I thought the 9 speeds Chrysler and Honda put in their cars was high..... now VW is going to ten. Supposedly this is the realistic maximum because, according to the CEO of ZF Friedrichshafen, there is no more efficiency gained by adding more gears. It reminds me of calculus. You keep subdividing the curve into smaller & smaller areas until you have a near-equal approximation (of a CVT). Volkswagen introduces 10-speed transmission for better fuel efficiency
Our first vehicle, an '81 Civic, had the Hondamatic. I'm fuzzy as hell on how it worked, maybe someone can confirm, I think it had 2 forward gears, and while it was an clutchless automatic, you selected the gear.
2 gears. Wow. My first car had 3 gears which meant it was going at 3500 rpm down the interstate. Such a gas guzzler, but gas only cost $2 (in today's devalued paper) so nobody cared. Of course Honda came from building motorcycles, and they were learning to build cars on the fly. Ever seen the video of Jay Leno with his S600 (that's 600 cc). The car sounds just like a motorcycle!
Wow, I thought they started with 3 forward gears. Our 1997 Corolla had a 3-speed automatic paired to a 1.6 litre DOHC I4 with 100hp and used as much as fuel as a current V6. Oddly enough, the DX 1.8 (or LE if you had the LE package) had better mileage with its 4-spd automatic and torquier motor.
Honda was calling the torque convertor lock-up a third speed. Two and three speeds weren't enough to allow for efficient gearing. Overdrive ratios didn't show up until we got a fourth speed. That was improved by adding a few more speeds. At 9+, I think we have more than required for the majority of drivers. VW will likely introduce this transmission to all its markets to spread the tranny's costs out, but it likely will only benefit those that regularly drive at Autobahn speeds.
A few years back- my bro in-law told me the new top series BMW 6 speed transmissions were sealed and were only swap-able even at the dealership level. Probably the same for the new VW 10 speed trannies- problems? swap it out for factory rebuilt....
Given Vee-Dubbaya's reputation with clutches and other drive-train problems, I'm thinking that I'll pass.....thanks.
I was under the impression Volkswagen had the best Direct-Shift gearing. (And Nissan has the best CVT..... and GM the best torque converter automatic.....)
I personally really like the current DSG in VW/Audi. We don't seem to get the same problem here in Europe that you guys get. It's fantastic to drive a Mk5 GTI (2.0T) or an .:R32 with DSG IMO
