Hyundai 10-Speed Transmission Under Development
It’s anything but a secret: more gears mean better gas mileage. Mercedes-Benz packs a seven-speed automatic into many of its cars, Lexus uses an eight-speed transmission in its LS sedans, but these amply geared boxes are generally the things of luxury cars— until now.
We were the first to report that Hyundai had a 10-speed transmission in the works, having announced it at a tech briefing in Michigan. Hyundai has now confirmed that the transmission is under development, and will be in production as soon as possible, though details are still murky about which vehicles will get the technology. Given how aggressively automakers are pushing for better mileage year over year, it might make sense that the new gearbox would fall into Elantras or Accents rather than or alongside the luxurious Genesis and Equus. No doubt the transmission is being designed with the CAFE fuel economy regulations in mind that will come into effect fully in 2025 and expect a 54.4 mpg average rating.
We’ll keep you up to date as more emerges.
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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The 10-speed will be a nice addition to Hyundai's lineup. In my way of thinking, the additional gears will equate to a more expensive production cost. Also, low rpm cruising screams out for plenty of torque. Not usually present in smaller normally aspirated engines. I'd look for this to turn up on turbos and the larger engines in the Hyundai/Kia lineups.
Too much time/energy wasted changing gears, it is only marketing bluff