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Now, we will examine the vehicle performance curves in relation to the engine performance curves. The performance of a truck can be evaluated in detail by examining its performance curves. Graph 4 shows the relation of vehicle speed at each gear of the transmission to engine speed, vehicle speed to tractive effort, and vehicle speed to running resistance. As explained in previous chapters, the running performance of a vehicle is determined not solely by engine power, but also by the gear ratio of the transmission, rear axle ratio, G.V.W., and tire size. The formulae for vehicle speed, tractive effort, and running resistance, introduced in Chapter 4, are represented as the vehicle performance curves. If any of the set of factors involved transmission gear ratio, rear axle ratio, tire size are changed, the shape of the performance curves will necessarily change. Each set of these specifications has its unique performance curves. Since it may at first be difficult to understand the three curves in one graph, each will be explained separately. Graph 4 VEHICLE PERFORMANCE CURVES

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A.Engine Speed and Vehicle Speed
When the engine rpm is increased in a gear, the speed of the vehicle will increase in proportion to the increase in rpm. This is clearly stated by the equation: Graph 5

For a truck with a given set of specifications, the rear axle ratio"ra" and the radius of driving tire "R", are constants. Hence the above equation can be simplified.

It is evident from the above equation that "V"(km/h) and "N"(rpm) maintain a directly proportional relationship under any gear ratio "rt." Therefore, if the transmission is provided with four forward gears, there will be four curves on the above graph; if six gears, six curves on the graph; and so on. The curve for reverse gear is indicated by a broken line. Needless to say, when the rpm is zero, the speed will be zero. Each curve starts from the zero point as shown by a broken line; usually, only the usable range is shown by a solid line -e.g., as in Graph 6 for the range of 1,200 to 3,100 rpm. The horizontal axis shows the truck speed (km/h) and the vertical axis, the engine speed (rpm). From the graph, the engine rpm and speed for any given gear can be readily read. For example, when the engine performance curves show that maximum torque is available at 1,800 rpm, the truck'fs speed at that rpm in 4th gear is 41km/h (point in Graph 6). Likewise, in 3rd gear at the same on the graph). rpm, the truck's speed is 25km/h (point Graph 6

Furthermore, the two extremes of each curve, representing the upper and lower limits of usable engine rpm, indicate the maximum and minimum vehicle speed for the gear. Referring to Graph 6, the maximum speed for 3rd gear is 43km/h (point Page 02 minimum speed for 3rd gear is 17km/h (point ).

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) and the

Page 03 Page 04 From the foregoing, it is clear that the maximum vehicle speed listed in a catalogue Page 05 represents the maximum speed in the highest gear -e.g., 5th gear -at the highest limit
of rpm. In this example it would be 100km/h (point ). This is the maximum speed obtained on a level road. In reality, rolling resistance and air resistance may be enough to prevent the attainment of maximum rated speed. This will be discussed later.

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Another important piece of information provided by the graph is the mutual relationship between adjacent gears. When the rpm reaches the point of maximum torque in a certain gear, and if the gear were shifted to a higher one with a large difference in ratio, the rpm may drop excessively accompanied by loss of power. For instance in Graph 7, there is a large difference in gear ratios of the 4th and 5th gears. Consequently, when 4th gear, at 1,800 rpm and 41km/h is shifted into 5th gear, the engine speed would drop to 1,271 rpm, accompanied with a loss of torque as indicated by the engine torque curve (Graph 8). On the other hand, when the truck running at a speed of 41km/h at 1,271rpm in 5th gear is down-shifted into 4th, the engine rpm will suddenly be pushed to 1,800rpm producing an excess of power. This type of truck would be difficult to handle.

Graph 7

Graph 8

The ten-speed transmission and 2-speed rear axle were developed to narrow the ratio gap between gears and facilitate ease of handling. As illustrated in Graph 9, the curves representing different gears overlap each other; which means that the truck can be operated in the maximum torque range while climbing a hill by frequent shifting of gears. From these examples, it is clear that a vehicle's performance is determined not only by the engine's horsepower and its maximum speed, but also by the choice of a suitable gear ratio in the transmission and in the rear axle. In general, the optimum gear ratios should

Graph 9

Graph 10

be established so that when a vehicle running at the maximum limit of its engine speed and is shifted into a higher gear, the resulting change in rpm will still be greater than that which produces the maximum torque. This can be verified by the example illustrated in the saw-toothed curves shown in Graph 10 which indicates whether each of the gear ratios are located within the range of maximum rpm and the rpm at which the maximum torque is obtained. With this type of transmission, when a gear, running at maximum engine speed, is shifted up to the next higher gear, the engine rpm would be somewhat greater than that needed for producing the maximum torque in the higher gear.

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B.Running Resistance and Vehicle Speed
As explained in a previous chapter, the truck encounters rolling, grade and air resistances while running. The relationship between the combined resistances -the running resistance -and vehicle speed is illustrated in the running resistance curve on Graph 11. As stated: Rolling resistance: Grade resistance: Air resistance: Graph 11

Running resistance is the sum of these three and is expressed with the equation: W(cos+ sin) + resistance Hence, when the G.V.W. (W in the equation above) of the vehicle is constant, the running resistance increases as the grade () of the hill increases. The air resistance grows at the rate of the square of the speed. This correlation is shown in Graph 11 for hills of various gradients -0, 3, 5, 10, 15... = Running

Graph 12

and 30%. The vertical axis gives the running resistance (kg), the horizontal axis the vehicle speed (km/h). When a vehicle is negotiating a 3% grade at 60km/h, the running resistance it encounters will be approximately 500kg (point
Graph 12).

as shown in

The running resistance is not

correlated with the gear in which the vehicle is running. The curve gradually rises as speed increases. At low speed, air resistance is negligible; beyond about 100km/h, it gradually and perceptibly increases. In the case of a passenger car, subject to driving at high speed, the body is streamlined to reduce air resistance.

C.Tractive Effortand Vehicle Speed

The engine torque is multiplied by the transmission gear ratio, which in turn is multiplied by the rear axle ratio, and is finally transmitted to the driving tire. As indicated by the engine performance curves, torque changes with the engine speed. In any given gear, vehicle speed is proportional to engine speed: the torque -tractive effort -is correlated with vehicle speed. This relationship is shown in Graph 13. It gives the correlation between vehicle speed and tractive effort for each gear. Each of the convex curves in Graph 13 corresponds to the engine's torque curves. The vertical axis gives the tractive effort (kg) and the horizontal axis the vehicle speed (km/h). TAccording to Graph 14, point indicates Graph 14 Graph 13

that the tractive effort is 594kg when the vehicle is running in 4th gear at 60km/h. When the vehicle is running in 5th gear at the same speed, the tractive effort is 452kg

(point

). The maximum tractive effort for

each gear is the maximum point of each curve. For example, in first gear, the maximum tractive effort is 3,036kg (point ). This is also the vehicle's maximum tractive effort.

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From the foregoing, the three correlations in the vehicle performance curves -Engine Speed and Vehicle Speed, Running Resistance and Tractive Effort -are clear. They are reproduced in Graph 15. The horizontal axis expresses vehicle speed. The
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what can be Learned from "The Vehicle Performance Curve"

vertical axis on the left expresses both tractive effort and running resistance, and on the right vertical axis indicates engine speed. These two vertical axes are not correlated with each other. For example the 1,500kg on the left axis is in no way correlated with the 3,000rpm on the right. For sake of convenience, the graph was made this way to eliminate the necessity of referring to separate graphs. From these performance curves various performance characteristics of the vehicle can be read. Graph 15

Maximum Speed
As explained in section on the relationship between vehicle speed and engine speed, maximum speed can be read from the running performance curve. The maximum speed of the vehicle illustrated in Graph 15 is 100km/h. However, if the running resistance on a level road is substantial as shown by the hypothetical dotted curve in Graph 15, and if the vehicle is running in fifth gear, the running resistance will equal the tractive effort (point ), and vehicle speed cannot be increased beyond this point. In other words, under these hypothetical circumstances, the actual maximum speed is 92km/h instead of the rated 100km/h.

Gradabillty - Hill Cilmbing Performance

The gradability listed in the catalogue is for the first gear and shows the gradient at which maximum tractive effort equals running resistance. To get the gradability of the first gear, read the % value of the running resistance line tangent to the peak of the tractive effort curve.

In the case of the first gear, the running resistance line tangent to the peak of the tractive effort curve is not shown. However, if a line parallel to the 25 and 30% lines is drawn tangent to the peak of the tractive effort curve, it will be located midpoint between the 25 and 30% lines. Consequently, the tangent will be at point A on Graph 15 with a value of 27.5%

Gradabillty - Hill Cilmbing Performance

According to Graph 15, the tractive effort of the vehicle running at 40km/h in 3rd gear is about 870kg (point ). When climbing a 3% grade, the running resistance it ). The difference between the tractive effort and running encounters is 465kg (point

resistance is the surplus tractive effort:

This surplus of tractive effort will enable the vehicle to accelerate and negotiate rough road conditions when necessary. When the gear is shifted from 3rd to 4th, the tractive effort is reduced to 555kg (point ) and the surplus tractive effort is lowered by 90kg:

This leaves hardly any margin of tractive effort for acceleration, when needed. From the above, it is evident that the greater the surplus tractive effort, the greater is the versatility and handling ease of the vehicle.