It DOES look cool, 88. At first, I thought this was just a rebirth of Buick's old "dyna-flow" torque converter design, but I see it's far different. I think Honda has something similar in their later cars now, and it's been there for 3-4 years, so it must be working for them.
When you think about it, a "shift", no matter how well designed, puts stress on something. And, where there's stress, there's "wear and tear".
I sure like the concept. Kind of like the difference between tri-focal glasses and "progressive" lenses!
(For us old farts!)
- Jack