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Quote: Originally posted by Packidge on 19/5/2016
According to Honda the new 9-speed box gives a 15% fuel consumption improvement compared with the previous auto box and a 0.5 sec improvement on 0-60mph acceleration. 1st is much lower, 5th is the direct drive gear which means there are 4 overdrive gears.
A torque convertor, how agreeable it may be, is quite fuel-inefficient which is why sequential gearboxes are more economical.
I remember my Dad's Honda Accord auto some years ago had only had 2 forward gears, the torque convertor did the rest! Fuel economy was pretty poor though.
Interesting! 15% improvement in fuel consumption is good for the planet, but is it good for the owner if it leads to bigger repair bills? Only time will tell, I suppose.
Yes torque converters were more fuel-inefficient before converter-lock-up was introduced, but even my 16 year old Volvo has that. I still like the torque-multiplying effect though, with a variable ratio of 2-1, effectively giving a lower first gear and a doubling of the number of available gears.
I can also remember a car that had only two forward gears back in the 1960s. The Vauxhall Cresta, with a 3 litre engine and the "powerglide" gearbox. I worked on several of them. Must admit though that if you got 18mpg you were doing well!
Incidentally, some diesel multiple-unit trains have only two gears. I am a retired train driver.
------------- Best Regards,
Colin
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