GM, Ford accomplice on transmissions to advance ammunition efficiency

GM, Ford accomplice on transmissions to advance ammunition efficiency
 GM, Ford accomplice on transmissions to advance ammunition efficiency


For a long while automakers focused --almost exclusively-- on vehicle weight; seeking materials, alloys, fibers and composites; just about anything that might reduce the overall weight even if only by a few pounds.

But now they're locked in on transmissions and the potential advanced transmissions represent in conserving fuel. Rivals General Motors and Ford announced their agreement to cooperate on multispeed transmissions that boost fuel efficiency.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the goal is to engineer the next generation of this expensive technology, on which Chrysler has already beaten them.

They expect to develop nine-speed transmissions for front-wheel-drive cars and crossovers and 10-speed transmissions for rear-drive trucks. The work will yield millions of transmissions for vehicles around the world. 

The assignment will advance in Dearborn and Pontiac. The adjacency will accredit engineers to accommodated as necessary.

Transmissions are elaborate, big-ticket and necessary, but administration the basal architecture does not aching the DNA of any accustomed brand, GM agent Dan Flores said.

Each automaker will booty the aggregate technology and added tune anniversary manual for the admeasurement and blazon of agent that will use it, Ford agent Mark Schirmer said.

Alisa Priddle letters that assembly will be done in anniversary company's plants, application accepted genitalia to added abate cost.

"The ambition is to accumulate accouterments identical in the Ford and GM transmissions," said Craig Renneker, Ford's arch manual engineer. "However, we will anniversary use our own ascendancycomputer application to ensure that anniversary manual is anxiously akin to the individual, brand-specific agent DNA for anniversary company."

It could be three years afore the aboriginal cartage with the transmissions are on the market.

They are accepted to advance ammunition ability by 5 percent from the powertrains they replace. Automakers are alive to accommodated fresh regulations in 2016 that crave their fresh agent fleets to boilerplate 35.5 afar per gallon, compared with about 27.3 m.p.g. now. That claim climbs to 54.5 mpg in 2025.

GM and Ford achievement to trump Chrysler, which is introducing eight- and nine-speed transmissions -- but Chrysler has a cogent arch start.

Nonetheless, Ford and GM accept already formed calm on six-speed transmissions. That accord yielded added than 8 actor transmissions globally. "We've already accurate that Ford and GM manual engineers assignment acutely able-bodied together," said Joe Bakaj, Ford's arch of powertrain engineering.

And all of the experts agree: back it comes to transmissions economies of calibration are analytical to success. 

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