GM's 8 Speed Automatic is in the Works

[logansowner]

I really believe that the best number is either 5 or 6. With 7 or 8 gears, it's just going to shift all the time. 4 is not enough, but 8 is too many.

Hell, my CBR is a 6 speed because it's a 600 and they are peaky, but my RM450 is a 4 speed because it's got the torque to cover fewer gears, which is nice on a trail ride because you aren't shifting all the time.

If anything, this trend of the 6 speeds in the loaded vehicles is not as beneficial as it would be to add more gears to the small peaky 4 bangers...but alas, I know it's a money issue more than anything.

[Exploder]

I just hope all 4-speeds are phased out by the end of the decade first. It will be nice to see the big Cadillacs (DT7 and ULS, but I prefer to call them ETS and FBS) have the 8-speed.

[Darc Requiem]

Plane you make GMI a great forum to be a member of. Never leave here and never change.

[WishIhadatruck]

I haven't heard anything about the 8-speed in quite some time. Glad to hear it is still coming along. They will need it to be competitive, at least at Cadillac.

They do need to hurry up and phase out all the 4-speeds. Even the small Honda Fit has a 5-speed. Many other small cars still have 4-speeds but GM would be smart to not be the last one to phase them out. Hopefully once the 6-speeds are ramped up the 4-speeds are all gone. They don't seem to plan to do any 5-speeds in house so I'm guessing all the small cars will jump from 4-6 like everything else.

I don't really know much about them but I've often heard the new 6-speeds from GM being described as a clutch to clutch shifting auto. Does that mean the torque converter stays locked up through all the shifts once you are past 1st gear? If so, how much better is a DCT for fuel economy or anything else?

[commodorecoops]

Originally Posted by samkung

PS: Please keep the 8-speed Cadillac exclusive!!!!

Maybe it's destined for use behind the V12 Holden is currently developing for Cadillac?

[member12]

I think they should focus on getting the six speeds out. It's rediculous how long it's taking...and GM's size is not a good excuse, because Toyota and Ford are switching over faster.


At least they have 8 speed autos in the works (probably mostly for Cadillac at first). I think only the higher end cars have the 8 speeds now. I'm curious to see how it performs...it seems like it would be constantly shifting.

I know the six speeds are finally starting to slowly trickle into the T900s. That's great news.

[FenwickHockey65]

Originally Posted by samkung

Maybe GM should just spend some money to have a 5-speed instead, and use it to replace all the low end 4 speed.

PS: Please keep the 8-speed Cadillac exclusive!!!!

I heard it was going into trucks as well...

[member12]

^^really? Wow...it would be nice to have a truck that is just as efficient at 75 mph as mine is at 50 mph. Maybe new six and eight speeds combined with better aerodynamics would help.

Originally Posted by plane

GM will never have a DCT.
That's because GM steadfastly refuses to build any transmission with more than 4 gears.
Those so called "Six-Speed" transmissions?
Total marketing bull****.
Unless you buy the two-speed rear end, it's the same 4-speed under the aluminum.
Or so I've been told.
By a Honda salesman.
He seemed really believable.

That's awesome, plane.

[Stéphane Dumas]

that's a good news, btw, I wonder if someone will dust-off the 8-speed manual transmission who was offered in the 1979-84 Dodge Colt/Plymouth Champ/Mitsubishi Mirage?

[Z16monte]

Originally Posted by member12

^^really? Wow...it would be nice to have a truck that is just as efficient at 75 mph as mine is at 50 mph. Maybe new six and eight speeds combined with better aerodynamics would help.



That's awesome, plane.

Top gear probably won't be any more effecient than now. OD gearing is probably going to stay about the same.Over all more gears are mostly marketing hype. Most powerbands simply aren't narrow enough to take advantage of 6+ ratios in a trans.
Ed

[HotCarNut]

Originally Posted by minnfang

That's cool for marketing, etc. but... More than six speeds in a car is just retarded. Even motorcycles with their peaky powerbands only have six.

Technically speaking, adding a bajillion gears to cars with the biggest engines makes little sense. Cars with the smallest engines could benefit the most from more gears. Flame away.

I'd like more gears in my 2WD Acadia, and it has the 6 speed. The problem is that the damn gears are incredibly close and the thing is in it's top gear at 45. That's great when you're driving in town, but I'd love an 8 speed where 7th kicks in at 55 and 8th kicks in at 65 for maximum fuel economy. In other words, give me overdrive gears that let me drive the legal speed limit with great fuel economy. The vette may be able to loaf along at 75 at 1300 rpm, but my 5000 lb CUV with a V6 needs 2200 rpm and the gas mileage drops like a rock from the EPA estimates. At 55, I'll get 24-25. At 65, I'll get 22-23. At 75, I get 19.5-20.5. All of those are per the on-board computer and backed up by manual calculations when I stop for gas. I want the thing geared so that at 70 mph (highway speed limit here in Indiana) I can get 23-24 mpg.

[zabolots]

I just hope that there's a secret project in GM Powertrain to do a DCT. It would be a big mistake by GM to ignore this technology. You get the best of both worlds: direct engine-to-tranny connection with full automatic shifting capabilities. In the world of the new CAFE, I'd think that getting rid of the slip in the torque converter would be a high priority.

[ericmvest]

Originally Posted by plane

Yes, GM does make too many 4-speeds, but that is rapidly diminishing to the point of extinction and GM is not the only manufacturer still doing this.

You are right. Toyota still uses 4 speed automatics in many of their cars. The new Corolla and Matrix uses 4 speed automatics in some trim levels.

[psece]

Originally Posted by samkung

Maybe GM should just spend some money to have a 5-speed instead, and use it to replace all the low end 4 speed.

PS: Please keep the 8-speed Cadillac exclusive!!!!

BMW is using up the 5 speeds....

[69Firebird400]

Interesting - I haven't seen a single post saying "six speeds are enough" or "eight ratios are too many/ridiculous."

For the record, I think eight may be too many - the fuel economy improvement is probably pretty marginal, but I guess it helps - but Mercedes has been able to get impressive performance and economy from their seven speed, so why not?? Also, if eight ratios is the price of admission in the ultra-lux segment, then I really do hope GM has something there to compete.

I'd prefer they built (or licensed) a world-class DSG for the Corvette, CTS-V, XLR, STS-V, etc. before they moved to eight speed torque converter automatics.