HYUNDAI VENUE INTELLIGENT MANUAL TRANSMISSION (iMT) Truly Intelligent

The Hyundai Venue comes with three engine options: a 1.2 litre Kappa Petrol which has again, only an option of a 5-speed manual transmission. Then we have the 1.0 litre Kappa Turbo GDi Petrol engine which has an option of a 6-speed manual transmission, a 7-speed Dual Clutch Transmission or DCT and the new 6-speed Intelligent Manual Transmission or iMT. The third engine option available is the 1.5 l U2 CRDi Diesel which only comes with a 6-speed manual transmission.

The iMT has been provided only for 1 litre Kappa turbo petrol engine variants that include SX and SX (O). Both these variants again have an additional variant that goes by the name Dual Tone (Sport). Thus in total there are four variants that come with this new iMT.

How does a Dual Tone (Sport) differ from its counterpart? This Dual Tone (Sport) variant has a few sporty elements that are clearly marked in red. It’s all over the car, both inside as well as outside in tiny bits whether it is the dash of red on the wheel arches, red brake calipers for the front discs, the plus sign in red on the front grille, the red line running across the bottom of the door, a dash of red on one side of the roof rails, etc. As you move inside, you get to see the red bits on the air conditioner knobs, the air vents both in front and rear, the seats, the steering wheel cover, the gear knob cover stitching, door panel stitching, etc. Apart from the words ‘Turbo’ and the variant name displayed at the rear of the vehicle, for the Sport variant you also get a neat ‘Sport’ name plate on the C-pillar.

Manual, Automatic & iMT

To understand an iMT, you need to understand that there are two broad categories of transmissions: Manual and Automatic. Manual transmissions are either 4-speed or 5-speed or 6-speed and so forth. Similarly, automatic transmissions also have different speed categories.  In a manual transmission one has to change gears manually and to do so one has to operate the clutch pedal on the floor. Each time you need to change the gear, you need to depress the clutch pedal. In an automatic, there is no clutch pedal and in order to shift to higher gears and pick up speed all you need to do is to press the accelerator pedal after shifting the gear lever to the ‘D’ or Drive mode. Automatic vehicles do not have a clutch pedal. Many modern automatic transmissions also come with manual mode wherein you can shift the lever from D mode and engage the + and – to downshift or up shift the gears manually. Some automatic vehicles also have paddle shifts on either side of the steering wheel where you can with your hands tug at the + and – paddle shifts to change gears manually while driving. But in such cases the manual intervention is limited and the moment you start making mistakes the system overrides the manual function.

So where does an iMT fit in? Here too there is no clutch. Does that make it an automatic or a manual? Well, it has the best of both the worlds, because it still has manual gear shifts and no clutch pedal. There is no ‘D’ or Drive mode as we get in a fully automatic vehicle.

My take is that those who have been driving manual transmission cars can get the hang of the iMT better. Why do I say that? Because when you drive a car with manual gear, we understand the art of changing our gears from one level to another, forward and backward at different speeds and different rpm levels. A person trained only to drive an automatic car may not get the hang of driving an iMT so easily though the car’s electronics and indicators do help the driver drive to the best of his ability. That is why it is called an intelligent manual transmission.

Driving an iMT Venue

So what is it like driving a car with manual gears and no clutch? Since I have driven both automatics and manuals, I was confident driving the iMT version. The iMT version does away with the clutch pedal and hence the mistakes one makes while changing gears while depressing the clutch pedal are totally eliminated with the iMT. Issues like getting the clutch burned, or sloppy use of clutch or even damaging the clutch while keeping it half depressed are not at all there in this iMT model.

To get an iMT Venue started you have to slot the gear in neutral or else it will not start. Then onwards it is like driving a manual vehicle. Once you slot it into first gear and do not press the accelerator, the car moves slowly or crawls. This is ideal while driving in very slow moving traffic. Also, while driving the Venue with iMT, you realise that as you shift from one gear to another, there are no jerks, which one can experience while driving a vehicle with the use of clutch. Moreover, the gear shifts are smooth.

Moving from one gear to another, forward or backward is all done electronically through signals that are sent to the actuators that in turn direct the clutch to work its role. Hyundai’s iMT technology features a Transmission Gear Shift (TGS) Lever with Intention Sensor, Hydraulic Actuator and Transmission Control Unit (TCU).  Now let me tell you also about the intelligent nature of this transmission since Hyundai insists on calling it an intelligent Manual transmission. Let me take you through some of the issues regarding gear changes:

1. If you were to try starting the car in a gear position other than Neutral, the MID screen displays the info asking you to move the lever to Neutral. Remember, the car only starts if the gear is in neutral position.

2. Once you put it in the first gear and the car picks up speed as you accelerate, the screen message asks you to move up to the next gear. So that’s really cool. So it works both ways while up shifting and downshifting, messages on the screen indicates to you when to change to higher or lower gear, as the case may be. There is also no compromise for an enthusiastic driver because even if one needs to rev up the engine in the first or second gear and the rpm increases and the gear shift indicator flashes on the TFT screen, the iMT does not automatically move to the higher gear, unlike in some of the pure automatic cars.

3. Another situation worth understanding is when you move into higher gears and you have to stop suddenly for some reason, you simply apply the brakes, the engine does not shut off. But from that stationery position when your gear is on any level above 2, you try to move the car by pressing the accelerator, you realise the car does not move. SO applying the same principles of a manual transmission, you have to slot it to a lower gear like one or two and then accelerate, the car begins to move. Again the instructions to move to a lower gear are displayed on the MID screen for you to see and execute. A warning beep sound is also there to tell you that you are making a mistake.

4. What happens if a driver were to engage 4 directly from level 1 while driving? Well in that case the intelligent transmission intervenes and tries to either warn you with a beep sound or it corrects the course if it is possible. Let me explain that clearly. Suppose the car is in first gear and the driver presses the accelerator and the speed is just about 10km per hour and he shifts to 4^th gear, then the beep sound warns him that its not possible for even the machine to shift to the 4^th gear at the low speed. Got it? Yes, but if the speed is perhaps around 40kmh and one shifts from 2^nd gear to say the 5^th gear, the engine does intelligently match the rpm levels by bringing it down and ensuring that the car continues to run in the 5^th gear. Similarly, from a higher level if one were to shift to a lower level, and the speeds allow that, then the iMT raises the rpm accordingly and lets the car move in the lower gear. Impressed? Well, that in short is the intelligent Manual transmission which through its warnings through beeps and instructions on the MID screen helps you to navigate.

Hyundai is the first auto company to introduce the iMT. The closest that one got to the word ‘Manual’ without clutch was when companies introduced the AMT or Automated Manual Transmission in its cars. But then again, AMT is a lot different from the iMT, both in technology and in price. Talking of price, the SX (O) iMT is only expensive than the manual variant by a mere Rs 23,500. But if you compare the price difference between a DCT and a manual, the former is expensive by Rs 1,14,000.

So who could be the buyers of an iMT version of Venue? Obviously it would be for those who want to get rid of the clutch but still don’t mind shifting gears. It is like enjoying the best of both the worlds.