General Motors promises a premium and refined experience with its new nine-speed automatic gearbox. The new transmission will roll out with the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu, 2017 Chevrolet Cruze and 2018 Chevrolet Equinox, while a new 10-speed automatic transmission handles shifting duties for rear-wheel drive vehicles.
“This thing is going to excite our customers,” Scott Kline, assistant chief engineer for the Hydra-Matic 9T50 9-speed automatic told WardsAuto. “When you get in it, you can tell it is a premium product.”
GM estimates the new transmission will net a two-percent increase in fuel economy and is seen as a major step forward to meet future emissions and fuel economy regulations, barring those don’t go away under a Trump administration.
However, nine and ten cogs may be the end of the road when it comes to GM transmissions.
“We don’t see the benefit of going higher than 10 forward speeds,” said Chris Meagher, executive director of Transmission and Electrification Hardware Engineering .
At this time, innovation, engineering and technology can’t imagine any additional forward speeds, but Meagher notes the “never say never” line of thinking, too. When GM introduced its six-speed automatics, the automaker never thought there would be room for improvement to reach eight, nine or ten speeds.
GM plans to introduce the nine-speed auto, which is developed in conjunction with Ford, to 10 vehicles by the end of 2017.
Comments
I heard this when the 4spd came out.
Then a number of years later the 6 spd became the end-all-be-all.
Now the 9 Spd… Of course its the end!
I’m hoping that GM will put the 9-speed into the Lacrosse for 2018.
Great to see technology advance. My 8 speed auto camaro is silky smooth. My 6 speed auto camaro was nice before my new car. plus better fuel economy with the 10 speed will up gms value. And will help ford’s crappy cars too lol
Still happy with the 4 speed in my vehicles, think all these gears are kind of overkill.
I too thought 4 speeds was enough until I drove the 6-speed in my current Verano. It’s responsive in all gears, kicks up or down when its supposed to with none of that “thinking about it” decision hesitation (especially down shifts) and it’s adaptive according to driving style. (or current requiements) If traffic conditions change or require quick down-shifts to merge or accelerate to change lanes, the shifting characteristics change too: faster response and holding the gear longer in each gear, right to red-line when required with a quick change snappy change between each. Stuck in crawling stop-and-go? It shifts up so gently and smoothly, you don’t even feel the changes, only hear them. Downshifts in heavy traffic aren’t quite as subtle, but they are still gentle with none of that “tap the brake” feel during the transition. No idea what model it is, but it’s a -very- impressive unit.
6t30 in cruze..Probably same in Verano..wonderful lightweight Toledo Powertrain crafted unit.
Would be nice to have more gears in a car but I think the real value is for those of us that tow or haul heavy loads with our trucks. You can imagine the difference I’ve experienced in towing ability when I went from 275hp/4-spd auto/no tow haul mode to 335 hp/6-spd auto/with tow haul. Only towing 3000 lbs. but wind resistance is significant. Makes about the same mileage but I’m accelerating faster and cruising faster too. Love to try 8 or 10 gears-especially with more hp.