Years ago, Ford and its cross-town rival General Motors partnered up to develop a pair of new automatic transmissions – a 10-speed unit that’s widely used in a number of models today, as well as a 9-speed gearbox, though only GM decided to use that specific number of gears. In fact, Ford determined that the extra gear in that transmission simply wasn’t needed, and that its added efficiency didn’t justify the added weight and cost. As such, Ford wound up going with eight gears, and now, GM has followed suit with the 2024 Chevy Traverse for similar reasons, according to GM Authority.
When the redesigned 2024 Chevy Traverse debuted this past summer, it did so bearing quite a few changes ranging from a revamped trim level lineup to new exterior and interior styling, a new powertrain, and new tech features. The crossover also comes standard with an 8-speed automatic transmission, interestingly enough, which is notable as the outgoing version utilizes the aforementioned 9-speed gearbox – an odd move in a world when redesigns typically result in more of everything, not less.
As GM Authority discovered, the automaker chose to do precisely what Ford did years ago – drop a gear from the existing 9-speed transmission, a move that in this case is reportedly aimed at better taking advantage of the new turbocharged 2.5L I-4 engine’s improved torque when compared to the naturally-aspirated 3.6L V6 – 326 pound-feet versus 266.
GM engineers noted that “the eight-speed pretty much goes in line with that new engine to increase fuel efficiency and improved torque of the engine,” which is even more notable when we take a look back at Ford’s decision to trim a gear from the same transmission years ago. As for The Blue Oval’s 8-speed unit, it’s slated to continue being produced at the Livonia Transmission plant and the Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center (formerly known as the Van Dyke Transmission plant) through at least the spring of 2028, as Ford Authority recently reported.
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Comments
Why is Firds 10 speed a piece of junk and gm’s 10 speed works fine when they are both identical?
I see you’re still bitter Ford won all 3 of the NASCAR national series.
🤣🤣🤣
Sorry dude but so far my 2022 10 speed ford has been perfect. Note that I only have 17000 mile on mine.
I have 72,000 miles on my 10 speed Transmission, 2018 F-150
No issues with my 2018 F150 10 speed pulling 9000 lb RV just fine.
What model of Ford has an 8-speed Ford transmission? Mine is a 10-speed for a 2020 Explorer.
Only in transverse FWD/AWD configurations, look up FOrd Escape 8 speed trasnsmission