Saab Sensonic was an...Interesting Idea

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[ftbymikeD]

I remember that episode of Top gear, that scenario was not far fetched. But gotta hand it to Saab for thinking outside the (gear)box!😁👍

[Rishabh]

Hyundai and Kia have launched the same transmission in some of its cars in India. It's known as the iMT (intelligent manual transmission), and they're doing pretty well. I actually own a Kia Sonet with an iMT. They've included the creep function to mitigate problems that the Saab had. Overall it's great for the city.

[xXYannuschXx]

The fact they decided to not have any creep function is what killed this idea. In my i30N I can disable the creep function for the sport+ mode (N mode) and it made me realize how bad an idea it is to not have any creep ability.

[jacobporter]

Interesting idea but too early, a first positive step towards dual clutch transmissions however.

I also just watched the video, that parking space is pretty standard here in the UK, I'd expect a car to be able to park in that; as does the local council as you can see from the bay markings that is a full sized space.

[Keavlin]

The spot was fine, looked pretty normal for street parking in the uk.

[paulhopkuns]

I always thought of the SAAB sensonic as a great idea that was too early and perhaps could be seen as a crude forerunner to the dual clutch auto (DSG) as they both give or at least try to deliver the best of both worlds. However both are not without issues and suffered similar but different problems around low speed work on hills or as in the top gear. Video parking.
DSG is superior by far as one does not need to work the gear leaver to change gears as the car decides when to change unless you have paddle shifts to use when the desire strikes.

Modern dual clutch autos have really advanced the genre and as I understand it solved the issue where drivers held the car in position or creeped forward on a hill by use of the gas pedal as one can with a torque converter auto. However with a DSG they did this manoeuvre and without realising it they were slipping the clutch and shortening the clutch life.

[polara]

Seems like the Fluid Drive in my 74 year old DeSoto is a better setup. Shifting while driving is done by working the gas pedal only, and parallel parking is possible.

[sundaychill]

I had 900 se with sensonic. When it worked it was great. later on i added normal gearbox and clutch because spare part was half of the car price. Car was 10 years old when i got it :)

[Share_li]

I would actually find it interesting to drive a Sensonic Saab once :)

[JoseLgamer]

They had a great idea, but it was ahead of its time, and the tech to make it work as it should just wasn’t available. If they could get it to work properly in all scenarios it would have been amazing.

[stormrider]

Saab didn´t figure out that every automatic gearbox with torque convertor also has a manual mode by moving the gear shifter to the right or to the left for + or -. It was too complicated for them so they developed a new gearbox LMAO!

[lorddiablo]

This kind of device already in the industry more than 20 years ago and I first saw it was in a double decker bus ( imported from England ) in Hong Kong in which when the drive shift gear, he just shift with the stick and no need to step on the clutch pedal. The bus driver told me that its a kind of "Semi-Automatic" and that was my first experience with Sensonic of the similar kind. And about 5 years ago, I visited Hong Kong again, I also saw the similar device on a manual transmission taxi. The taxi driver also told me the same as the bus driver This device brings the comfort of without stepping on the clutch to shift gears while enjoying the fun of driving a manual transmission car. Likewise, my 2006 Saab 9-3 has the similar feature .... you just push the shift stick up or down to higher or lower gear while driving !

[ronhernandez]

I got to drive the 900 Sensonic at a SAAB owners convention and it was an interesting experience. Obviously it never was sold in the US….

[cadespencer]

We need more semi automatic transmissions

[Raaaphael]

The 1996 Renault Twingo easy had a similar gearbox.

[roiq]

Doesn't a car with sequential gearbox have the same problem with parking?

[goose]

God I wish we had more of these. Great concept but still too rudimentary to keep on developing it. Shame

[Axner]

I saw one of these for sale not too long ago after watching the Top Gear clip, I thought that it was funny. Great idea but not done right

[tomitoikka]

I had one. A disaster which was later transformed to manual.

[vwestlife]

Top Gear treated Sensonic about as fairly as they treated the Reliant Robin. I wouldn't be surprised if they had purposely modified it to act worse than it would in real life. Their excuse is that they're an entertainment program, not a news/journalism program.