Why does a CVT gearbox also have an M gear? What is the difference between M+/- and D/+-?

Cars are divided into automatic and manual transmission, and manual transmission is a manual transmission, which is easy to understand. But there are many types of automatic transmissions, and to elaborate on this, it is a very basic and useful knowledge that many people may not understand. The question is: How to distinguish between automatic transmission, manual automatic transmission, and CVT continuously variable transmission? Why do some continuously variable transmissions have M+/- gear instead of manual and automatic transmission? What are the differences between M+/-, D/+-, MS+/-, and S+/-? Let's take a look one by one.

    The first question is, how to distinguish between automatic transmission, manual automatic transmission, and CVT continuously variable transmission?

What is automatic transmission? Any car that can automatically shift gears is called an automatic transmission, regardless of the type of transmission. Cars with AT, CVT, and dual clutch transmissions can all achieve automatic shifting, all of which are called automatic transmission. It can be simply understood that as long as it is not a manual transmission, it is an automatic transmission.

What is a manual automatic transmission? First of all, it must be an automatic transmission, independent of the type of transmission. It can be used for AT, CVT, or dual clutch. On the basis of automatic transmission, a set of control devices has been added, which can manually control the up and down gears, both automatic and manual, and is called a manual automatic transmission.

The CVT transmission is a type of transmission, also known as a continuously variable transmission, with countless gears.

    From the gear shift panel, it is not clear which type of gearbox a car is using, but only which control mode it is, such as manual or automatic, and whether it is a manual automatic transmission. However, a small number of dual clutch cars can be seen, with DSG written on the top of the gear lever, indicating that it uses a dual clutch transmission.

  The second question is, why do some continuously variable transmissions have M+/- gear instead of manual and automatic transmission? It is true that manual and automatic transmissions only have+/- gears, but it is not limited to AT transmissions. Both CVT and dual clutch transmissions can be made into manual and automatic transmissions. M gear is in manual mode. Pushing it in the+direction will increase the gear one gear, and pushing it in the - direction will decrease the gear one gear. Similar to the first question, the manual automatic transmission only refers to a control method that can be automatically controlled or switched to manual control, regardless of which type of transmission it is. Therefore, CVT transmissions and dual clutch transmissions can also have M+/- gears.

The third question, what is the difference between M+/-, D/+-, MS+/-, and S+/-? Let's start with the letters, M represents manual mode, D is the normal automatic mode, and S is the sport mode. M+/- is the standard manual mode labeling method, but many cars, due to gear shift panel design or space issues, are not labeled with M gear, only with a+/- sign, such as D/+-, which is actually the same as M/+-, except that the letter M is omitted. Under normal circumstances, when driving in D gear, to switch to manual mode, simply press the gear lever to the left or right to switch to manual mode. How do you know if you have switched to manual mode? Just look at the display on the instrument panel. Although the gear shift panel is not marked with an M, it will display an M on the instrument panel. If it is in manual mode at this time, the instrument panel will display an M. All other annotations have the same meaning. Regardless of whether there is an M on the panel, as long as there is a+- sign, this is manual mode, and usually the gear lever can be turned left or right to engage.

From: WONDEE Autoparts

2023-9-13