Hyundai Heading to Market With Fuel-Saving 8-Speed Automatic Transmission
By John O'Dell November 4, 2008
Lexus, BMW,...Hyundai?
The South Korean automaker says it is getting ready to join the small list of automakers offering fuel-saving eight-speed transmissions.
Genesis sedan could be first Hyundai to get new eight-speed transmission after 2010.
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The transmission is to be made by the automaker's affiliated Hyundai Powertech Company.
Park wouldn't say which vehicles it might be used on, but figure it first for Hyundai's top-of-the-line Genesis sport sedan, now equipped with a six-speed automatic.
Expanding the number of discrete gear ratios in a transmission enables automakers to improve fuel economy because the engine torque is maximized and less energy is wasted.
Lexus is the only automaker now offering an eight-speed transmission, but Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen is about to introduce one with BMW as its first announced customer.
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And in more news, the joint program between Ford and GM that brought you the soon-to-be ubiquitous six-speed automatic transmission is at it again, this time seeing your 8 G's and raising you 10. That's right, Ford and GM have just announced the development of a brand new eighteen-speed automatic transmission. If you thought Huffy's were the only things on the road with 18 gears, you were wrong! After all, expanding the number of discrete gear ratios in a transmission enables automakers to improve fuel economy because the engine torque is maximized and less energy is wasted.
Are 8 gears (let alone 18) really necessary? How much better is it going to be than a regular old 7 or 6-speed transmission? I'll tell you. About 3%. Whoop-de-doo.
I never understood the race for more gears.
I drive a 8+ year old car. It has a four speed slushbox, overdrive, and lockup. Is it really a four speed or can I play games and claim it effectively has more? Would an eight speed, and it's added weight, really improve my MPG? I doubt it.
I guess I'm agreeing with greenpony.
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