Ford, GM Launch Joint 6-Speed Automatic

[regfootball]

He also says the new 6-speed costs about the same as a 4-speed automatic.

interesting......there's no excuse for the 4 speeds anymore......

ward's auto

sorry if there's already a topic on this.

The ’07 Saturn Aura, now on sale, is the first GM vehicle to use the transmission.

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The ’07 Saturn Outlook cross/utility vehicle also uses the new 6-speed automatic, with many other future GM models to follow, thanks to the transmission’s adaptability for either front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive configurations.

Ford’s Edge CUV and its Lincoln MKX will be the first Ford-built vehicles to be equipped with the 6-speed automatic when they are introduced late this year.

Krishnaswami estimates from a hardware standpoint, the transmissions are about 85% identical. He says Ford also differentiates the way the transmission shifts.“We wanted a high level of customer satisfaction,” he says. “The transmission provides smooth, seamless shifting and lightning-fast downshifts.”

Ford uses a unique calibration to make the transmission shift more responsively on hilly terrain and through switchbacks, he adds.

translation, Ford fans, you can still expect this thing to be like those Ford trannies you remember.....won't shift, lazy, etc.........the ford engineers had to leave their indelible touch on it I'm sure despite the best effort of GM to make it great the Ford guys I am sure will bless it with the inability to downshift or the PENCHANT to hunt endlessly for gears.

“Our transmission just keeps going and going (on the dynamometer) just like the Eveready battery,” he says. “We’re shooting for a 200,000-mile (322,000-km) life for the transmission.”

“This 6-speed has the same number of components as the 4-speed GM (automatic) transmission,” he says.

The joint-development agreement also stipulates Ford and GM can sell the transmission to other companies if they desire. “Some companies have expressed interest,” Vargo says.

Ford and GM are the fiercest of rivals in the marketplace, but their respective transmission development teams have formed close relationships and frequently are in touch.

For the past four years, they have enjoyed two annual get-togethers: a golf tournament and a bowling tournament.

However, neither Vargo nor Krishnaswami can explain why GM engineers always prevail at golf and the Ford engineers dominate in bowling.

Edited September 4, 2006 by regfootball

[PurdueGuy]

interesting......there's no excuse for the 4 speeds anymore......

189011[/snapback]

Well, maybe not after they get production numbers up. Can't expect it overnight, though. None of this "why doesn't the Cobalt base model come with a 6 speed auto standard for '08!?" stuff, people...

“Our transmission just keeps going and going (on the dynamometer) just like the Eveready battery,” he says. “We’re shooting for a 200,000-mile (322,000-km) life for the transmission.”

Good grief - it's the energizer battery. Maybe it was to avoid some lawsuit (unless it would cause one *shrug*), maybe it was a misquote... but it just makes the person sound like an idiot.

Oh, and 200,000 mile life isn't something to brag about. Now, if that's with abuse & lousy maintenance, then that's dandy. If that's WITH proper maintenance & normal driving, then that's mediocre, if not sub-par. Knowing GM and transmissions, it's a conservative estimate, and the tranny will be great.

[regfootball]

if you own a ford or chrysler, 75,000 miles out of an atuo tranny is a godsend........

Edited September 4, 2006 by regfootball

[CARBIZ]

Interesting that Ford and GM can get along this well. I read somewhere that the early '50s Lincolns actually had a GM automatic in them for a year or two until Ford could ready their own automatic.

It is time Detroit realize the common enemy is across the Pacific and the Japanese car companies have been sharing technology for years.

[Drew Dowdell]

Interesting that Ford and GM can get along this well.  I read somewhere that the early '50s Lincolns actually had a GM automatic in them for a year or two until Ford could ready their own automatic.

  It is time Detroit realize the common enemy is across the Pacific and the Japanese car companies have been sharing technology for years.

189155[/snapback]

automatics are the one thing that GM has done better than anyone else with.....

[bowtie_dude]

interesting......there's no excuse for the 4 speeds anymore......

ward's auto

sorry if there's already a topic on this.

translation, Ford fans, you can still expect this thing to be like those Ford trannies you remember.....won't shift, lazy, etc.........the ford engineers had to leave their indelible touch on it I'm sure despite the best effort of GM to make it great the Ford guys I am sure will bless it with the inability to downshift or the PENCHANT to hunt endlessly for gears.

189011[/snapback]

You ain't kidding. CompUSA is a Ford fleet partner and from the auto in our Econolines to the auto in our Focus, they're all miserable. Won't downshift, or will downshift and then IMMEDIATELY upshift. $h!ty $h!ty $h!ty. And my wife's 06 Escape is the same damn way.

[AAS]

So... which 6 speed is the Mercury Montego using? I only ask because I've had one as a rental for the past 2 weeks. It shifts good, but like reg commented it does suck during uphill driving. It [the Montego] needs selectable gears beyond L and D. The tranny does fine once it downshifts, but I should have to option to drop it down a gear or two when I see the need arising.

[Drew Dowdell]

it's an outside developed transmission....

ZF or Aisin or something...

[pow]

Oh, and 200,000 mile life isn't something to brag about.  Now, if that's with abuse & lousy maintenance, then that's dandy.  If that's WITH proper maintenance & normal driving, then that's mediocre, if not sub-par.  Knowing GM and transmissions, it's a conservative estimate, and the tranny will be great.

189017[/snapback]

My guess is that it will be "sealed" and have a "lifetime" fluid, like with the GM 5L40-E in our 5er.

[Paolino]

Well, maybe not after they get production numbers up.  Can't expect it overnight, though.  None of this "why doesn't the Cobalt base model come with a 6 speed auto standard for '08!?" stuff, people...

189017[/snapback]

No, but I would expect it in a Cadillac DTS. But then we get to the whole "I don't think that body can handle the 6 speed." Which means a $41K+ car still has a 4-speed. Pretty lame.

[razoredge]

No, as you can see saturin is getting the new tranny first, along with the 3.6.............thats cause they have contributed so much to GM's bottom line................

Not that I care much about the tranny, its just two extra gears to search through, to climb a few simple hills, I bet they are going to be annoying around these parts. Shift, shift, shift, shift, up, down, up, down, up, down.

I'm hopeing to see a car, the same car, same engine, go from the 4T65 to the 6sp and show some actual mileage improvements or 1/4 mile times. Id like to actually see it proven.

[GMman]

No, as you can see saturin  is getting the new tranny first, along with the 3.6.............thats cause they have contributed so much to GM's bottom line................

190166[/snapback]

I can't figure out the Saturn thing either.....and very nicely put about the bottomline. That's the way I see it....

It is time Detroit realize the common enemy is across the Pacific and the Japanese car companies have been sharing technology for years.

190166[/snapback]

Dude, you just hit the nail on the head with this one. This is EXACTLY right!!!

[NOS2006]

Oh, razoredge, you're just bitter.

[razoredge]

Oh, razoredge, you're just bitter.

193788[/snapback]

Yes, I am bitter but not for bitters sake. Just look into the history and accomplishments of saturin and then explain how it is they deserve any of what they have been getting, now or ever. Now Buick and Pontiac are sitting in limbo and saturin is getting the candy.

Maybe someone would have to have been around when the big saturin campaigne was all over the TV screen..........but no car was ever seen. Then one day we get to see a car and I sit there dumbfounded thinking "you got to be kiddin me......right ?" "All that noise over ...........that !" I wasnt a GM guy at the time, just someone who had good taste in cars.

Its like this. The big kids are out working the fields, their feet are coming out of their shoes, their clothes all ripped and wore, all while the little brat is sittin inside with a new clean white shirt, new polished leather shoes, suckin on a straw and layin all over the floor is its big pile of worthless tonka toys that never did a lick of work.

[regfootball]

Yes, I am bitter but not for bitters sake. Just look into the history and accomplishments of saturin and then explain how it is they deserve any of what they have been getting, now or ever. Now Buick and Pontiac are sitting in limbo and saturin is getting the candy.

They deserve it because they probably have the highest customer satisfaction experience in the industry and the best shopping experience available.

[razoredge]

They deserve it because they probably have the highest customer satisfaction experience in the industry and the best shopping experience available.

193834[/snapback]

One can only look at what saturin has had to offer and ask if this is not because saturin customers are easily amused.....................

[Robert Hall]

Well, maybe not after they get production numbers up.  Can't expect it overnight, though.  None of this "why doesn't the Cobalt base model come with a 6 speed auto standard for '08!?" stuff, people...

189017[/snapback]

Well, the '07 Civic DX (base model) is available with a 5-spd automatic...so...why not?

[Intrepidation]

if you own a ford or chrysler, 75,000 miles out of an atuo tranny is a godsend........

189022[/snapback]

---> 209k miles on Shadow tranny and counting

[Robert Hall]

---> 209k miles on Shadow tranny and counting

194122[/snapback]

74k miles on Grand Cherokee tranny and counting...

[capriceman]

Interesting that Ford and GM can get along this well.  I read somewhere that the early '50s Lincolns actually had a GM automatic in them for a year or two until Ford could ready their own automatic.

189155[/snapback]

Because it was cheaper to buy them off GM then to make there own untill they could make bussiness sense of it. Same thing withe steering coulms for a while Ford and DCX bought them off GM since it was cheaper to buy them than make there own.

[rueben44]

The Mazda 3 and Scion Tc have a 5 speed as well as a few others. Gm should use the 6 or 5 from Saab with the Ecotec in the Cobalt and others. At least the 5 speed to get better MPG numbers and remain competitive.

[razoredge]

Well, the '07 Civic DX (base model) is available with a 5-spd automatic...so...why not?

194121[/snapback]

Is available, not standard

[Robert Hall]

Is available, not standard

194213[/snapback]

Obviously...a 5-spd manual is standard (as it should be on a compact).

[haypops]

The Mazda 3 and Scion Tc have a 5 speed as well as a few others.

194184[/snapback]

I have been looking over the specs of the Scion Tc and all that I can find is an optional 4 speed automatic. Can some one point me to the % speed option? One of the most reasonably priced 5 speed automatics was the first couple of years of ION sedan. The newer ones have replaced the 5 speed with a four speed automatic for improved shift performance.