Six-speed automatics gearing up for mass production
According to new information complied by the research firm CSM Worldwide; six-speed automatics will be the norm for domestic manufactures by 2015. Currently, the standard four-speed automatic has dominated the marketplace for the past several years, but as fuel efficiency becomes more of a factor in consumer purchases, the addition of two more gears will become a necessity to remain competitive.
The research is centered around Ford and General Motor's plans for auto-offerings over the next decade, with three-quarters of GM's lineup to be equipped by 2012 and half of Ford's fleet rolling with six-speeds by 2015. Fuel consumption is said to decrease between four and eight percent on vehicles equipped with the new gearbox.
Many other brands, including Toyota and Chrysler have six-speed automatics already in the works or currently on the road, with Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus, stuffing eight speeds into its new LS460 luxo-barge.
Interestingly, CSM expects a very small (one to five percent) increase in the use of continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) over the same time period.
[Source: Edmund's Inside Line]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Vinny 4:21PM (8/28/2006)
Hmmm, the article states the move from 4 speed to 6 speed automatic's will improve gas mileage by 4-8% whereas CVT's supposedly improve gas mileage by 10% or more. Let's see here.. last I checked, 10% was bigger then 4%... seems to me CVT's make more sense then don't they?!?! So why the hell aren't more car makers using them?
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Tommy 12:43PM (8/28/2006)
Huh? Much more likely to see the cheaper CVTs with better programming as mainstays. IMO 6+ speed autos will be confined to the upper tiers of the auto market or as a near-luxury cue in midsizes.
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Nick 12:09AM (8/29/2006)
That's certainly supposed to read DaimlerChrysler, and not simply Chrysler, right? It's Benz that has 6-speed autos, not Chrysler.
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Whiplash 1:23PM (8/28/2006)
So why aren't CVT's more popular? Seems to me that it's a more efficient technology.
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Noah 1:16PM (8/28/2006)
Why the heck would they invest in 6 speed autos when CVTs are philosophically better for both performance and efficiency? Don't give me that "their not strong enough" BS because theres no shortage of guys racing 200hp snowmobiles using them. Also there are number of large industrial units that handle simply massive amounts of torque for non vehicular purposes.
Sure they get a bad rap but that's because the ones they keep throwing in cars are poorly designed and of even lower quality.
--Noah
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Poopy Head 1:28PM (8/28/2006)
It's more efficient in city driving do to the unlimited amount of ratios, but most lack torque converter lockup, which damages highway mileage and calls for fluid changes that are shorter than conventional automatics.
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Jeff the Baptist 1:38PM (8/28/2006)
Don't give me that "their not strong enough" BS because theres no shortage of guys racing 200hp snowmobiles using them.
Yes they make 200 horses and no torque whatsoever. Torque is generally the problem here.
the addition of two more gears will become a necessity to remain competitive.
The 4-speed is already uncompetitive in several car markets. Nobody wants a 4-speed in the compact or midsize arenas. There just isn't enough powerband there, especially with a four cylinder. The people offering them (like most American companies unfortunately) do so because they are cheap.
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verdegrrl 8:59PM (8/28/2006)
People aren't used to the sound and sensation of a CVT.
Audi has offered them for some years now on the A4 and A6. I think Saturn has one too.
http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/gearbox/tech_gear_cvt.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
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Seabass 2:25PM (8/28/2006)
Saturn had them, then dropped them. Too many times they broke, and dealers couldn't sell enough of them.
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K 3:25PM (8/28/2006)
There are several six-speeds being sold now. The GM/Ford designs seem excellent and they have brand-new plants to crank them out.
I am amazed they aim for only about 50% within five years. Hell, get a move on! Four-speeds are hurting you now and it will get worse every year.
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PJ 2:43PM (8/28/2006)
"six-speed automatics will be the norm for domestic manufactures by 2015."
Well shXt, I would hope so. They're rapidly becoming the norm for European manufacturers, particularly VW/Audi and BMW. Japanese manufacturers likely won't be far behind, considering that Toyota is already featuring them on a handful of models.
Kudos to Ford for getting a 6-speed into the Five Hundred and Freestyle, but sadly, it's not a very smooth or responsive one.
It'll be interesting to see how quickly consumers warm to CVTs. Compared to the four-speed autos most drivers are used to, a CVT might not feel that much stranger than the frequent shifting of a six- or seven-speed. I wouldn't be surprised if that, plus fuel economy concerns, made CVTs the norm by 2015, rather than 6-speeds.
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Jeff Banks 3:07PM (8/28/2006)
I believe the Hyundai Tiburon was availible with a CVT as well on their lower end models.
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gkz 3:17PM (8/28/2006)
It is absolutely pathetic how far the American companies are behind the Germans and Asians in this respect. German companies started using 5 gears in the mid-late 90's, switched to 6 gears not much later. An apprx. 15 year gap until the Americans catch up is shameful.
#5 - Audi only offered the CVT on FWD versions of the a4 and a6... good luck finding one of those in the US.
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boskov 2:07PM (9/19/2006)
what a shame, so this is where all the grannies are hiding out... I'll tell u I'm only here to get a comment in, the SuperCar Forums are just jam-packed and thats my thing, 0-100 in 3.4s, not 0-100 in 3.5 years...
WHAT ARE WE TALKIN ABOUT HERE ANYWAY
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KT 3:44PM (8/28/2006)
Ford has has several models with 6sp and a couple with CVTs.
CVT - Freestyle/500/Montego/Escape&Mariner Hybrid
6sp - Fusion/Milan/Zephyr/Explorer/SportTrac/Mntr/500/Montego
and 07 Expedition/Edge/MKX
Suprisong how few people realize these cars have 6sp and CVT's...some of them since late 04 (as 05 models).
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digitalzombie 3:47PM (8/28/2006)
Ahem, (hehe) I'm surprise noone has mention Nissan trying to replace all automatic with CVT. Since they own the majority share of Jatco (some transmission CVT company) and they have stated their intention of doing so. Did i mention 200+ ponies on a CVT?
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Tri-Bob 3:59PM (8/28/2006)
I am no engineer, but it seems more gears would eventually lead to better efficiency (ever look at the number of gears in a semi). I just hope they can do it in an economical way. When you make things more complex, it also makes it harder to fix them.
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The other Bob 4:38PM (8/28/2006)
If fuel consumption only improves from 4 to 8 percent by increasing the number of gears by 50% (4 speed to 6 speed), then what's the point of going to a seven speed tranny which increases the number of gears by only 15% over a 6 speed? The law of diminishing returns will surely apply here and you will not see much improvement in efficiency.
I think advertising 7 or 8 speed transmissions is just to one-up the competition, it really doesn't offer much to the consumer other than more expense.
It's bull that only the Domestics are ripped on for having 4 speeds standard. As far as the imports going to 6 speeds, there are many imports that still only offer 4 speeds on their base engines. Including the 2007 Rav 4, Corolla, Tacoma, Senata, Altima, all Scions and more. (I got bored looking) As mentioned in another post, many domestics have 5 or 6 speeds standard and GM's entire line is going to offer 6 speeds shortly. Frankly, GM's 4 speeds when coupled with pushrod engines are getting better mileage than many other cars with OHC engines and 5 or 6 speeds anyway.
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K 5:03PM (8/28/2006)
theother: Right, each added gear does produced less improvement in mileage. So we won't see ten or twenty.
Large diesel trucks often have over ten gears but they have a different task - moving thirty tons instead of two with an engine little bigger than a car has.
Additional gears smooth RPM changes which produces a silky. luxurious feel and a little less cabin noise.
The CVT theoretically is perfect gearing but has some other problems.
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MikeW 5:15PM (8/28/2006)
JATCO claims their 5 speed auto was out in 1989
http://www.jatco.co.jp/ENGLISH/PRODUCTS/at_history.html
beating ZF and MB by a numerical year.
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and soon to be released 2007 BMW 7 series.
The 6 speed automatic is standard now. (What kind of crappy myopic analyst projected 2015 for doemestics, it better be 100% by 2010 if the Big 2.5 want to be in business & don't want to cede the auto market to the chinese)
MB 7 speed automatic has the same ratio spread as the ZF 6 speed automatics. The ZF 7p automatic has a wet clutch and very wide ratio coverage 7.28:1.
The 2004 RX330 has a 4 speed automatic in front of a simple planetary gear (5.6:1), for a total of 8 forward ratios, but the programming gives it 5 forward- 1,2,3 all in 'low range' then the planetary is locked for 3,4 in 'high range'
ALL CVTs lock up the torque converter 'at highway speeds', hell all automatic transmissions lockup the torque converter 'at highway speeds', and plenty have partial lockup down to about 30mph. The Audi Multitronic doesn't even have a torque converter. The problem with CVTs is LONG term durability because the variators will wear out if changing ratios under full power.
The fuel economy guide used to differentiate between lockup and non-lockup torque converters, but they dropped that distinction before the time the Geo Metro was dropped (after 2001 my) 2001 Geo Metro 1.3 liter I4 3 speed auto 30/34, 2001 Dodge Neon 2.0 liter I4 3 speed auto (no EGR) 24/31.
CVT don't have unlimited gear ratios, IVTs do.
The new Golf (rabbit-stripper 2 door) can be had for $16,500 with a 6 speed automatic.
Come on toyota, put one in the Yaris, it needs it.
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