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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The 1993 Williams FW15C was tested with an experimental continuously variable transmission (CVT) behind a Renault V10. The system could keep the engine near its strongest operating speed as the car accelerated, but the CVT was prohibited in Formula 1 before Williams could race the car in that configuration. “Banned for being too good” is shorthand for its perceived competitive advantage—not the story of a car that won races with a CVT.
What V10 car had a CVT?
It was a test version of the Williams FW15C, the Formula 1 chassis Williams raced in 1993. The experimental transmission was paired with a Renault V10. This was not a production car, nor a race-winning FW15C specification: Williams tested the CVT, but did not compete with it.
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RaceFans and Jalopnik both describe the project as an experiment rather than a race entry. Jalopnik reports the Renault V10 at about 780 horsepower at 13,800 rpm; that is a reported figure, not a power measurement independently established by the accounts cited here.
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How did the Williams CVT work?
A conventional gearbox offers a set of separate ratios. The test CVT used cones and a drive band to vary the ratio continuously, rather than shifting from one fixed gear to the next. As the car accelerated, the ratio could change to keep the engine near the rpm range where it made its strongest power.
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That is the practical basis of the “too good” description. With a fixed-ratio gearbox, each upshift changes the relationship between engine speed and road speed, and shifting interrupts the steady climb through the gears. A CVT can avoid those conventional shift interruptions and hold the engine near a chosen operating speed. The point was not that the transmission created more engine power, but that it could make more consistent use of the engine’s power band.
How did it compare with the conventional FW15C gearbox?
| Comparison | Experimental CVT | Conventional gearbox |
|---|---|---|
| Holding engine speed | Designed to vary the ratio continuously and keep the engine near its strongest operating speed. | Uses discrete ratios; engine speed changes as the car moves through the gears. |
| Interruption from shifts | Avoids the conventional sequence of fixed-gear upshifts. | Requires gear changes during acceleration. |
| Reported test performance | Jalopnik says the CVT test was dramatically quicker, but provides no primary timing sheet in the account cited here. | No directly comparable timing data is established in the accounts cited here. |
| Durability evidence | A complete primary durability study is not established in the accounts cited here. | A directly comparable durability study is not stated in those accounts. |
| Formula 1 legality | Not permitted to transmit Formula 1 power under the FIA technical regulations. | The conventional arrangement was permitted. |
| Race status | Tested, but not raced on the FW15C. | The FW15C raced in its conventional configuration. |
Why was the CVT banned?
The FIA technical regulations prohibit continuously variable transmission systems from transmitting Formula 1 power. Historical accounts connect that prohibition to the CVT’s potential advantage: keeping the engine at an optimum operating speed rather than letting engine speed rise and fall through fixed gears. The concern was that this could upset competitive balance.
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The available historical accounts do not establish a single vote or complete rule-making chronology for the 1993 decision. It is more accurate to say the technology was prohibited before it could be used in a race than to claim a specific meeting or vote caused the ban.
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Jalopnik reports that the CVT test was dramatically quicker than the conventional arrangement. That is a reported testing claim, not a verified race result: the account does not provide a primary timing sheet, and the CVT-equipped car never raced. The evidence supports the explanation for why the idea attracted attention, but it does not justify presenting a precise lap-time gain as an independently confirmed figure.
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Was the Williams FW15C CVT ever raced, and what happened to it?
No. The experimental CVT was tested, then Formula 1’s prohibition prevented it from competing. The FW15C did race with a conventional gearbox, but not with this transmission. The historical accounts cited here establish the test and the ban; they do not establish the later disposition of the experimental gearbox itself.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why was the FW15C called “a little Airbus”?
Jalopnik attributes the phrase “a little Airbus” to Alain Prost, referring to the FW15C’s concentration of advanced technology. The remark is an attributed historical quotation, not a formal description of the CVT or proof of its performance.
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