Bigger, better, faster, more. Such is the world we live in now that something like the automatic transmission for the passenger car has a composed madness about it. 6-speed? Antiquated. Seven? Passe, man. 8 then? Acceptable enough, sure, but how about nine, eh?
That’s the number ZF Friedrichshafen has come up with for its spanking new nine-speed gearbox, developed for vehicles with a transverse engine, which it says will significantly improve fuel economy in front-engined cars.
The company had already presented the case for the box as a concept study at the 2009 IAA in Frankfurt, and now that box has been announced in Detroit as a reality for series development – it will be produced at ZF’s new US plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Chrysler has been named as one of the tranny’s first customers, with the company set to equip its minivans with the gearbox in 2013.
Packaged in a size similar to its eight-speed automatic transmission used in longitudinal installations, ZF says the new nine-speeder ensures extremely short response and shifting times below the threshold of perception, and makes seamless double shifts and direct multiple gearshifts possible. The modern shock absorber systems in the torque converter, which make a rapid lock-up of the converter clutch possible, also mean better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions.
So, money’s on to see when 10 becomes the new black. Can we expect a day when we’ll have a passenger car with 18 forward and three reverse gears then?
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Not sure why the big number of ratios unless it was for a semi.
One can go for a CVT no for unlimited ratios….Newer CVTs are pretty good and don’t really suffer as much of the old rubberband effect CVTs from some 10 years back
cvt cannot for big cc cars la.
But still CVT can only handle a limited amount of torque.
I don’t know i.e. any turbodiesel with a CVT…
I think i just posted yesterday but didnt shown up.. Audi A6 TDI did have CVT (Multitronic) on their turbodiesel engine.. Just google it..
1st, form coupling is always better than friction coupling(which most CVT based on).
2nd, efficiency. in urban driving CVT keep engine rpm&load at it’s best brake specific fuel consumption which is very good. but for cruising – manual gearbox on direct (~1:1 ratio) drive is way more efficient.
I don’t know how you define Big CC cars.
The murano had a CVT on the VQ35. I think for most of us 3.5L is quite a big engine. That was some 6 years ago. I’m sure they have improved on that.
Having a standard auto doesn’t mean it can handle lots of torque…it all depends on the design specification, even Mercedes had to downgrade their gearboxes on thier forcefed AMG monsters.
Incidentally, the more power/torque you have the less gears you need especially if you have a chassis to match
On my camaro, I only use 1st, 4th and 6th. Other gears are redundent unless I was really gunning for it. The car itself actually locks out 2nd and 3rd on low throttle gear changes to save gas.
for cars with high torque?
9 gears are way too much imho
Penat la tangan nak menukar gear … ishk.
err.. it’s not a stick shift gearbox.
this is getting out of hand!
How bout a tri clutch gear box?that should sound good eh
For 15-20 years we only had 4-speed auto gearboxes but in the past 5-10 years we went from 4-speed to 9-speed! That’s progress!
The iswara sold in 2002 had only 3 gears.
Talking abt dumping ground for old tech
i owned a saga auto during uni days with same 3 speed auto as iswara you mentioned (i think)..
man the fuel consumption was crazy as hell!!
maybe one day u’ll be old enough to see a 13 speed too =D
But most of bolehland new car still using 4 speed lar…and the rakyat is very happy with it….how to chase? 9 speed wor?
interesting. really want to know how they fit a torque converter and the planetery gearsets into such a tight package. Torque converter autos normally can handle high torque loads. This one may have significantly reduced Torque rating I think
Nice if they come out with a manual gearbox hahaha
Really a suggestion but hard to allocate the gear speed in conventional H pattern in manual transmission. Kind of funny of four Hs glued together side-by-side.
Some lorries have a two-layer H pattern. First layer is low gears (1-6), second layer is high gears(7-12).
You have to pull the lever to get into high gears and to push to get into low gears.
BTW: Some lorries have a electric coupled intermediate gearbox too, operated by a pushbutton on the lever. This doubles the number of gears to 24 in above case, all manually operated… ;)
Kind of technical to operate but implementation on cars may not be feasible.
Yes, you’re absolutely right.
Not to forget, that driving a lorry is different than driving a car.
I.e. with an empty lorry you would not use gear 1-2-3-etc. but 3-5-7, etc.
The small or even gears are only used when going uphill with full load or when you use the engine as a brake going downhill.
some may remember they have that on cars too….point to note the 1980 Mitsu Colt had a 4×2 H pattern. basically 4 speeds x 2 final drives
Here we only have 4-speed auto for most small and medium cars, haihhh… so sad..
not really surprised, even our advanced PT-91M tanks has 8 speed auto gearbox with 3 reverse gears lol :D jk
ZF 9-speed + Veyron = epic top speed win? :D
i don’t think it’ll affect top speed. it may increase the acceleration but not top speed as the main limit at such speed is aerodynamic drag.
Well, gear ratio also did effect the acceleration & top speed.. If u have a longer gear ratio at final, u may get a higher top speed. But like what u mention, aerodynamic drag may also effect top speed also..
Bak pepatah kate sheryl crow
” If it makes you Happpeeeeeeeeeee , it can’t be that baaaaAAaaaAad~! ”
Anything that improves fuel economy is a good thing, you can put a gazilion gears as long as its seamless and automatic
Most cars nowadays come standard with 6 gears auto. Some 4-5 years, 7 gears.. next 4-5 years 8 gears… and goes on..
One possible reason for this is to save fuel. Since most cars nowadays are good fuel sippers.
Wait for wawasan 2020. Mesti ada 20 gear.
tranny.
that word always makes me laugh.
I learned to drive on a 1950 Chevrolet with only 3 speeds.
buddy.. it takes one to know one
A 9-speed tranny? Surely that’s a moonshot by any standards. One word: Pointless.
Anything benefits we do not understand is usually labeled as ‘pointless’
more gears to be broken..
more solenoid to be faulty…
more hydraulic valve to be clogged…
yeah..even more money to repair/maintain this too-much gearbox gearing…
I think it make more sense on modern diesel vehicle to compensate the relatively short redline…
yeah, but modern diesels now rev up to 5500rpm…..
ooh..car transmission system is finally catching up road/mountain bike transmission..we have 10 cogs at the rear in bike now like 2 years back only..
Most of the on the road auto Wira is only 3 speeds. 3 x 3 = 9.
Why can’t they enhance the CVT and make it more robust for high torque/horsepower engine rather than increasing number of gears in tranny?
As CVT does gives the best shifting point at engine’s optimum speed.
After all this ‘n’ speed gearboxes, comes a fully electric car with no gearbox.
Motor controlled by VFD and direct drive. People with the 28 speed gearbox cars will look like morons.
What car have 9-speed auto?please tell me!