Honda have announced that production of the new Overdrive And Parking transmission, which will be an optional extra on forthcoming Jazz models, will start in June. It comes from months of monitering driver behaviour. Chief engineer Taemin Owasaki said: "most drivers like to select a low ratio for manoeuvring, and progressively move to higher ratios as they pick up speed. But sophisticated monitering equipment built into the cars' Engine Control Module revealed that Jazz drivers did not follow this pattern. Jazz drivers like to start in fifth and set the revs to 4000 for low speed manoeuvres. When the driver pulls out into oncoming traffic, he invariably selects lower ratios and finally drops into first when the desired cruising speed of 7mph has been attained.

"We realise that working through the gears backwards can be awkward for drivers. So our revolutionary new OAP transmisson will retain the familiar H pattern but the gears will be reversed:

R 5 3 1

4 2

Additionally, reverse will be geared to the same ratio as fifth to provide a more consistent feel while manoeuvring. With the number of drivers aged over 70 projected to double by 2020, we think that our OAP transmission will be a very popular option" added Mr Owasaki.

Edited by unthrottled on 01/04/2012 at 14:13