How Kia Is Keeping The Manual Gearbox Alive

A revolutionary clutch-by-wire system that not only smooths out manual driving, but saves fuel too

- Jesse Crosse

KIA’S INTELLIGENT MANUAL TRANSMISSION (iMT), with its clutch-by-wire system, set our antennae twitching because the crystal ball had been revealing only automatic and semi-automatic gearboxes as the solutions to staying on top of future emissions regulations. Clutch-by-wire is an electronically controlled, electrohydraulic clutch actuation system specifically designed to work with 48V mild-hybrid powertrains.

One of the problems powertrain engineers have faced ever since emissions became a thing is the driver. No matter how skilled they are, drivers aren’t good at getting the best efficiency out of an engine and gearbox, and that’s why the ‘integrated powertrain’ approach evolved, with engines and automatic gearbox control systems linked so they can achieve the best economy.

That’s all very well for more expensive cars, but for smaller, cheaper cars, autos can be a pricey overhead. Clutch-by-wire bridges the gap, allowing a manual gearbox to gain an added economy feature, namely coasting with the engine shut down. So far, this has only been possible with autos.