The Hyundai Venue has made big waves in the market ever since its debut last year. Winning numerous Car of The Year Awards was a given for this product as it had all the right ingredients to be a blockbuster product. It is India’s first connected SUV that boasts of a ton of tech which makes it equally endearing to the auto enthusiast as well as the tech-savvy millennial. Upping the game even further, Hyundai India has introduced a ground-breaking new technology in the Venue that they have christened as the Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT).
What Hyundai has to say about the Venue iMT
Hyundai iMT
Mr. SS Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said, “Hyundai has been driving the adoption of new and innovative technologies at scale. With our ‘Future Ready’ business strategy, we have been continuously striving for customer delight with Human centric technologies that present our innate understanding of what our customers desire. iMT is one such technology that accounts for pleasure of driving and also the convenience needed to ease the hectic burden of daily commutes. This unparalleled drive experience on Hyundai Venue-India’s first connected SUV has been curated through a constant pursuit of innovation for customer delight.”
Intelligent Manual Transmission – Understanding the tech
Hyundai iMT debuts on with the 1.0 litre T-GDI engine
Hyundai has worked on the Intelligent Manual Transmission to ensure that it doesn’t compromise on performance. The system is touted to be rather responsive and at the same time extremely convenient for those who seek to enjoy the thrill of shifting gears, yet not have to worry about being fatigued by constantly operating the clutch pedal in stop-start traffic. Add to that, this technology doesn’t affect fuel consumption either and the Venue retains its frugal nature. Offered on the Venue fitted with the 1.0 litre T-GDI engine, Hyundai is set on redefining driving for the future.
Essentially a two-pedal clutch less technology, Intelligent Manual Transmission allows the driver to enjoy shifting gears like a conventional manual transmission. The transmission includes a regular gear shift lever, an intention sensor, hydraulic actuator and a transmission control unit.
Hyundai Venue get iMT
How it works is actually quite innovative and efficient. The transmission control unit receives a signal from the gear shift lever indicating the driver’s intention to shift gears. The signal is then sent to the hydraulic actuator which applies pressure on the concentric slave cylinder through a clutch tube. This pressure is used to control the clutch to engage and disengage it as desired. In effect, the use of the clutch pedal has been rendered obsolete thanks to this technology!
This is one SUV that I look forward to getting my hands on to enjoy a new era of driving!