ZF Friedrichshafen’s 9HP nine-speed automatic transmission, which was first announced earlier this year, now has more specific details about it, though there’s still no mention of when it is expected to debut in a production vehicle.
The unit, which doesn’t replace the 8HP eight-speeder and is meant for passenger cars with front-transverse drive, will be available in two variant forms, covering a torque range between 280 and 480 Nm.
The transmission, which is stop-start capable (with only one friction shift element that needs to be closed for restarting), features four individual gearsets and six shifting elements. A torque converter is used in the 9HP as the standard starting element, with a multi-level torsion damper system minimising hydraulic losses and quick bridging of the torque converter lock-up clutch facilitated at low speeds. In hybrid-based applications, the torque converter is replaced by an electric motor.
ZF says the unit, with its extremely high total spread of 9.84, offers savings of up to 16% compared to today’s standard 6-speed automatic transmissions in front-transverse installations. In ninth gear, only 1,900 rpm is needed to cruise at 120 kph instead of 2,600 in a 6-speed transmission.
With a view in installation in a wide variety of vehicle applications, the 9HP has been prepared as a ‘construction kit’ – for example, an additional transfer case can be connected for all-wheel drive operation. In this case, it can be mated to ZF’s AWD Disconnect all-wheel drive, which can be decoupled – it actuates the rear axle drive only when needed, offering a fuel savings of around 5% compared to permanent all-wheel drive.
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at this rate, one day we will be reading up news on a 15-speed tranny.
Wow, that’s a lot of gears.
Off topic: Harve? Danny? Anyone to report on Canadian GP race? :( Sob sob, so sad… but an epic race nevertheless…
if not tuned prperly with the engine…its gonna take ages for the GB to choose the right gear…it could be a nightmare…..
personally it should not go beyond 6 speed for road going cars….
I guess you don’t know how auto gearboxes work?
nope..more like uve never driven anything more than a 4 speed auto…
gearbox nowadays are usually equipped with the +/- function or paddle shifters, shift the gear on your own lah. XD
this is ZF we’re talking about. not your campro with mismatched auto box.
as you say.. “if not tuned prperly with the engine…”
car manufacturer shall tuned it for you before you buy it ;-)
CVT Already !!!
9-speed!!!!! perlukah? why the company compare with 6-speed, didn’t BMW or LEXUS having 8-speed already? BMW is using ZF Friedrichshafen gearbox too. I think is more on “making more profit” by telling customer most advance technology & make them pay more.
Right right right. Then why move up from a 3-speed gearbox to a 6-speed gearbox? The answer is RATIO SPREAD. I take it you have no engineering knowledge?
besides making more money for the car manufacturers, gearbox with more gear ratios also benefits the driver by burning less fuel especially when crusing. So, there is definitely a need for such gearbox.
And also smoother rides too! =)
read this:
“The unit, which doesn’t replace the 8HP eight-speeder and is meant for passenger cars with front-transverse drive”…
This gearbox is for transverse engine (compact design), the 8speed gearbox in BMW and Lexus you mentioned is for longitudinal engine…
It is ‘perlu’ for better fuel consumption
That the way the automotic industries move…
Not like here, to sell your car, you need to get tax discount to sell cheap…
9 speeder!!! All efforts toward better fuel efficiency. P1 should try to catch up. If they can’t make better engines or transmissions, buy them. If both still can’t, better close shop.
hey, no offence but could there be any possibility that you’re the same guy that made the same comment?
”Only 100K testing? They should have at least 300KM testing for durability.
Dont waste time lah, just rebadge the Mit Grandis and ASX and make more profit. Another 4 years (2015) proton will close shop.”
The phrase ‘close shop’ sounds familiar. XD
P1 is a car company and ZF Friedrichshafen is a gearbox company.
Why should P1 build better gearboxes than ZF? Why i.e. BMW, VW and Nissan buy gearboxes from ZF and don’t develop their own ones? ;)
he mean P1 should buy gearbox from ZF Friedrichshafen
Wow… I wonder if they sell it as a kit for older 4-speed cars?
I wish for it too!
Proton should be using this!
no..because this gearbox is must be expensive
no..because proton-designed litte cute 1.6 engines are no more than 200Nm as this gearbox is designed for 280Nm to 480Nm
120km/h in 1900rpm… i think there is some car can cruise a lower than this with 4 or 5 speeder… no wonder they claim 16% improve in fc
You’re just shooting out from your ass.Even 7 speed DSG in Vw Golf cruises at 2400 rpm at 120km/h.Can you name me just one exampl of a 5 speeder which does better?
I remember reading somewhere in a forum, some american rebuilt his camaro with a 5 speed gearbox and cruise at some 70mph at something like 1800rpm… but that’s a low revving V8 so I don’t think that counts, right?
jeremy clarkson once say that lexus 8-speed box is simply to many. now there go to 9-speed gearbox!! dunno what to say
the same way people complain 6 is too many than 5 that is too many than 4…in the end its what we call progress
and why would we want to hear from that Brit bloke..his comment is mostly stooupid..
I think the news lacks of 1 core information; how much is the relative % power loss (either speed or torque loss)?
Yes ZF u can boast a few more tenth of speed but what matters most in modern engine is the less power loss; the better.
And 1900 rpm at 120kph doesn’t guarantee improvement in fc if torque loss is there. ZF suppose to come up with example of a certain engine output (XXXhp, XXXnm) to relate to the 16% of improvement.
ZF release a premature, lack of info news….
Alot of ZF boxes can run with a direct connection via lock up clutch, skipping the torque converter.
Yes that lock-up can be set early. It limit tranny slips but i’m sure they could forecast average loss for normal usage on passenger cars.
However, for a smaller engine with relatively low torque, setting excessively high ratio will only results higher FC.
Some are still proud owner of Wira 1.5 3-speed AT…
Just use CVT, they should be one of the most efficient type, most hybrids use it.
CVT is not as good as what you think in today’s World…
yes, there are indeed the downsides for the CVT but it’s still better than 4-speeder right? :P
The trend now is to adopt double-clutch gearbox but such gearbox has complicated structures, higher maintenance in the long run and expensive to make as VW and Getrag holds the patent.
Yep I agree…..It will be a day when we get tired of shifing gears….imagine shifting 15 to 20 gears….pehh. next year ZF will develop 10 speed. Actually I’m not supprise as Tractors and buses have many Speed gears.
Mott : )
errrr….this is an automatic gearbox. Why did you get tired? The gears shift by ‘itself’, automatically…
you are right. 10speed longitudinal gearbox is on da way… ;-)
tractors/buses/trailers/trucks many speeds gearbox:
actually they only have a set of 5, 6 or even 8 (example) gears, with 2 range selectors (high or low).
eg: for a 10 forward gears, gear 1 to 5 is at low range while 6 to 10 is actually gear 1 to 5 at high range.
confusing? find a trailer and ask permission from the driver to look at the gear lever and ask them to explain it to you ;-)
what’s next? ten-speeder in 2015?
it will be sooner than that ;-)
i thought 9 horse power…>.<
120km/h in 1900rpm…
demm!!! my manual Persona Elegance run at over 3000 rpm already at that speed…
hehee =P
but proton staff should know this. the PE munch the Karak (between the rm3 and rm5 toll, heading to KL) curves at 140 – 145 km/h with great steady attributes… tarak buang2 punya bang… without changing lanes… strictly without changing lanes sikit pun… single lane only!!!
i only feel the tyres “tergeliat” and grip loss little bit if go faster because the car run on stock silverstone kruizer 1 rubbers… i believe i can reach at least 160 km/h with better tyres…
applaud for proton staff… my stock 3 month old PE perform that well… the handling is great steady… the suspension performed great… and i love the campro when it starts whistling.. =) =) =)
don’t bother bashers… they didn’t push the PE that well… only bother when they bash the build quality… hiks =P
And what does Persona handling got to do with ZF slushbox?
sorry wrong entry.. =P
Here is what James May take on gearbox
http://www.topgear.com/uk/james-may/may-razors-2011
I kinda agree with him. It should be just a simple forward and backward. That’s all.
save consumption by 19%… hmm sounds nice. but how much does it cost for servicing? how about service interval?
More gear = more complex gearbox = more money to service.
IMHO average speed highway is approx 100-160km/h; best balance between enjoyment & money wise we dont need such 9 gears. 5 to 7 should be sufficient.
the good thing about automatic gearbox is that the maintenance is low as the global volume is huge and sharing parts means lower cost to build.
I suppose maintaining an automatic gearbox won’t cost too much unless u needed an ‘overhaul’.. :P
You know what? If someone can build gears that can grow and shrink, we only need 1-speed gearbox. And it would be smooth as silk too since there won’t be any gear shifting.
it is called CVT.. its been in the market for some time already ;-)