A utility vehicle has a CVT, an engine providing power to the CVT, a CVT case accommodating the CVT, front and rear wheels supporting the vehicle body frame on the ground surface and an exterior side panel supported to the vehicle body frame. The exterior side panel includes an inner wall located inside a vehicle cabin and an outer wall located outside the vehicle cabin. An intake chamber is formed between the inner wall and the outer wall of the exterior side panel. An intake opening portion is provided in the exterior side panel for introducing ambient air present around the exterior side panel to the intake chamber. The intake chamber and the CVT case are connected and communicated to each other via an intake hose.

A utility vehicle comprises a traveling driving power source which generates rotational driving power for driving a drive wheel; a continuously variable transmission including an input shaft to which the rotational driving power transmitted from the traveling driving power source is input, an output shaft which outputs the rotational driving power toward the drive wheel, a drive pulley provided at the input shaft, a driven pulley provided at the output shaft, and a belt wrapped around the drive pulley and the driven pulley; a clutch which is disposed in a driving power transmission path at a location that is between the belt and the drive wheel and is capable of disconnecting the driving power transmission path; and a clutch actuator which operates the clutch.

A drive switching mechanism of a utility vehicle includes: a two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device that switches between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive of the utility vehicle; and a control unit that controls the drive switching mechanism. The two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device switches between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive by using a first clutch. The control unit permits the two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device to switch from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive when a rotation difference of the first clutch becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.

A transaxle system for a golf car, wherein the system comprises a transaxle and a matting interface. The transaxle comprises a plurality of mounting flanges fixedly mountable to at least one axle tube of the golf car, wherein the at least one axle tube houses at least one wheel axle, and the transaxle is operably couplable to the at least one wheel axle. The transaxle additionally comprising a transaxle mounting collar that is fixedly mounted to or integrally formed with a housing of the transaxle. The mating interface is mountable to the transaxle mounting collar, and is structured and operable to have an integrated internal combustion engine-transmission unit of the golf car mounted thereto.

A vehicle includes three pairs of wheels, each pair being spaced apart in a right-left direction, three differential gears, respectively corresponding to the three pairs of wheels, and an engine that generates a rotation to be transmitted to the three pairs of wheels through the three differential gears. The engine is located rearward of a front differential gear that is any one of the three differential gears and is fixed to the front differential gear.

A drive package includes a remote located CVT and a motor where the CVT is positioned rearward (or forward) of the motor. An auxiliary drive mechanism couples a drive shaft of the CVT to a crankshaft of the motor. The auxiliary drive mechanism is a belt or chain. The drive shaft is substantially parallel to, and longitudinally offset from, the crankshaft. Thus, the width of the drive package is reduced as compared to ATVs having a CVT located adjacent the motor. A method of making an ATV with the drive package is provided.

A limited slip differential (LSD) is mounted on a driven axle of a vehicle to drive left and right wheels. To control the LSD, a current input torque applied to the LSD is determined and a predicted engine torque is determined based on an accelerator control position. A current average speed of the left and right wheels is also determined. A preload is applied to the LSD. The preload is determined based on the predicted engine torque and to the current average speed of the left and right wheels.

An axle driving apparatus may include a first rotary shaft connected to an internal combustion engine; a second connected to an electric motor; a third rotary shaft connected to a driving shaft of a wheel; an interlocking unit interlocking the first, second, and third rotary shaft; and an input and output switchover unit. The interlocking unit and the input and output switchover unit are structured to switch the interlocking unit between a first mode in which only the power of the internal combustion engine is output from the third rotary shaft, a second mode in which only the power of the electric motor is output from the third rotary shaft, a third mode in which the power of the internal combustion engine and the power of the electric motor are combined and output from the third rotary shaft, and a fourth mode in which the power of the internal combustion engine is output from the second rotary shaft to the electric motor.

A hybrid driving apparatus includes a forward-reverse switching mechanism, a transmission, an input path disposed on an output side of the forward-reverse switching mechanism, and a motor connected to the input path.

An off-road vehicle includes a frame, a front suspension, and a rear suspension. In some examples of the off-road vehicle, the rear suspension includes trailing arms with are pivotally attached to the frame rearward of an operator area. Further, the frame can include a front subframe assembly and a rear subframe assembly which are easily removable from the main frame of the vehicle to permit access to various components of the off-road vehicle.