How do you feel about changing gears?
The recent trend in transmissions have usually involved multiple clutches — allowing the gearbox to preselect the following gear, resulting in no drop in power — and increasing the number of cogs. If you’re interested in buying the next generation Volkswagen Golf GTI for instance, chances are you’ll be getting 10 forward speeds.
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Auto Express suggests that the car will feature the ‘box Volkswagen has mentioned in the past.
The current VW Golf features a seven-speed DSG (dual-clutch) gearbox, so swapping cogs doesn’t come with much surprise to the average driver. But notably, the forthcoming 10-speeder weighs as much and occupies the same volume as the current transmission.
The transmission is rated for up to 550N.m. of torque — essentially the amount of force the engine can develop to rotate the wheels — so that obviously means the MK8 version of the GTI won’t be ripping up any roads in haste, but it does give Volkswagen quite a bit of room to play with.
Currently, the MK7 GTI develops 350N.m. of torque and about 220-horsepower, which is respectable in anyone’s book.
With 10 speeds, the gearbox should also improve fuel efficiency — the driver will likely be in the correct year regardless of situation — and for that matter, acceleration.
Of course, this gearbox could find itself in a number of other vehicles too so chances are, we might get a Passat, Jetta and perhaps even a Toureg with 10 speeds in the future.
Excited? Or do you think this transmission will take away the essence of the Golf GTI?
