Chevrolet Debuts Nine-Speed Automatic Slated for Malibu, Cruze Diesel, and Fresh Equinox
That whirring sound you hear is Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet revving up in their graves. Why? Because Chevy and Ford are collaborating on automatic-transmission design and development. This has been going on for more than a decade, with the very first fruits of this cooperation appearing as the six-speed automatic transaxle presently in broad use via Ford and General Motors.
Based on that trial’s success, the Detroit rivals agreed to an extra program in two thousand thirteen covering fresh nine- and 10-speed automatics. Ford already is producing the jointly developed 10-speed for F-series trucks; the Mustang is expected to get it soon, too. Chevrolet’s Camaro ZL1 arrives soon with GM’s version, followed by eight extra two thousand eighteen models. The nine-speed is for transverse applications. As Ford led the development of the longitudinal 10-speed, GM Powertrain engineers led the design of the nine-speed. Chevrolet has just introduced the Hydra-Matic 9T50 for the two thousand seventeen Cruze diesel, the two thousand seventeen Malibu, and the all-new two thousand eighteen Equinox, with extra applications to go after.
Competitors come in these sorts of agreements from time to time because designing fresh transmissions is a labor- and resource-intensive process, and few customers know or care where their transmissions come from. In spending the same time and investment dollars required to engineer one transmission, Ford and GM reaped two fresh state-of-the-art designs. The same parts used by both companies are identified with different Ford and GM part numbers. Even however the hardware is common, each company writes its own software code to achieve distinctive operating characteristics.
Every maker is adding gear ratios to improve drivability and fuel efficiency. A adequately low gear is needed to launch the vehicle smartly from a stoplight. Extra gears facilitate snappy acceleration through the total speed range. Then, when the driver lifts off to cruise the interstate, an overdrive gear reduces rpm to hold the engine at a quiet and efficient operating point. Narrowing the space inbetween ratios with more gears minimizes driveline disturbance while enlargening the number of shifts. The fresh nine-speed has an overall ratio spread of 7.6 versus the outgoing six-speed’s 6.0.
Computer-aided design and a few clever touches helped GM Powertrain engineers pack five planetary gearsets, four stationary brakes, and three rotating clutches into the existing six-speed’s space. The fresh transmission weighs an extra twenty two pounds, a fair price to pay for the expected two percent build up in fuel efficiency.
More than sixty patents filed by GM cover innovations such as substituting the two clutches previously used to control switch roles and very first gears with a single, more compact device called a selectable one-way clutch. Computer-controlled solenoids manage all shifting functions. A large hydraulic pressure accumulator supports the essential engine stop/commence function. The fresh elliptical-cross-section torque converter is more compact and provides three operating modes: utter slippage, partial slippage, and total lockup. Gears are skipped in certain accelerating and coasting conditions to improve smoothness. Automatic downshifts provide engine braking on downgrades.
In manual mode (what GM calls range select), the driver can hold a gear with engine rpm at or near the redline. Final-drive ratios ranging inbetween Two.89:1 and Three.81:1 are available, and this nine-speed is engineered for four-cylinder, V-6, front-, and all-wheel-drive applications.
The Hydra-Matic 9T50 will be available in ten models via GM by the end of 2017. While Ford hasn’t yet exposed its plans to implement the nine-speed automatic, rest assured that it’s not about to lag behind in the ratio race.
Chevrolet Details Fresh Nine-Speed Automatic Co-Developed with Ford – News – Car and Driver, Car and Driver Blog
Chevrolet Debuts Nine-Speed Automatic Slated for Malibu, Cruze Diesel, and Fresh Equinox
That whirring sound you hear is Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet revving up in their graves. Why? Because Chevy and Ford are collaborating on automatic-transmission design and development. This has been going on for more than a decade, with the very first fruits of this cooperation appearing as the six-speed automatic transaxle presently in broad use across Ford and General Motors.
Based on that trial’s success, the Detroit rivals agreed to an extra program in two thousand thirteen covering fresh nine- and 10-speed automatics. Ford already is producing the jointly developed 10-speed for F-series trucks; the Mustang is expected to get it soon, too. Chevrolet’s Camaro ZL1 arrives soon with GM’s version, followed by eight extra two thousand eighteen models. The nine-speed is for transverse applications. As Ford led the development of the longitudinal 10-speed, GM Powertrain engineers led the design of the nine-speed. Chevrolet has just introduced the Hydra-Matic 9T50 for the two thousand seventeen Cruze diesel, the two thousand seventeen Malibu, and the all-new two thousand eighteen Equinox, with extra applications to go after.
Competitors inject these sorts of agreements from time to time because designing fresh transmissions is a labor- and resource-intensive process, and few customers know or care where their transmissions come from. In spending the same time and investment dollars required to engineer one transmission, Ford and GM reaped two fresh state-of-the-art designs. The same parts used by both companies are identified with different Ford and GM part numbers. Even tho’ the hardware is common, each company writes its own software code to achieve distinctive operating characteristics.
Every maker is adding gear ratios to improve drivability and fuel efficiency. A adequately low gear is needed to launch the vehicle smartly from a stoplight. Extra gears facilitate snappy acceleration through the total speed range. Then, when the driver lifts off to cruise the interstate, an overdrive gear reduces rpm to hold the engine at a quiet and efficient operating point. Narrowing the space inbetween ratios with more gears minimizes driveline disturbance while enhancing the number of shifts. The fresh nine-speed has an overall ratio spread of 7.6 versus the outgoing six-speed’s 6.0.
Computer-aided design and a few clever touches helped GM Powertrain engineers pack five planetary gearsets, four stationary brakes, and three rotating clutches into the existing six-speed’s space. The fresh transmission weighs an extra twenty two pounds, a fair price to pay for the expected two percent build up in fuel efficiency.
More than sixty patents filed by GM cover innovations such as substituting the two clutches previously used to control switch sides and very first gears with a single, more compact device called a selectable one-way clutch. Computer-controlled solenoids manage all shifting functions. A large hydraulic pressure accumulator supports the essential engine stop/commence function. The fresh elliptical-cross-section torque converter is more compact and provides three operating modes: utter slippage, partial slippage, and total lockup. Gears are skipped in certain accelerating and coasting conditions to improve smoothness. Automatic downshifts provide engine braking on downgrades.
In manual mode (what GM calls range select), the driver can hold a gear with engine rpm at or near the redline. Final-drive ratios ranging inbetween Two.89:1 and Three.81:1 are available, and this nine-speed is engineered for four-cylinder, V-6, front-, and all-wheel-drive applications.
The Hydra-Matic 9T50 will be available in ten models across GM by the end of 2017. While Ford hasn’t yet exposed its plans to implement the nine-speed automatic, rest assured that it’s not about to lag behind in the ratio race.