GEARSTICK

Inmyopinion,thiscomponentisanunderratedpartofacarbecauseweunconsciouslyuseit
dailywhiledriving.Still,veryfewofushaveputineffortstogothroughitshistoryanditstypes.
Thiscomponentispresentinthecarfromitsverydiscovery.But,overtheyears,theshape, size
andplaceofinstallationhavechangedalot.Itisdifferentindifferenttypesofcarsdepending
uponwhetherthevehicleismanualorautomaticorwhatisthespeedtransmissionpatternsof
that specific car and its quality also depend uponthe car’s brand.
Inmanycountries,thegearstickisalsoknownasagearlever.GearstickorGearleverasthe
namesuggestsisastickoraleverthatisinstalledintheshiftassemblyofanautomobile.One
can usea gearstick onlywhen theclutch pedalispressed,thiswaythegearstick helpsin
changingthecargearsbymomentarilybreakingthepathbetweentheengineandthedrivetrain
and the wheels.

The shift lever is often referred to as a gearstick when we are talking about manual
transmission,butinthecaseofanautomatictransmission,theshiftleversarerefereedtoas
gearselectors.Thereasonforsuchdistinctioninnamesisbecause,inmanualtransmissions,
oneneedstoshiftbetweenvariousgearsconstantly.Still,inanautomatictransmissionone,the
drive mode is selected, the gears shift automaticallydepending on the speed of the car.

Automatic transmissions like hydraulic automatic transmissions, automated manual
transmissionsand oldersemi-automatictransmissionshavevariabletransmissiongearboxes.
Thus clutches are not required, unlike manual transmission systems where clutches are
essential.