GM, Ford to collaborate on new transmissions

Google.com/AP ^ | 04/15/2013 | TOM KRISHER

[Abathar]

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors and Ford are putting aside their longstanding rivalry to work together to develop a new generation of fuel-efficient automatic transmissions.

The companies said Monday that their engineers will jointly design nine- and 10-speed transmissions that will go into many of their new cars and trucks.

[ltc8k6]

Chrysler now has the best auto transmissions in the world. ZF 8 and 9 speeds.

[ltc8k6]

Ford and GM already jointly produced the 6 speed transmission they are currently using.

[Mr. K]

I have said it many times before (but who pays attention to me...)

Obama did not have to take over the ENTIRE auto industry all at once..., only ONE company. Then use the power of tax dollars to price the others out of existance.

There is no way Ford could produce a ‘Volt’ and sell it (neither can Chevy, without the $$$$ payout you get from the Govt. if you buy one)

And right after they took over GM they closed all the REPUBLICAN-OWNED dealerships.

Then they went after Toyota for a fictional throttle control problem.

now this...

[brownsfan]

“Chrysler now has the best auto transmissions in the world. ZF 8 and 9 speeds.”

Well, they should have put them in their vans. Maybe it would have helped keep them out of the toilet.

The transmissions in the mini vans were so bad that the first question they asked me when we traded in our mini van was: “How is the transmission”.

A neighbor had a similar mini van, the transmission self terminated at 77k miles.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I had a 1986 ford escort sta-wgn with the largest 4 cyl they made with a 6 speed on the floor that got 47 mpg on the highway. And that was able to tow a boat. I don't think anything out today will get an honest 47 mpg.

So what happened? The cars are lighter. Is it emission controls?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

We have three Toyotas now. Got sick of our cars constantly being repaired.

We rarely have significant issues with them. But we've had irritating, chronic, minor issues with power windows and door locks.

Overall, it's a worthwhile trade.

[SVTCobra03]

Chrysler has the worst transmissions.

I agree. The Charger SRT8 has a 5-speed auto when it should have an 8-speed auto.

[Eye of Unk]

I have the 5 speed Allison in my 2002 Silverado dually, best transmission I have ever seen as a mechanic for over 4 decades. The Tow/haul button comes in handy when loaded up. Its a shame though they dropped the 8100 Vortec engine.
Its a torque beast, 496 cubic inches, originally designed as a marine engine, rock solid bottom end, fuel injected at 340hp or so depending on after market chip tweeks.

[chrisser]

Well, they should have put them in their vans. Maybe it would have helped keep them out of the toilet.

Chrysler's had plenty of trans problems with their transverse transaxles, to be sure.

However, there's a significant bit of consumer fault - i.e. not RTFM'ing.

I have an 02 Sebring with the revised version (41TE) of the A604.

Whenever I've changed the fluid, the bottles I buy at the parts store are dusty - indicating to me that, despite thousands of Chryslers in my area, nobody is putting the right fluid (ATF+4) in their cars/vans.

Most are apparently putting in Dexron/Mercon, which has different friction and lubrication properties and will eventually kill the transmission.

Likewise, I can't even find a parts store that carries the Chrysler-spec coolant, which is different from the green stuff and the orange Dexcool stuff. I have to order it online or go to the dealer. Also leading me to believe that no one is using what Chrysler specified in their cooling systems. How much of that contributes to water pump failure in Chryslers is anyone's guess.

On the Chrysler-specific boards I frequent, these are common problems with people who buy used Chryslers and no doubt contribute to some of their otherwise still well-deserved reputation for problems.

[cripplecreek]

I never buy any vehicle until it has been around for a couple of years after a major change

That used to be standard common sense in Michigan. My sister bought a first year Lumina and that was a disaster.

[ltc8k6]

The new ZF transmissions were only available from 2012 onwards.

They are incredible. BMW uses them as well.

[bert]

No, the sperling bearings are obsolete when the dingle arms are periodically actuated.

[ltc8k6]

The Grand Cherokee SRT8 has been spotted with the 8HP70 8 speed trans, so the trans can definitely handle the 6.4L.

[V_TWIN]

Yeah, I’ve got a 2009 tacoma that was assembled in Baja California. Not sure it’s quite as well built as the 1980 corolla that was completly manufactured in Japan was, but its still better than my 1987 gmc S10 was.

[jjotto]

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/04/read-between-the-lines-volvos-8-speed-automatic/#more-484240

...The big boys in passenger car automatic transmission design are: ZF, GM, Aisin, Mercedes, Jatco and Hyundai.

Why am I not including Chrysler and Honda? Chrysler is easy: they have chosen to license/tweak transmissions from ZF rather than developing their own

Ford can’t make up their mind co-developing a 6-speed transaxle with GM, then licensing ZF’s 6-speed RWD swapper. All indications seem to point to Ford licensing the 8-speed RWD box from ZF while splitting development costs with GM on new xx-speed transaxles for smaller cars.

Honda doesn’t tend to sell its in-house transmissions to other companies and if the rumor mill is correct, Honda will be buying ZF’s 9-speed transaxle while they shift R&D dollars to CVT development.

What does that mean to you as a consumer? And why are we talking Volvo and Lexus? Because companies tend to stick with a transmission maker for the long haul.

BMW has a history of buying GM and ZF. Luxury car companies (and now Ford and Chrysler) typically use ZF cog-swappers. Ford Europe and Renault are in bed with Jatco. Chrysler likes Hyundai’s FWD transaxles. Toyota, Lexus, Volvo, MINI, VW, Mitsubishi and Porsche order from Aisin’s transmission catalog.

Consequently when a new Euro sedan comes out with ZF’s latest widget, you know that sooner-or-later every ZF customer have it. (There is usually a delay because companies will pay extra to have a period of exclusive access to new technology.)...

[Darnright]

>It’s a transmission that constantly shifts gears and fools you into thinking you are really moving.<

And of course with all of that constant hunting, these things will never need a rebuild. Noooo. < /S>

And rebuilding the things won’t cost any more than rebuilding current ATs.

[Abathar]

GM had the best transmission for sure, but it is hard to beat the Cummins engine.

A mating of those two would have totally dominated the heavy truck line for decades.

[nascarnation]

This is an automatic.
GM and Ford have historically done their automatics in house.
The 6 speed fwd for medium size cars has been a joint venture of Ford and GM since 2006.

[nascarnation]

We built a bunch of Dodge Rams with the Cummins/Allison for development.

After the Germans took over, they scuttled the Allison program, 1999 maybe? They wanted to dump the Cummins in favor of their in house engine but never got around to that, and then in 2007 they were gone.

[Charles Martel]

Yes, I figured it was an automatic. As you said, those are historically very proprietary. However, Ford has been involved in a joint venture with Getrag to design a modular dual-clutch automatic that can be scaled to a number of applications, both FWD and RWD. The Powershift series is moving in the direction of Volkswagen’s DSG - more like a manual than a traditional automatic.