Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Green, Hyundai



Hyundai is making a serious run at such stalwart luxury marques as Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW with the Genesis sedan. The Korean automaker is already competing directly with those established players using its current range of engines and transmissions, with the 4.6-liter V8 being mated to the same 6-speed ZF automatic tranny that sees duty in various Bimmers and Jaguars. Sometime around 2010, Hyundai will have a new 8-speed automatic ready for public consumption that being developing in-house, and it will surely see the light of day in the Genesis mated up to Hyundai's latest V8 engine. That development will trump Mercedes by one gear and match the number of ratios offered by Lexus. BMW is expected to rely on a new unit from ZF, its longtime supplier, that should also feature eight forward gears. In the never-ending quest for increased performance and fuel efficiency, plus a bit of one-upmanship, expect more automakers to pair their largest powerplants with an ever-increasing number of cogs.


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Ugh...how many gears do you need? Seriously? This isn't a semi truck...

 

All they need is a 4 to 5 speed. 6 is pushing it. 7 and 8 are over the top. It would be better to have a CVR trans than 8 speeds.

 

And that's especially true of higher powered gasoline engines. The benefit of more gears is to help compensate for either a narrow powerband or an underpowered engine (for the task you're getting done) or a combination of the two.

That doesn't describe high powered luxury cars at all.

 

Maybe its just so you can do epic 4th gear burn outs?

 

Guessing the S/C motor will probably debut at about the same time.