Photo: Catalin Garmacea
The automotive world has always had a race going on. Whether it was about more power, more cylinders or less CO2 emissions, everybody was trying to beat everybody else at that certain something by coming up with more of it.
In the later years, we've seen the companies mount an automatic transmission battle with things quickly escalating from five to six to seven, eight and now even nine gears. All this happened during the past ten years, but it happened for a reason.
More gears allow the transmission to make the most of a low power engine, and the dual-clutch solution that offers seamless changes allowed the carmakers to go crazy on the number of available gears. Why not have more if the driver can't feel the changes occur and he doesn't have to do them by himself?
That's the kind of thinking that led to the current nine-speed autos made by ZF and used in cars such as the Fiat 500X or Jeep Renegade.
It's also what made Volkswagen, the inventors of the dual-clutch transmission, announce back in 2014 they were preparing a 10-speed DSG. This was the gearbox to end all wars - at least marketing-wise.
Now, Australian website Motoring.com.au is reporting that the project has been halted and has the statement of an unnamed VW official to back it up. The discussion occurred during this year's Frankfurt Motor Show where the mysterious Volkswagen employee had this to say: "In the end, we had to balance what our priorities were with our transmissions and other things are more important and more urgent."
However, with only a seven-speed DSG as the transmission with the highest number of gears available at the moment, Volkswagen is trailing most other manufacturers. While skipping eight and nine and going straight for a nicely rounded ten made sense, it's unclear what Volkswagen's next move regarding its transmissions is. The 10-speed DSG was dubbed to equip a large range of Volkswagen models with three- and four-cylinder engines.
Volkswagen might choose to go the outsourcing way to cut costs, but it would be a blow to the brand's image. We'll just have to wait and see. Bring out the popcorn.
More gears allow the transmission to make the most of a low power engine, and the dual-clutch solution that offers seamless changes allowed the carmakers to go crazy on the number of available gears. Why not have more if the driver can't feel the changes occur and he doesn't have to do them by himself?
That's the kind of thinking that led to the current nine-speed autos made by ZF and used in cars such as the Fiat 500X or Jeep Renegade.
It's also what made Volkswagen, the inventors of the dual-clutch transmission, announce back in 2014 they were preparing a 10-speed DSG. This was the gearbox to end all wars - at least marketing-wise.
Now, Australian website Motoring.com.au is reporting that the project has been halted and has the statement of an unnamed VW official to back it up. The discussion occurred during this year's Frankfurt Motor Show where the mysterious Volkswagen employee had this to say: "In the end, we had to balance what our priorities were with our transmissions and other things are more important and more urgent."
However, with only a seven-speed DSG as the transmission with the highest number of gears available at the moment, Volkswagen is trailing most other manufacturers. While skipping eight and nine and going straight for a nicely rounded ten made sense, it's unclear what Volkswagen's next move regarding its transmissions is. The 10-speed DSG was dubbed to equip a large range of Volkswagen models with three- and four-cylinder engines.
Volkswagen might choose to go the outsourcing way to cut costs, but it would be a blow to the brand's image. We'll just have to wait and see. Bring out the popcorn.
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