Hello there, ready for another dose of Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained? This guy really loves cars, doesn’t he? And his knowledge about them is immense. But what makes us fall in love with him is his capability of taking some of the most complex ideas and breaking them down into something so simple that everyone can understand them. The video that we are featuring today from Engineering Explained is about how the best automatic transmission works.
This video will cover the story of ZF’s 8-Speed Auto and will help you learn how the automatic transmission works. Jason Fenske yet again brings another illustrious and easy to understand video for our readers. The ZF’s 8-Speed Auto can still outperform the modern dual clutch transmissions. Not only is it light, quick-shifting, and compact but also executes the shift in a highly smooth manner.
The automatic transmission was a game changer when it was introduced. It took away the need for three pedals in a car and allowed the drivers to relax since they had one less thing to worry about while being on the road. Imagine going through the rush hour traffic and continuously having to press clutch every time you want to move or shift; gets very taxing soon enough. Automatic transmission, despite the benefits; had many flaws as well. It was inefficient, shifts were rough and slow, and the automatics were heavy and big.
Enter ZF with the world’s first ever production 6-speed auto in the 2002 BMW 7-series. However, only a year later, VW took the veils off the first production DCT in the European market Golf R32. The dual clutch was efficient, faster when it came to shifting, and provided drivers with a direct feel. Some would have argued that it was the end of the modern automatics. However, ZF was quick to recover and introduced the 8HP, an 8-speed automatic transmission that was able to transform the industry because of its shift quality, efficiency, cost, size, and shift speed. You will be learning all about in the video below!
