We have been developing a dry hybrid belt, “BANDO AVANCE” as next generation V-belts for heavy duty use of CVT for more than 15 years. Now, sub-compact (mini) cars in which a CVT is equipped using the dry hybrid belt have been commercially available in the Japanese market since October, 1998. The dry hybrid belt consists of a pair of tension members and many lateral H-shaped block. About 200 blocks are connected with each other by tension members. The tension members are inserted into the grooves between upper and lower arms of block.

In the present paper, the detailed descriptions and performance of the dry hybrid belt in power transmission are given. Due to the optimized configuration of blocks and appropriate selection of materials, more than 95% in power transmitting efficiency is achieved as well as long life. A performance of sub-compact cars equipped with the newly developed CVT using AVANE is as high as that of sub-compact cars equipped with 5 MT not only in fuel consumption but also in drivability.