automatic transmission

Boo and hiss all you want, but the truth is that manual transmissions aren't for everybody. When Fiat launched the hot little 500 Abarth last year, it did so with a five-speed manual as the only transmission available, but according to Ward's Auto, that might change. "We're not opposed to doing ...

Among the future shocks to be shown at the rapidly approaching Geneva Motor Show, Land Rover will be displaying a nine-speed transmission it has been working with ZF to develop. Engineered for transverse – read: usually front-wheel drive – applications, the ZF 9HP will replace the ...

How many is too many? When you're talking the number of ratios offered in automatic transmissions, it seems the industry is always interested in adding one more gear; four-speeds turned into five, then six, seven and now eight. Where will it all end? According to Stefan Sommer, CEO of ...

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and Ford with partner with General Motors on new transmission technology. Has anyone dusted off that old Mayan calendar lately? We're not sure that a Ford/GM tech share speaks to the end of days, but we're not ruling ...

Remember the Powerglide? An automatic with two forward speeds, it's almost inconceivable today that such a transmission was ever state of the art. Why, we've heard plenty of grumbling from the peanut gallery about Honda and its continued widespread use of a five-speed automatic when most of the ...

In an effort to appeal to a much wider range of shoppers, Chevrolet has announced that its turbocharged Sonic models will now be available with a six-speed automatic transmission. Up until now, manual-averse customers were stuck with the 1.8-liter naturally aspirated inline-four – by our ...

Lamborghini is apparently chomping at the bit to say arrivederci to the manual transmission. Motor Trend had a chance to speak with Maurizio Reggiani, Lamborghini's R&D director, and it appears that a manual gearbox doesn't fit into the automaker's plans for the future. The immediate ...

Generally speaking, all of us at Autoblog prefer to drive a manual. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. For instance, driving a supremely sedate luxury car with anything other than a ...

How many gears are enough? While it seems that six-speed automatic transmissions are just now becoming the de facto standard in most circles, Mercedes-Benz has been working with seven ratios for a while now and Lexus did its German rival one better by designing its own eight-speed. Not content to ...

The ultimate Aston Martin is only a year old, but it's already getting some updates including a new automatic transmission. The DBS will receive an optional automatic transmission dubbed the TouchTronic 2 for the 2009 model year, a ...