Ralph Wiggum Moar Powar Babeh Lifetime Members 19,323 Member For: 19y 2m 23d Gender: Male Location: Perth Posted 18/05/08 11:57 AM Share Posted 18/05/08 11:57 AM A planetary gearset is capable of 3 speeds per set. Hook two together and you can generate 6 speeds hook 3 together and you can have up to 9 speeds. The mechanicals arent that complicated....the electronics however...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fnp Member 38 Member For: 18y 4m 10d Location: Perth Posted 18/05/08 02:21 PM Share Posted 18/05/08 02:21 PM Some Mercs have two reverse gears.. that's what you call silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawsy Wanabe mechanical engineer Donating Members 960 Member For: 20y 2m 29d Gender: Male Location: At the computer, obviously..... Posted 18/05/08 02:30 PM Share Posted 18/05/08 02:30 PM My good mate Dennis from ZF (who I unfortunately won't be talking with much anymore) was just moved over to the states (while still being employed by ZF Germany and payed in Euro's) to help with the overseeing of this project with regards to the next generation of BMW models. He's been saying that this transmission is simply an engineering masterpiece, the shifts are faster, yet smoother. Which makes sense since the lower the change in RPM per gear is, the faster you can rev match...Oh, and so long as the shift times are very fast (right now the ZF6 shift times are fast enough to be negligible for the economy math), more gears will ALWAYS give you better ecnomy. It requires less throttle to transfere the same, if not more, torque to the rear wheels through first, and by having a tighter spread the gearbox is able to shift much earlier, limiting the total number of RPM's required to get the same amount of torque to the rear wheels as the 6speed.And ZF are already doing the feasability study on auto's (not manualised auto's) with up to 12 speeds. Crazy Germans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senna_T Forged Member Lifetime Members 15,818 Member For: 17y 10m 9d Gender: Male Location: SW Sydney Posted 18/05/08 11:01 PM Share Posted 18/05/08 11:01 PM Why wouldn't you just use CVT rather than stuffing a box full of 12 gears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F6_Tornado F6+300+ Member 940 Member For: 20y 1m 8d Location: In The Ute Posted 19/05/08 12:22 AM Share Posted 19/05/08 12:22 AM ZF offered the 8 speeder to Ford but ford declined and their contract expires 2009 when Ford is believed to be changing to a transmission built in the states.A shame really as the ZF has proved to be a bloody good box and cheap to build.. Ford do some strange things and I did hear the yank box was a 5 speed but I hope that is not the case as that would be a crying shame and even more of a backward move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dule Donating Members 1,180 Member For: 17y 8m Gender: Male Location: Sydney Posted 19/05/08 02:09 AM Share Posted 19/05/08 02:09 AM 8+ speed boxes will become pretty common in the not so distant future. More to do with marketing then actual need IMO but I might be wrong.What will happen to manual boxes? Does anyone see them going any further from 6 gears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phantom ute Member 105 Member For: 18y 3m 28d Gender: Male Location: Sydney Posted 19/05/08 08:02 AM Share Posted 19/05/08 08:02 AM Getting a bit ridiculous now. We arnt driving trucks.I.B.yes I know we are not talking about trucks but I was using it as an example the more gears the more you shift and the more you use the rev range to get to the same speed as less gears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venom XR6 Member 1,460 Member For: 21y 7m 20d Location: Geelong Victoria Posted 19/05/08 10:16 AM Share Posted 19/05/08 10:16 AM ZF offered the 8 speeder to Ford but ford declined and their contract expires 2009 when Ford is believed to be changing to a transmission built in the states.A shame really as the ZF has proved to be a bloody good box and cheap to build.. Ford do some strange things and I did hear the yank box was a 5 speed but I hope that is not the case as that would be a crying shame and even more of a backward move. The 5 speed Yank box you refered to is the new FG 5 speed auto, which is a US designed auto built in France, and fitted to Explorer, Mustang etc.The 8 speed auto is way to expensive for Fords tastes, and its unproven at this stage, not that they will have problems with it but Ford would rather see other manufacturers use it first. The 6 speed ZF is locked in into mid 2010 when the new V6 arrives and Ford may either reuse it for the V6 or use one of Fords new 6 speed autos tailored to the V6. Maybe use the Ford auto for lower end models but keep the 6 speed ZF for the luxury and performance versions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCRIBR Yaris member Member 4,486 Member For: 18y 5m 25d Gender: Male Posted 19/05/08 11:57 AM Share Posted 19/05/08 11:57 AM Why wouldn't you just use CVT rather than stuffing a box full of 12 gears?Keep the CVT for your Colchester! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Member 109 Member For: 17y 20d Gender: Male Location: Melbourne Posted 19/05/08 09:50 PM Author Share Posted 19/05/08 09:50 PM I dont think CVT can handle too much torque. I might be wrong, but I remember reading something which pointed this out. If it wasn't for that issue all manufacturers would be using them now as well as in racing aspecially, you could have the transmission moving up and down ratios to ensure motor is always running at peak power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now