector. The selector is typically symmetric: it slides between two gears and has

4715-415: The stereo system or HVAC system , to help prevent accidental activation or driver confusion. More and more small cars and vans from manufacturers such as Suzuki , Honda , and Volkswagen are featuring console shifters in that they free up space on the floor for other features such as storage compartments without requiring that the gear shift be mounted on the steering column. Also, the basic location of

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4830-561: The 1.8ES version was launched featuring electric windows , alloy wheels and sunroof . At the Turin Auto Show in November 1974 a 1300 engine joined the range at the bottom, then in the fall of 1975 the existing 1600 and 1800 engines were replaced by new 1600 and 2000 units. The 2.0 litre units had improved torque (up 20% to 128 lb ft at 2800 rpm). In the same year Lancia returned to the US market with

4945-471: The 1948 Ferrari 166 Inter and the 1953 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint . Five-speed transmissions became widespread during the 1980s, as did the use of synchromesh on all forward gears. Six-speed manual transmissions started to emerge in high-performance vehicles in the early 1990s, such as the 1990 BMW 850i and the 1992 Ferrari 456 . The first 6-speed manual transmission was introduced in the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale . The first 7-speed manual transmission

5060-409: The 1979 model year, a two-litre engine was installed, with power up somewhat, to 87 hp (65 kW). More importantly, torque was up by 17 per cent. A black and gold Zagato Limited Edition (LE) of 500 cars was offered for 1979, followed by a Special Edition (SE) of similar livery for 1981. Quality problems meant that US inspectors went to visit the plant to see what could be improved, but Lancia took

5175-642: The 1980s and 1990s. A short wheelbase coupé was introduced in June 1973, then the following year the 2+2 Spider convertible. At the 1975 Geneva Motor Show Lancia launched the HPE (High Performance Estate), styled in a similar vein to the Reliant Scimitar and Volvo 1800ES while utilizing the wheelbase of the Berlina. Later the Beta Montecarlo, a two-seater mid-engined coupé was launched. The different models all underwent various revisions and improvements over

5290-483: The Beta gained a reputation for being rust-prone, particularly the 1st Series vehicles (built from 1972 to 1975). A widely circulated rumor states that the cars used Soviet steel supplied to Fiat in return for building the Lada factory. However, these claims have never been verified. The steel problems are more likely due to poor rustproofing techniques as well as the prolonged strikes that plagued Italy at that time rather than

5405-613: The Beta's predecessor, the Lancia Fulvia saloon and coupé. Number built: 111,801. This was one of the bodystyles to be marketed in North America. The 2.0L twin-cam I4 offered in North America produced 108 hp (81 kW; 109 PS) at 5500 rpm. The next version to be launched was a two-door convertible called the Spider (or Zagato in America), also with 2+2 seating. The Spider used

5520-505: The Beta. Automatic versions were introduced in 1978. In 1981 the 2.0 became available with electronic fuel injection. Berlina production ended in 1981. Late in the Beta's life, with assistance from Pininfarina , a substantially reworked 4-door three-box , notchback saloon variant was released as the Trevi ; the Trevi also introduced an original new dashboard layout designed by Mario Bellini which

5635-792: The French tradition, a typographic variant of the lowercase letter without a descender is used within a word for ancient Greek : βίβλος is printed βίϐλος . In typesetting technical literature, it is a commonly made mistake to use the German letter ß (a s–z or s–s ligature) as a replacement for β. The two letters resemble each other in some fonts, but they are unrelated. "Beta" can be used to refer to several consumer and professional videotape formats developed by Japan's Sony Corporation . Although similarly named, they are very different in function and obsolescence. These characters are used only as mathematical symbols. Stylized Greek text should be encoded using

5750-776: The Trevi were on offer at one time or another, although some were sold under different names: the Spider was sold as the Lancia Zagato (from 1979) and the Montecarlo as the Lancia Scorpion (because Chevrolet already had rights to the Monte Carlo model name in the US). Federalized cars were originally sold with a 1756 cc twin-cam engine with 86 hp (64 kW). This later dropped to 83 hp (62 kW) as emissions rules were tightened. For

5865-467: The U.S. and Canada had a 3-speed column-mounted shifter—the first generation Chevrolet/GMC vans of 1964–70 vintage had an ultra-rare 4-speed column shifter. The column-mounted manual shifter disappeared in North America by the mid-1980s, last appearing in the 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck . Prior to 1980, the GM X platform compacts (Chevrolet Nova and its rebadged corporate clones) were the final passenger cars to have

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5980-459: The UK, however the car was also sold in some other RHD markets so exact RHD production remains unknown). Only one right-hand drive Trevi VX was made. A small number of Trevis were built to run on LPG rather than petrol (gasoline) . This car marked a brief return of Lancia to the United States market beginning in 1975. Federalization was not quite harmonious, though, which combined with a lack of dealers to dissuade US buyers. All bodystyles except

6095-460: The angle between the orbit plane of a spacecraft or other body and the vector from the sun. β is sometimes used to mean the proton-to-electron mass ratio . The uppercase letter beta is not generally used as a symbol because it tends to be rendered identically to the uppercase Latin B . The term " beta " refers to advice on how to successfully complete a particular climbing route, boulder problem, or crux sequence. Beta male , or simply beta ,

6210-407: The cars. Lancia's lack of profitability was also evidenced by the absence of replacement models under development at the time of the Fiat take-over. The Lancia Fulvia , though much loved, had been developed with little concern for making it cost-effective to manufacture; it had therefore been sold at a high price in correspondingly low volumes. The company's new owner's objective with the new Beta

6325-473: The change in the criterion Y per one-unit change in the value of the associated predictor X. β is also used in biology, for instance in β-Carotene , a primary source of provitamin A , or the β cells in pancreatic islets , which produce insulin . β is sometimes used as a placeholder for an ordinal number if α is already used. For example, the two roots of a quadratic equation are typically labelled α and β . In spaceflight, beta angle describes

6440-484: The collar from bridging the locking rings while the speeds are still being synchronized. This is achieved through 'blocker rings' (also called 'baulk rings'). The synchro ring rotates slightly because of the frictional torque from the cone clutch. In this position, the dog clutch is prevented from engaging. Once the speeds are synchronized, friction on the blocker ring is relieved and the blocker ring twists slightly, bringing into alignment certain grooves or notches that allow

6555-527: The company's recently acquired Pamplona plant , though only the Coupé and HPE lift-back versions were included. The arrangement was short lived from 1979 up to 1980 because of a falling out in the early 1980s between Fiat , Lancia's parent company, and the Spanish government over the increasingly urgent need for investment to upgrade the SEAT range. In 1982 Volkswagen became SEAT's major auto-industry partner, and under

6670-463: The cone-shaped sleeve on the dog collar so that the friction forces can reduce the difference in rotational speeds. Once these speeds are equalized, the dog clutch can engage, and thus the new gear is now in use. In a modern gearbox, the action of all of these components is so smooth and fast it is hardly noticed. Many transmissions do not include synchromesh on the reverse gear (see Reverse gear section below). The synchromesh system must also prevent

6785-459: The coupé's front end and doors. The HPE was developed by Pininfarina . At launch it came with either 1600 or 1800 twin-cam engines, these being replaced in November of the same year by new 1.6 and 2.0 units. In 1978, like other Beta models automatic transmission became available along with power steering. It was renamed the H.P.Executive (without the Beta) from 1979 and in autumn 1981 gained the option of

6900-417: The coupé's shorter wheelbase and featured a targa top roof panel, a roll-over bar and folding rear roof. Early models did not have a cross-member supporting the roof between the tops of the A to B Pillars. Later models had fixed cross-members. Production started in 1975. It was initially powered by either the 1600 or 1800 twin-cam engine, later being replaced by the new 1.6 and 2.0. In Europe, it never received

7015-417: The design of, and are technically similar to, a conventional manual transmission. They have a gear shifter which requires the driver's input to manually change gears, but the driver is not required to engage a clutch pedal before changing gear. Instead, the mechanical linkage for the clutch pedal is replaced by an actuator , servo , or solenoid and sensors , which operate the clutch system automatically when

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7130-438: The dog clutch to fall into the engagement. Common metals for synchronizer rings are brass and steel , and are produced either by forging or sheet metal shaping. The latter involves stamping the piece out of a sheet metal strip and then machining to obtain the exact shape required. The rings are sometimes coated with anti-wear linings (also called 'friction linings') made from molybdenum , iron , bronze or carbon (with

7245-427: The dog clutches require the input shaft speed to match that of the gear being selected; otherwise, the dog teeth will fail to engage and a loud grinding sound will be heard as they clatter together. Therefore, to speed up or slow down the input shaft as required, cone-shaped brass synchronizer rings are attached to each gear. When the driver moves the gearshift lever towards the next gear, these synchronizer rings press on

7360-417: The driver to select the next-higher or next-lower gear. In a vehicle with a manual transmission, the flywheel is attached to the engine's crankshaft , therefore rotating at engine speed. A clutch disc sits between the flywheel and the transmission pressure plate which is attached to the transmission input shaft, controlling whether the transmission is connected to the engine or not. The clutch pedal controls

7475-631: The driver touches or moves the gearshift . This removes the need for a physical clutch pedal. A manual transmission requires the driver to operate the gear stick and clutch in order to change gears (unlike an automatic transmission or semi-automatic transmission , where one (typically the clutch) or both of these functions are automated ). Most manual transmissions for cars allow the driver to select any gear ratio at any time, for example shifting from second to fourth gear, or fifth to third gear. However, sequential manual transmissions , which are commonly used in motorcycles and racing cars , only allow

7590-413: The early 1950s, most cars only had synchromesh for the shift from third gear to second gear (drivers' manuals in vehicles suggested that if the driver needed to shift from second to first, it was best to come to a complete stop beforehand). Up until the late 1970s, most transmissions had three or four forward gear ratios, although five-speed manual transmissions were occasionally used in sports cars such as

7705-407: The energy generated by the wheels moving on the road is transferred to the driveshaft, then the transmission, and eventually the crankshaft. When the crankshaft spins as a result of the energy generated by the rolling of the vehicle, the motor is cranked over. This simulates what the starter is intended for and operates in a similar way to crank handles on very old cars from the early 20th century, with

7820-532: The engine 20 degrees rearwards, the Lancia engineers achieved improved weight transfer over the driven wheels and towards the centre of the car, as well as lowering the centre of gravity . The rear-wheel drive Lancia Montecarlo employed a similar layout except the subframe was mounted at the rear. On the front-wheel drive Betas, Lancia designed a particularly original independent rear suspension with MacPherson struts attached to parallel transverse links that pivoted on

7935-471: The engine and gearboxes would be removed and placed in a separate container and no parts were to be removed or resold to the public. In the UK (Lancia's largest export market at the time), the company listened to the complaints from its dealers and customers and commenced a campaign to buy back vehicles affected by the subframe problem. Some of these vehicles were 6 years old or older and belonged to 2nd or 3rd owners. Customers were invited to present their cars to

8050-456: The engine speed within the optimal power band for all typical road speeds. Operating such transmissions often uses the same pattern of shifter movement with a single or multiple switches to engage the next sequence of gears. Many of the first automobiles were rear-engined, with a simple belt-drive functioning as a single-speed transmission. The 1891 Panhard et Levassor is considered a significant advance in automotive transmissions since it used

8165-418: The engines fitted to the Beta range. These included new inlet and exhaust manifolds as well as different carburation. In addition the mounting points on the engine block were different so as to allow for the transverse installation as opposed to the longitudinal installation utilised by the rear-wheel-drive Fiats. For these reasons the engines are not interchangeable between Betas and contemporary Fiats such as

8280-399: The fifth selector on the main shaft. This means that when the vehicle is stopped and idling in neutral with the clutch engaged and the input shaft spinning, the third-, fourth-, and fifth-gear pairs do not rotate. When neutral is selected, none of the gears on the output shaft are locked to the shaft, allowing the input and output shafts to rotate independently. For reverse gear, an idler gear

8395-559: The first body style to appear, and the most common was the four-door berlina ( saloon ), with a wheelbase of 2,535 mm (99.8 in) and ' fastback ' styling giving the appearance of a hatchback , although in fact it had a conventional boot like a saloon . This practice was common in the industry at the time as manufacturers deemed that hatchback designs would not be accepted in this market sector. It featured 1400, 1600 and 1800 transversely mounted twin-cam engines based on earlier Fiat designs along with five speed gearbox. In 1974

8510-521: The first-gen Fiat Ducato . Many European cars had manual column shifts and the Renault 16TX had a 5 speed. Column shifters are mechanically similar to floor shifters, although shifting occurs in a vertical plane instead of a horizontal one. Because the shifter is further away from the transmission, and the movements at the shifter and at the transmission are in different planes, column shifters require more complicated linkage than floor shifters. Advantages of

8625-442: The forces required or provide a faster shift time . The first car to use a manual transmission with synchromesh was the 1929 Cadillac . Most North American marques had adopted synchronized manual transmissions, usually for second and high gears, by the mid-1930s. In 1947, Porsche patented the split ring synchromesh system. The 1952 Porsche 356 was the first car to use a transmission with synchromesh on all forward gears. In

8740-401: The forward gears. These devices automatically match the speed of the input shaft with that of the gear being selected, thus removing the need for the driver to use techniques such as double-clutching . The synchromesh transmission was invented in 1919 by Earl Avery Thompson and first used on production cars by Cadillac in 1928. The need for synchromesh in a constant-mesh transmission is that

8855-418: The front-wheel-drive transaxle's ring gear. This allows for a narrower transmission since the length of each countershaft is halved compared with one that contains four gears and two shifters. The fixed and free gears can be mounted on either the input or output shaft or both. For example, a five-speed transmission might have the first-to-second selectors on the countershaft, but the third-to-fourth selector and

8970-412: The fuel injected engine, although a fuel injected version was sold in the US market in 1981 and 1982. The Spider was designed by Pininfarina but actually built by Zagato . The construction process was complex, with coupé bodies-in-white being delivered to Zagato for the roofless conversion, then back to Lancia for rust-proofing, then back to Zagato for paint, interior and trim, and then back to Lancia for

9085-437: The gear shift in comparison to the column shifter makes console shifters easier to operate than column shifters. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, fuel-efficient highway cruising with low engine speed was in some cases enabled on vehicles equipped with 3- or 4-speed transmissions by means of a separate overdrive unit in or behind the rear housing of the transmission. This was actuated either manually while in high gear by throwing

9200-449: The gears by operating a gear stick and clutch (which is usually a foot pedal for cars or a hand lever for motorcycles). Early automobiles used sliding-mesh manual transmissions with up to three forward gear ratios. Since the 1950s, constant-mesh manual transmissions have become increasingly commonplace, and the number of forward ratios has increased to 5-speed and 6-speed manual transmissions for current vehicles. The alternative to

9315-410: The gearshift lever into reverse results in gears moving to mesh together. Another unique aspect of the reverse gear is that it consists of two gears—an idler gear on the countershaft and another gear on the output shaft—and both of these are directly fixed to the shaft (i.e. they are always rotating at the same speed as the shaft). These gears are usually spur gears with straight-cut teeth which—unlike

9430-410: The helical teeth used for forward gear—results in a whining sound as the vehicle moves in reverse. When reverse gear is selected, the idler gear is physically moved to mesh with the corresponding gears on the input and output shafts. To avoid grinding as the gears begin to the mesh, they need to be stationary. Since the input shaft is often still spinning due to momentum (even after the car has stopped),

9545-645: The late 1930s and became common during the 1940s and 1950s. If a U.S. vehicle was equipped with overdrive , it was very likely to be a Borg-Warner type, operated by briefly backing off the accelerator pedal when above 28 mph (45 km/h) to enable, and momentarily flooring the same pedal to return to normal gear. The control simply disables overdrive for such situations as parking on a hill or preventing unwanted shifting into overdrive. [REDACTED] Later, European and Japanese models began to have 4-speed column shifters with this shift pattern: [REDACTED] A majority of North American-spec vehicles sold in

9660-399: The latter usually reserved for high-performance transmissions due to their high cost). Mechanical wear of the synchronizer rings and sleeves can cause the synchromesh system to become ineffective over time. These rings and sleeves have to overcome the momentum of the entire input shaft and clutch disk during each gearshift (and also the momentum and power of the engine, if the driver attempts

9775-408: The metal's origin. The corrosion problems could be structural; for instance where the subframe carrying the engine and gearbox was bolted to the underside of the car. The box section to which the rear of the subframe was mounted could corrode badly, causing the subframe to become loose. Although tales of subframes dropping out of vehicles were simply not true, a vehicle with a loose subframe would fail

9890-403: The name Monte Carlo for a Chevrolet model. The Scorpion name was a reference to Abarth . 7,798 Montecarlos were built between 1975-81. For some the Beta was not a Lancia but rather a Fiat. However Lancia had some autonomy from Fiat in the development of the Beta. The main reason for the Fiat label was that despite its unique Lancia chassis, suspension, interior and bodywork, the Beta used

10005-784: The name was βῆτα bêta , pronounced [bɛ̂ːta] in Ancient Greek. It is spelled βήτα in modern monotonic orthography and pronounced [ˈvita] . The letter beta was derived from the Phoenician letter beth [REDACTED] . The letter Β had the largest number of highly divergent local forms. Besides the standard form (either rounded or pointed, [REDACTED] ), there were forms as varied as [REDACTED] ( Gortyn ), [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] ( Thera ), [REDACTED] ( Argos ), [REDACTED] ( Melos ), [REDACTED] ( Corinth ), [REDACTED] ( Megara , Byzantium ), and [REDACTED] ( Cyclades ). In

10120-430: The new model in early 1970. Although in the difficult years before the Fiat take-over, a number of the engineering staff had left the company, Camuffo was able to pull together a core of Lancia engineers, who were tasked with getting the car into production by the end of 1972. Romanini, chassis design, Zaccone Mina, engine development, with Gilio and Bencini in testing. This was a very short timeframe, and development money

10235-544: The new regime the plant that had assembled the Lancia Beta, SEAT Panda and SEAT 124 switched to building the Volkswagen Polo . Beta Like the names of most other Greek letters, the name of beta was adopted from the acrophonic name of the corresponding letter in Phoenician , which was the common Semitic word * bayt ('house', compare Arabic : بيت bayt and Hebrew : בית báyit ). In Greek,

10350-462: The nickname "crash" because the difficulty in changing gears can lead to gear shifts accompanied by crashing/crunching noises. Vehicles with manual transmissions use a clutch to manage the linkage between the engine and the transmission, and decouple the transmission from the engine during gearshifts and when the vehicle is stationary. Without a clutch, the engine would stall any time the vehicle stopped, and changing gears would be difficult (deselecting

10465-565: The normal Greek letters, with markup and formatting to indicate text style: Manual gearbox A manual transmission ( MT ), also known as manual gearbox , standard transmission (in Canada , the United Kingdom and the United States ), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system where gear changes require the driver to manually select

10580-465: The normal two-litre 200 N⋅m (148 lb⋅ft). The Coupé VX and HPE VX can be distinguished from the normal cars by the offset bulge on the hood which is required to clear the new air intake, a spoiler fitted below the front bumper and the rubber rear spoiler. They also have stiffer spring rates. Lancia produced 1272 Coupé VX, 2370 HPE VX and 3900 Trevi VX. Most were left-hand drive (only 186 right-hand drive HPEs and around 150 RHD Coupés were imported to

10695-406: The other shaft, with a bearing located between the two shafts. In a transmission for transverse engined vehicles (e.g., front-wheel-drive cars), there are usually only two shafts: input and countershaft (sometimes called input and output). The input shaft runs the whole length of the gearbox, and there is no separate input pinion. These transmissions also have an integral differential unit, which

10810-485: The output shaft gears are able to rotate independently of the output shaft itself (through the use of bearings located between the gears and the shaft). Through the use of collars (operated using the shift rods ), the speed of the output shaft becomes temporarily locked to the speed of the selected gear. Some transmission designs—such as in the Volvo 850 and S70—have two countershafts, both driving an output pinion meshing with

10925-401: The output shaft inside the transmission. This is a fundamental difference compared with a typical hydraulic automatic transmission , which uses an epicyclic (planetary) design, and a hydraulic torque converter . An automatic transmission that allows the driver to control the gear selection (such as shift paddles or "+/-" positions on the gear selector) is called a manumatic transmission, and

11040-424: The output shaft. When the driver selects a gear, the dog clutch for that gear is engaged (via the gear selector rods), locking the transmission's output shaft to a particular gear set. This means the output shaft rotates at the same speed as the selected gear, thus determining the gear ratio of the transmission. The dog clutch is a sliding selector mechanism that sits around the output shaft. It has teeth to fit into

11155-525: The portfolio's value tends to change by 1.5%. In the International Phonetic Alphabet , Greek minuscule beta denotes a voiced bilabial fricative [β] . A superscript version may also indicate a compressed vowel , like [ɯᵝ] . Beta has twice been used to name an Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone : Beta is often used to denote a variable in mathematics and physics, where it often has specific meanings for certain applications. In physics

11270-444: The pressure plate ( clutch engaged – the clutch pedal is not being pressed) or not connected to the engine ( clutch disengaged – the clutch pedal is being pressed down). When the engine is running and the clutch is engaged (i.e., clutch pedal up), the flywheel spins the clutch pressure plate and hence the transmission. The design of most manual transmissions for cars is that gear ratios are selected by locking selected gear pairs to

11385-470: The rear doors. The two gearboxes were linked, and an electronically controlled throttle replaced the mechanical system so the two engines worked together. There are few records of Lancias ever being assembled outside Italy but, exceptionally, Betas were. It was announced in August 1976 that SEAT would commence Spanish production of the Lancia Beta. Three years later Beta production by SEAT indeed commenced at

11500-494: The rear wings above the engine bay, but this limited version made reversing difficult and it was replaced by glass panels. This gave a flying buttress appearance to the rear, similar to the Maserati Merak . First Series cars (1975–1978) were badged Lancia Beta Montecarlo. They were named "Montecarlo", written as one word, not Monte Carlo , one of Monaco 's administrative areas, although the rear badge reads "MONTE-CARLO". There

11615-401: The same axis, since this reduces the torsional forces to which the transmission casing must withstand. The assembly consisting of both the input and output shafts is referred to as the main shaft (although sometimes this term refers to just the input shaft or output shaft). Independent rotation of the input and output shafts is made possible by one shaft being located inside the hollow bore of

11730-441: The same speed when engaged; otherwise, the teeth would refuse to mesh. This was difficult to achieve, so gear changes were often accompanied by grinding or crunching sounds, resulting in the gearboxes being nicknamed "crash boxes". Even after passenger cars had switched to synchronous transmissions (i.e. with synchronizers), many transmissions for heavy trucks, motorcycles and racing cars remained non-synchronous, in order to withstand

11845-494: The same year; the Beta was the first Lancia manufactured with an automatic transmission factory option. In 1981 power steering also became available on certain Right Hand Drive models. Also in that year a fuel-injected version of the 2.0-litre engine became available on certain models. The Coupé and HPE underwent a facelift in June 1983 (at the same time that the supercharged VX versions were introduced) and remained available for

11960-422: The selector forks within the transmission. Motorcycles typically employ sequential manual transmissions , although the shift pattern is modified slightly for safety reasons. Gear selection is usually via the left-foot (or, on older motorcycles; right-foot) shift lever with a layout of 1–N–2–3–4–5–6. During the period when U.S. vehicles usually had only three forward speeds, the most common gear-shifter location

12075-405: The system of Greek numerals , beta has a value of 2. Such use is denoted by a number mark: Β′. Beta is used in finance as a measure of investment portfolio risk. Beta in this context is calculated as the covariance of the portfolio's returns with its benchmark's returns, divided by the variance of the benchmark's returns. A beta of 1.5 means that for every 1% change in the value of the benchmark,

12190-479: The transmission. FF (front-engined, front-wheel drive) vehicles, RR (rear-engined, rear-wheel drive) vehicles and front-engined vehicles with rear-mounted gearboxes often require a mechanical linkage to connect the shifter to the transmission. Some vehicles have a gear lever mounted on the steering column. A 3-speed column shifter, which came to be popularly known as a "three on the tree", began appearing in America in

12305-467: The vehicle's transmission in much the same way a floor-mounted shifter can. However, because of the location of the gear shifter in comparison to the locations of the column shifter and the floor shifter, as well as the positioning of the shifter to the rest of the controls on the panel often require that the gearshift be mounted in a space that does not feature a lot of controls integral to the vehicle's operation, or frequently used controls, such as those for

12420-649: The years. Power steering specially produced by the German company ZF became available on certain Left Hand Drive models and was also used on the Gamma . For 1975 the exterior styling was modified by Pininfarina: "the back window has been relocated in a more upright position" to aid visibility, the rear quarter pillars gained sharper trailing edges, the waistline was lowered and windows made larger. Electronic ignition became available in 1978. Automatic transmission became available

12535-459: Was introduced in the 2012 Porsche 911 (991) . In 2008, 75.2% of vehicles produced in Western Europe were equipped with manual transmission, versus 16.1% with automatic and 8.7% with other. A manual transmission has several shafts with various gears and other components attached to them. Most modern passenger cars use 'constant-mesh' transmissions consisting of three shafts: an input shaft ,

12650-461: Was on the steering column, a layout that was sometimes called "three on the tree". By contrast, high-performance cars, and European vehicles in general, mostly used a four-speed transmission with floor-mounted shifters. That layout was referred to as "four on the floor". Most FR (front-engined, rear-wheel drive) vehicles have a transmission that sits between the driver and the front passenger seat. Floor-mounted shifters are often connected directly to

12765-552: Was originally designed as Pininfarina's contender to replace Fiat's 124 Coupe , but lost out to Bertone's cheaper design, which became the Fiat X1/9 . Pininfarina's design was called the X1/20 at the prototype stage. Lancia launched the Montecarlo as a premium alternative to the X1/9, with the 2.0L twin cam engine rather than the X1/9's single cam 1.3L. Both used a similar chassis floorplan, based on

12880-442: Was relatively limited. These were key factors that influenced the decision to use an existing power plant: the Fiat twin overhead cam, straight-four engine with its alloy head and cast iron block. At the Beta's launch late in 1972 Fiat chief Gianni Agnelli told journalists that Lancia's output would be about 40,000 units in 1972 at a time when a volume of 100,000 was needed to cover the fixed costs involved in developing and building

12995-508: Was then a 2-year gap in production in order to revise a brake issue where the brakes had a tendency to lock up. Lancia solved this problem by removing the brake servo. The revised Second Series cars (1980–1981) were simply badged as Lancia Montecarlo. In the United States, the First Series cars were marketed as the Scorpion alongside the rest of the Beta range, as General Motors was already using

13110-422: Was then applied to the third series Berlina. Number built: 194,914 Berlinas plus 36,784 Trevis. In 1973 the second style to appear was a 2+2 two-door coupé with a 2,350 mm (92.5 in) wheelbase, although due to the fuel crisis did not become available to the public until early 1974. It was launched with 1.6 and 1.8L engines. New 1.6 and 2.0L engines replaced the original units in late 1975, followed by

13225-413: Was to retain the quality image and price premium of existing Lancias, while minimising development time and production costs, using in-house Fiat group technology and parts where possible. The project adapted a well-regarded existing Fiat engine, fitted transversely and driving the front wheels, in line with Fiat's investment in this configuration during the previous decade. The gear box was a development of

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