At the beggining, there were four speed gearboxes. Then five speed. Then six, which seemed a novelty, then 7 which was already too cool to be real. But then eight speed transmissions were available and oh Jesus! Now with ten. Yes, ten speed auto gearbox. By Hyundai.
Well, the reason for all this is actually quite simple and understandable. CAFE, which means Corporate Average Fuel Economy has been really made its regulations stricter and stricter. One of the solutions, and the most common and logical would be to decrease the engine’s size. But no. There has been found another way. Gearboxes with as many gears as possible, with the top sets having a very long ratio. This way, it is easier to achieve low average consumption and CO2 emissions.
Porsche has even gone as far as introducing the world’s first seven-speed manual gearbox in the new 911, borrowing many components from the dual-clutch PDK semi-automatic, after many luxury brands rushed to adopt the eight speed automatic transmission. But now, Hyundai brings another first, the 10-speed auto, which will most likely find its way under the hood of the 2014MY Equus and Genesis saloons.
Well, what can i say… This is pretty cool, especially knowing that is an environmental-friendly solution. Wait and see!
Source: CarScoop
