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ROB MARSHALL PROBES AT THE LATEST NEW CAR TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS
TOYOTA GR SUPRA – MANUAL TRANSMISSION You might think that a company offering manual gearboxes is not worth mentioning. Yet, it seems as though the tales that prophesied the death of stick-shift have rung true. Some ICE models have ditched manuals completely. This was made especially clear, when Toyota launched its first global Gazoo Racing (GR) model in 2019, with the 3.0-litre (and later 2.0-litre) GR Supra models being available solely with eight-speed automatic transmissions. Not everybody was happy about it. Since then, Toyota reports that it has listened to sports car fans and customers, by introducing a six-speed 'intelligent' manual gearbox. The company claims that it is engineered to "delight drivers, who love the control and rewards offered by precisely timed manual shifts". Presumably, this means that the engine software will mask sloppy pedal control, by matching crankshaft and input shaft speeds automatically. Only the BMW-derived 6-cylinder version (seen also in the Z4 M40i) will benefit for now but Toyota claims that it has not just bolted an existing German longitudinal transmission to the engine. Yet, it appears that is exactly what the company has done, because modifying the BMW-derived gear sets, driveshafts, fiddling with software and removing certain elements do not a new gearbox make.
Even so, Toyota is expanding manual gearbox availability to all three of its European GR models: the GR Yaris, GR86 and, of course, the GR Supra. There have also been rumours that Toyota is looking to create a manual transmission for Battery Electric Vehicles, but it is unclear whether it will reach production. If it does, that really will be a technical oddity.
MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS – DRIVE PILOT The importance of ADAS calibration becomes especially pertinent, when the hardware is employed for automated driving, rather than for information and emergencies. MercedesBenz's Drive Pilot does just that; utilising ADAS equipment (especially cameras, LiDAR and Radar) that allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel and eyes off the road in certain conditions. This is a considerable achievement, because it is the first production-ready Level Three Autonomous system, as defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers.
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Mercedes-Benz is so confident about the system's safety credentials that it commits to take legal responsivity for any crashes that occur while the system is engaged, provided that the driver complies with reasonable duty of care obligations. This includes not ignoring system prompts to take back manual control.
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Drive Pilot is not full autonomy, however. It works only in limited situations. Currently, Drive Pilot is available only in Germany and, even then, is mapped solely to work on certain autobahn sections. Interestingly, the carmaker is seeking regulatory approval in North America by the end of the year. Whether the system has to be adapted to meet UK requirements, or how our laws will be changed to accommodate Level Three autonomy remains to be seen but legislative changes are afoot.
