Earlier this month, Toyota revealed its targa-top GR HV Sports concept, featuring an unusual automatic transmission complete with a manual-like H-pattern.
A push button ignition switch is mounted on the transmission’s shift knob, while the selection switches to choose gear position are located on the centre cluster.
But, despite the fact that this is an automatic, Toyota says drivers can switch to manual mode “with the single press of a button”, allowing “six-speed manual-style driving with H-pattern shifting” (without the need to depress a clutch pedal, we’re guessing).
So, does the Japanese automaker really have plans to use this pseudo-manual (or “shamual”, as we’ve dubbed it in the office) in a production vehicle? Well, project manager Tomohiko Shishido has hinted that a demand from customers for such a transmission indeed exists.
“They want to choose the gear – we want to give them the operational sensation [of a manual gearbox],” he told Car Throttle at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Tomohiko-san added that the idea could furthermore be applied to a continuously variable transmission (CVT) – the type Toyota employs in its hybrids – as well conventional automatic gearboxes.
“You could apply the same technological concept to either a regular automatic transmission or a CVT,” he said.
While Tomohiko-san would not confirm to the publication whether the idea would be put into production, he did say he “would like to”.
Listen to episode three of our weekly podcast, in which we chat about Toyota’s new transmission…