Mercedes to Up The Ante in Transmission Wars With 9-speed?
07-20-10 | 05:07 AM
#35
Lexus Champion
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,651
Likes: 0
From: Stuttgart
I think this is the "natural progression" in the car market. The number of gears a transmission offers will only increase from now on. Back in the 1930s through to the 1970s it wasn't uncommon to have cars with a 3/4-speed manual transmission or a 2/3-speed automatic transmission. In the 80s, 4-speed automatic transmissions became the norm and in the mid 1990s 5-speed automatics were the in-thing. The progress at which transmissions and the number of gears they have has simply become accelerated in this day and age, no doubt because of the new focus on improving fuel economy and cutting emissions.
A few years ago you would have gotten weird looks if you claimed that smaller luxury/economy cars needed an automatic transmission option with say five to six gears. Well, my BMW 118d has a 6-speed automatic transmission and I'm getting excellent fuel economy thanks in part to its setup and gear ratios. On the autobahns, the top five and six gears really decrease engine RPM and thus aid in the improvement of fuel economy (although aerodynamics are equally important at this stage).
The article also mentioned that this transmission will be available for the higher-end models, which means these vehicles will be heavier, more powerful and have a need for such a transmission if it can help boost performance while keeping the fuel consumption down. For such vehicles, I can see this transmission making a lot of sense.
It's not that the current 7-speed automatic from Mercedes is outdated. But two extra gears? Those might have some advantages.
A few years ago you would have gotten weird looks if you claimed that smaller luxury/economy cars needed an automatic transmission option with say five to six gears. Well, my BMW 118d has a 6-speed automatic transmission and I'm getting excellent fuel economy thanks in part to its setup and gear ratios. On the autobahns, the top five and six gears really decrease engine RPM and thus aid in the improvement of fuel economy (although aerodynamics are equally important at this stage).
The article also mentioned that this transmission will be available for the higher-end models, which means these vehicles will be heavier, more powerful and have a need for such a transmission if it can help boost performance while keeping the fuel consumption down. For such vehicles, I can see this transmission making a lot of sense.
It's not that the current 7-speed automatic from Mercedes is outdated. But two extra gears? Those might have some advantages.
07-20-10 | 07:09 AM
#37
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 14,100
Likes: 1
From: tech capital
In my experience the multi speed trannys are actually smoother than most 4 speed trannys due to the closer ratios combined with more sophisticed electronic and mechanical transmission systems.
07-20-10 | 08:01 AM
#38
I came across an M56 owner who traded his LS460 in cause he said the trans spent too much time hunting for the right gear, Im sure the M56 is just a different car all together, not so much a trans issue for his trade, never have I driven an LS460, but having had a lot of time behind the wheel of an FX50, G37 and M56, I really can't feel the shifting, you can hear it, not so much feel it at all, super smooth, I test drove an LS460 (I don't think a test drive qualifies to write about ownership experience of owning and driving day to day) and it was super smooth, but the car felt like a vault, I liked it but not for me.
Though I was skeptical at fist, I ended up not minding this many gears, and thats coming from my 5 speed clutch-manual RX-7. For my daily driving purposes, automatic mode handles the shifting just fine in the F, while spirited paddle-shifted driving means I'm most definitely not in 7th or 8th, or for that matter, not into enough speed to be in 5th or 6th, either...4th already has you in illegal triple-digits. The idea that one would be shifting too much, then, seems a bit stretched, unless they're actually trying to drive around town while shifting through all 8 gears (pointless, IMO). Doing this would of course exhaust most drivers, especially those who are not accustomed to how the car behaves (I've noticed this from people who take briefer test drives).
As for fuel savings, I recently returned from a 300+ mile trip, and netted an abnormal 28mpg, all highway (25 is more the norm)...not arguing with that. I'd have to drive and see for myself what a 9th gear does for a future Mercedes vehicle, but I'm not against it. How they build the car, in conjunction with the gearbox, is going to be more telling.
07-20-10 | 01:08 PM
#41
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 1,595
Likes: 6
From: Bay Area, CA
07-20-10 | 03:56 PM
#43
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,595
Likes: 60
From: CA
the AT arms race...lexus came out with the first 8 speed, now mb with the first 9 speed. though its unlikely that many will ever need that many gears, fuel efficiency does play a big role in meeting the fuel standards in the future. the high end vehicles (e, s, and cl class come to mind) can benefit very much from better fuel efficiency.
07-21-10 | 07:35 AM
#45
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 14,100
Likes: 1
From: tech capital
The fact is the best multispeed trannys shift so smooth and quiet that most people cannot even detect the upshifts and downshifts. Plus the ratios are so close that big jumps in ratios don't happen.