For the album by .38 Special, see Drivetrain (album).

An auto's drivetrain or powertrain consists of all the components that generate power and deliver it to the road surface, water, or air. This includes the engine, transmission, driveshafts, differentials, and the final drive (drive wheels, caterpillar track, propeller, etc). Sometimes "powertrain" is used to refer to simply the engine and transmission, including the other components only if they are integral to the transmission. December 2005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → 31 December 2005 (Saturday) 25-year-old Scottish human rights worker Kate Burton and her parents are freed unharmed in the Gaza Strip by the Palestinian gunmen who kidnapped them two days earlier. ... .38 Special .38 Special is an American rock band. ... Drivetrain is the twelfth studio album by southern rock band . ... A colorized automobile engine The internal combustion engine is a heat engine in which the burning of a fuel occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. ... In mechanics, a transmission or gearbox is the gear and/or hydraulic system that transmits mechanical power from a prime mover (which can be an engine or electric motor), to some form of useful output device. ... Cardan driveshaft with universal joints A driveshaft or driving shaft or Cardan shaft is a mechanical device for transferring power from the engine or motor to the point where useful work is applied. ... Input torque is applied to the ring gear, which turns the entire carrier (all blue), providing torque to both side gears (red and yellow), which in turn may drive the left and right wheels. ... A drive wheel is a wheel in an automotive vehicle that receives power from the power train. ... Caterpillar tracks are large (modular) tracks used on tanks, construction equipment and certain other off-road vehicles. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

A vehicle's driveline consists of the parts of the drivetrain excluding the engine and transmission. It is the portion of a vehicle, after the transmission, that changes depending on whether a vehicle is front wheel drive, four wheel drive, or rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is the most common form of engine/transmission layout used in modern passenger cars, where the engine drives the front wheels. ... Four wheel drive or 4x4, is a type of four wheeled vehicle drivetrain configuration that enables all four wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously in order to provide maximum traction. ... Rear wheel drive was a common form of engine/transmission layout used in automobiles throughout the 20th century. ...

Wider definition

In a wider sense the powertrain includes all components to transform chemical, physical or nuclear energy into secondary energy and deliver it to the interface to the outer world for propulsion purposes. This includes the utilisation of multiple power sources and non wheel based vehicles. From an energetic standpoint the weakest point is the first step, ie. ICEs have limitations regarding efficiency but it is not said that the well to wheel efficiency of alternative propulsion systems are better. This refers to fuel cells with additional reformer losses, electric vehicles powered from the grid with low hydraulic energy share and also vehicles using energy storage with high losses (some battery types, ultra- or supercaps). Alternative propulsion is a term used frequently for power train concepts differing to the standard internal combustion engine concept used in gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles. ...

Developments

Restricting to today’s powertrain development the trends comprise for Diesel engines:

• modular injection
• electronic valve control
• low pressure EGR
• advanced combustion

For spark ignition technology the focus is on Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was an early and primitive automobile emissions-control device that was used from the late 1960s through the early 1980s. ...

• de-throttling (in part load where the low efficiency of Otto-engines is defined)
• downsizing (lower displacement, electronic valve control EVC)

Rinaldo Rinolfi, today's Vice-President at Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT): The Future of Powertrain Technology, Barcelona May 2005

Last but not least new fuel qualities (no sulphur and aromates) allow new combustion concepts. So called "combined combustion systems" CCV (VW 2003) or "diesotto" cycles (Mercedes) are based on synfuels (synthetic diesel, biomass to liquid BTL or gas to liquid GTL)[1]. They promise to combine clean combustion with high efficiency. The term Below the line or Below-the-line can refer to: Below the line, an accounting term used in film or movie production Below the line, an advertising strategy In contract bridge points that count toward the 100 points needed to win the game are recorded below the line... GTL is an abbreviation that may stand for one of the following terms: Gunning Transceiver Logic -- a type of electronic logic signalling Gas to liquid -- a refinery process Group Term Life - an American tax on employer-provided life insurance Category: ‪Three-letter acronym disambiguations‬ ...

The energy management inside the powertrain decoupling energy transformation and propulsion demand is in its infancies - especially in Europe industry doubts that customers may adopt vehicles where RPM may not change if the accelerator pedal is pushed or even if the acceleration is adapted automatically to follow minimal energy consumption and minimal environmental pollution. The right term for this type of riding would be "de- emotionalization".