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ZF Unveils Nine Speed Gear Box
ZF's nine speed gearbox can improve fuel economy by five per if it is fitted with a transfer case in all-wheel-drive vehicles. The drive is sent to the rear wheels only when additional traction is required, reducing fuel use. ZF announced two variants of the transmission will be available, for engines with torque outputs from 280 Newton metres and capable of withstanding up to 480Nm.
ZF has said the nine speed gearbox can shift multiple gears at a time, very similar to its eight speed automatic used by German carmakers. The company has also said the nine speed gearbox's software can be optimised to offer maximum fuel economy, comfort, smoothness and sporty performance. The software can be programmed to suite a variety of cars.
Having nine gear ratios enables very low first and second gears for quick acceleration and an extra-tall top gear for cruising at low engine revs to save fuel. ZF claims that only 1900rpm is required cruising at 120km/h compared with 2600rpm for an equivalent vehicle with a six speed automatic transmission.
ZF unveiling its nine speed automatic gearbox was punctuated by announcements by Ford and General Motors that they would be developing their own eight speed automatic transmissions. ZF has not announced which will be the first car to be fitted with its new nine speed transmission. BMW already uses ZF's eight speed gear box. The BMW 7-series is the likely candidate to get the new gearbox.
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