Porsche’s Seven Speed Gearbox, Explained

Seven and eight speed gearboxes are the way of the future, since they offer up a blend of both performance and fuel economy simply not possible with five and six speed transmissions. Porsche is the first manufacturer to release a seven-speed manual transmission, and adding the seventh gear allows the automaker greater flexibility in improving the new 911’s performance while meeting ever-tightening U.S. and E.U. fuel economy requirements. Read more

“Save The Manuals” – Will The Manual Transmission Become Extinct?

It has been estimated that less than 10% of new cars sold in America are equipped with manual transmissions.

Are manual transmissions going the way of the dinosaurs? It looks like it. Somehow, due to technology advancements just in the past 10 years, we are witnessing a virtual meteor destroy the raw mechanics that allowed purists to really ‘DRIVE’ their car like they stole it and feel good about it in the process. We have reached a paradox of the mindless driver over-taking the automotive world which will be left replaced with flappy paddle gearboxes and automatic slush-boxes.

Read more

Transmission Goes BOOM: Samurai Speed Nissan GT-R Blows Tranny At Drag Strip

Everyone is bickering over Nissan pulling the plug on launch control on the Nissan GT-R… well maybe just the GT-R owners and those who plan on purchasing one. This may be one reason they pulled the launch control on the GT-R, the transmission just can’t handle it maybe? Well, this GT-R had about 700HP so I guess something is bound to break!

Below is a video of the Samurai Speed Nissan GT-R blowing a transmission at the drag strip. You are supposed to see a Nissan GT-R run a time of 10.5 seconds at 128 MPH in the quarter mile but not this time. One GT-R makes it, the other is not so lucky. This is the sound of $20 grand going up in smoke… literally. God bless the owner of this car because he will have to pay out of pocket to fix this one. I am sure it wont be an issue considering the second video shows that this GT-R is tuned and that takes a bit of money!

Videos after the jump…

Read more

New Introduction: Hyundai Will Introduce An Eight-Speed Transmission

Wow, Hyundai is becoming more like Lexus, Benz, BMW and the other luxury auto makers especially when they are set to release a new fuel-smart 8-speed transmission in 2010. This new transmission is supposed to greatly improve fuel economy according to Hyundai.

The only other automakers offering such a transmission remains to be Lexus where BMW has plans to introduce one within the next two years. This is also a step towards meeting strict fuel economy guidelines in the years to come. Why not stay ahead of the game, that’s exactly what Lexus did and look at their prestigious record and reputation in the automotive world.

More than likely the new Hyundai Genesis sedan will get this new 8-speed transmission. If it is any other Hyundai or newly introduced Hyundai then we want to know about it!