In the next few years, many new vehicles will have transmissions with up to 10 speeds. The change will help meet stricter fuel economy and pollution standards.


Automakers are spending billions of dollars to squeeze efficiency from a car part most people never think twice about — the transmission.

Over the next five years, many new vehicles will have transmissions with up to 10 speeds, replacing the mostly six-speed transmissions in cars now. Though designed for refinement and performance, the transmissions aim mostly to help meet stricter federal fuel economy and pollution standards.

"We are trying to extract efficiency out of every subsystem of the vehicle," said Mircea Gradu, vice president of transmission and driveline engineering at Chrysler Group. "There are very aggressive targets that are in front of us."

This year, Chrysler has already added eight-speed transmissions to some of its Ram trucks and a couple of Chrysler sedans. It plans to put a nine-speed gearbox in the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Dart.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-autos-transmissions-20130517,0,7050486.story