[FenwickHockey65]

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/04/14/next-gen-bmw-7-series-to-get-8-speed-automatic/

"BMW's not content to be trailing with just 6 speeds, so the new 7-series (F01) will reportedly ship with an 8-speed automatic transmission."

What the hell happened to the 8 speed thing from GM a year or two ago??

 

[BPGTim]

ummm ahhhhh geeeee Don't we supply them the Tranny's ??

 

[EldoFan]

ummm ahhhhh geeeee Don't we supply them the Tranny's ??

Just two models.......the 325i and 528i (I believe)....the rest of the lineup is serviced by ZF trannies

I wouldn't worry too much about this......besides Lexus and now BMW, no other luxury brand uses an 8 speed tranny......besides, GM still has to get the archaic 4spds out of their system first (which IMO, is inexcusable already......)

 

[BGH]

Mercedes and Infiniti now both have 7 spds. BMW and Lexus if this rumor is true will have 8. VW and hence Audi have a 7 spd Dual clutch auto.

 

[mgescuro]

It is quite frustrating to see the rest of the world move on with more advanced, fuel saving transmissions, and even sportier transmissions, only to see GM continue to struggle to get 6-spds out to their line up.

However, GM really isn't the only one at this point. Honda/Acura is still stuck on 5-spds, which is also inexcusable. But they couple their transmissions with highly sophisticated engines, which somewhat makes up for the trannies.

And what ever did happen to teh GM 8-Speed?? Kinda strange. It was more PR Spin and vaporware, apparently??

If an 8-speed were to appear shortly, I would assume it would be in the new XLR.... or the upcoming DT7. 2011.... to get an 8-speed... GM would only be 4 years late to the party.

 

[unkillsam]

It is quite frustrating to see the rest of the world move on with more advanced, fuel saving transmissions, and even sportier transmissions, only to see GM continue to struggle to get 6-spds out to their line up.

However, GM really isn't the only one at this point. Honda/Acura is still stuck on 5-spds, which is also inexcusable. But they couple their transmissions with highly sophisticated engines, which somewhat makes up for the trannies.

And what ever did happen to teh GM 8-Speed?? Kinda strange. It was more PR Spin and vaporware, apparently??

If an 8-speed were to appear shortly, I would assume it would be in the new XLR.... or the upcoming DT7. 2011.... to get an 8-speed... GM would only be 4 years late to the party.

And BMW is always first to the party and last time I checked the German's are not know for their reliability.

Cadillac does not make a vehicle outside of the XLR that would cost enough to justify the 8-speed transmission.

Perhaps with the DTS-STS replacement they will have a vehicle worthy of such a transmission.

Oh, and btw to call a 4,000 lb V8 sedan fuel efficient because of a 8-speed transmission is laughable.

An 8-speed transmission in a 3,000 lb compact 4 cyl would actually work better, a V8 does not need 8-gears to be fuel efficient.

The Corvette beat the gas guzzler label for years with a 4-speed.

 

[EldoFan]

Cadillac does not make a vehicle outside of the XLR that would cost enough to justify the 8-speed transmission.

The XLR might cost enough to justify an 8 speed tranny.....but that doesn't mean it will actually sell......hell, shoehorning the Northstar into the Allante didn't do many wonders for sales......

 

[BGH]

And BMW is always first to the party and last time I checked the German's are not know for their reliability.

Cadillac does not make a vehicle outside of the XLR that would cost enough to justify the 8-speed transmission.

Perhaps with the DTS-STS replacement they will have a vehicle worthy of such a transmission.

Oh, and btw to call a 4,000 lb V8 sedan fuel efficient because of a 8-speed transmission is laughable.

An 8-speed transmission in a 3,000 lb compact 4 cyl would actually work better, a V8 does not need 8-gears to be fuel efficient.

The Corvette beat the gas guzzler label for years with a 4-speed.

Check out the Lexus LS. Very heavy car with a powerful V8, its fuel economy ain't all that bad and it pretty quick. Either way its about bragging rights. Companies would better off making their cars lighter, that way everything improves.

Maybe GM should consider outsourcing transmissions for there high end cars, so that way they can get the dual clutch transmissions and the 8 spds that are gonna become more and more common.

 

[escapen]

Ya when it seems the 6 speed auto is out of date we have a problem, o well let the germans have their tech as usual. The big 3 will have this tech in... cough.. 8 years

 

[unkillsam]

Check out the Lexus LS. Very heavy car with a powerful V8, its fuel economy ain't all that bad and it pretty quick. Either way its about bragging rights. Companies would better off making their cars lighter, that way everything improves.

Maybe GM should consider outsourcing transmissions for there high end cars, so that way they can get the dual clutch transmissions and the 8 spds that are gonna become more and more common.

And guess what GM trucks get better milage then Toyota trucks and the Toytota trucks have 2 more gears.

GM does not need the reliability nightmare that rushing out an 8-speed automatic would cause.

GM also does not need to be burning more cash to outsource more transmissions.

I would be comfortable if GM decided to stick with 6-speeds for now and introduced some 8-speed tranmissions later in some very high end Cadillacs.

However, the last thing GM needs to get into is a transmission war. Just like the horsepower wars, the number of gears in a transmission is not going to matter when we are driving electric cars.

 

[BGH]

And guess what GM trucks get better milage then Toyota trucks and the Toytota trucks have 2 more gears.

GM does not need the reliability nightmare that rushing out an 8-speed automatic would cause.

GM also does not need to be burning more cash to outsource more transmissions.

I would be comfortable if GM decided to stick with 6-speeds for now and introduced some 8-speed tranmissions later in some very high end Cadillacs.

However, the last thing GM needs to get into is a transmission war. Just like the horsepower wars, the number of gears in a transmission is not going to matter when we are driving electric cars.

The silverado 6.0 crew gets the same rating as the tundra 13/17. But according to a C&D test the tundra is faster. But lets not get into that.

Well there already is a transmission war. And since GM competes with these guys, or is at least trying to. It has no choice. If everyone is going to 7 and 8 spds, and dual clutch GM is going to need to come out with something and fairly quickly.

GM needs to spread the 6 spd across its mainstream lineup. But at the same time Cadillac needs a more advanced transmissions. Remember the other luxury makers are spreading their transmissions out across their whole lineup. The C class in mercedes now has a 7 spd along with everything else in their lineup (with some exceptions due to power). Infiniti released its 7 spd on the FX, and you can bet its moving to the rest of the lineup. And the Audi dual clutch stuff is even offered in VW.

So its not like the more advanced transmissions are limited to only the most expensive cars in the lineup. And if you have that impression, isn't that a good thing? Does that not imply they give an image of prestige and luxury?

So GM could outsource transmissions for Cadillac in the short term while they take care of their mainstream. Instead of developing the transmission then tooling up the factory while at the same time trying to get the 6 spds out.

 

[unkillsam]

The silverado 6.0 crew gets the same rating as the tundra 13/17. But according to a C&D test the tundra is faster. But lets not get into that.

Well there already is a transmission war. And since GM competes with these guys, or is at least trying to. It has no choice. If everyone is going to 7 and 8 spds, and dual clutch GM is going to need to come out with something and fairly quickly.

GM needs to spread the 6 spd across its mainstream lineup. But at the same time Cadillac needs a more advanced transmissions. Remember the other luxury makers are spreading their transmissions out across their whole lineup. The C class in mercedes now has a 7 spd along with everything else in their lineup (with some exceptions due to power). Infiniti released its 7 spd on the FX, and you can bet its moving to the rest of the lineup. And the Audi dual clutch stuff is even offered in VW.

So its not like the more advanced transmissions are limited to only the most expensive cars in the lineup. And if you have that impression, isn't that a good thing? Does that not imply they give an image of prestige and luxury?

So GM could outsource transmissions for Cadillac in the short term while they take care of their mainstream. Instead of developing the transmission then tooling up the factory while at the same time trying to get the 6 spds out.

My point was that Cadillac should be moving towards green luxury, something that Lexus is only pretending to do.

An 8-speed transmission will do nothing. A two-mode hybrid CTS would.

 

[rozz]

And guess what GM trucks get better milage then Toyota trucks and the Toytota trucks have 2 more gears.

GM does not need the reliability nightmare that rushing out an 8-speed automatic would cause.

GM also does not need to be burning more cash to outsource more transmissions.

I would be comfortable if GM decided to stick with 6-speeds for now and introduced some 8-speed tranmissions later in some very high end Cadillacs.

However, the last thing GM needs to get into is a transmission war. Just like the horsepower wars, the number of gears in a transmission is not going to matter when we are driving electric cars.

True, but...the Tundra also has more power, more torque, and more weight than the Silvy. The Silvy isn't that efficient in real life according to Motor Trend (?) or Car and Driver (?) or Edmunds (?) testing.

I think they actually said the Tundra beats the Silvy by 1 mpg overall for the 3 months of driving around town and highway. Do not quote me on the figure...just what I remembered.

So, I think the 6 speeds would really help the Silvy. :yup:

 

[unkillsam]

True, but...the Tundra also has more power, more torque, and more weight than the Silvy. The Silvy isn't that efficient in real life according to Motor Trend (?) or Car and Driver (?) or Edmunds (?) testing.

I think they actually said the Tundra beats the Silvy by 1 mpg overall for the 3 months of driving around town and highway. Do not quote me on the figure...just what I remembered.

So, I think the 6 speeds would really help the Silvy. :yup:

I never said they would. I was pointing out EPA number's which is all we can go by.

Secondly, the gap between 6 and 8 speeds as far as fuel economy is concerned is very, very small.

An 8-speed transmission is just one more invention that is supposed to make a man feel bigger in the britches.

 

[BGH]

My point was that Cadillac should be moving towards green luxury, something that Lexus is only pretending to do.

An 8-speed transmission will do nothing. A two-mode hybrid CTS would.

Green Luxury doesn't exist. All the products that define a true luxury brand are not in any way "green". When you think Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Ashton Martin Land Rover, Audi etc you don't think of Prius qualities. Sure, put out some hybrids just to look like your doing something but I don't think it will form the core of any of the luxury brands.

And an 8 spd is considered high tech. High tech is assumed to be more environmentally friendly. If this is true or not, it doesn't matter. It's about image.

Take the LS. It is offered as a hybrid. What is the coolest thing about that car? To some guy on the street or a car enthusiast. It's not that synergy drive thing available across the Toyota lineup. Its the fact it can park itself, and was the first with an 8 spd auto.

 

[rozz]

I never said they would. I was pointing out EPA number's which is all we can go by.

Secondly, the gap between 6 and 8 speeds as far as fuel economy is concerned is very, very small.

An 8-speed transmission is just one more invention that is supposed to make a man feel bigger in the britches.

You of all people should know not to go by the EPA testing. Most EPA testing is not accurate esp. the old EPA method.

 

[emh]

My point was that Cadillac should be moving towards green luxury, something that Lexus is only pretending to do.

An 8-speed transmission will do nothing. A two-mode hybrid CTS would.

Cadillac needs both... for different reasons.

Hybrids are needed not so much to cultivate a "green luxury" image, but to get rid of the "brown" image currently associated with GM. Hybrid Escalade that's on the way is probably the best product for this, followed by a hybrid CTS. Hybrids are also a statement, regardless of whether they are really good for the environment or not.

The 8-speed is needed not for fuel-economy, but to avoid being seen as inferior and out-dated compared to the competition. Image is everything in the luxury market. Cadillac can't afford to give up any image points
to the Germans and Lexus.