Today’s modern automobile often comes with high-tech crash-avoidance systems. Parallel parking is a breeze when your car beeps to let you know when you’re about to hit something. The people of yesteryear couldn’t have imagined something like that, right? Think again.
Tesla is aiming to push the Model S into businesses, announcing lease plans for companies wanting an EV in their parking lot, though as with the car firm’s previous financing … Continue reading
Aside from the sleek body designs and supercharged engines, part of the appeal of a sports car is feeling close to the ground, hurtling along with such close proximity to the roads as to feel a tangible connection to the street or circuit beneath you. But as Jaguar Land Rover’s Transparent Bonnet concept shows, augmented reality could bring us closer to the tarmac than ever before.
Land Rover has unveiled a new concept system that makes the hood of the car see through so that the driver can see what is under the car and out … Continue reading
One of the most popular Ford cars on the market in the US is the Focus. Ford has announced that it has retained the title of the world’s best selling … Continue reading
Subcompact cars needn’t be underwhelming or underspecified, at least that’s what Honda believes with the 2015 Fit. Making a small, affordable, and capable car is arguably tougher than a $65k+ … Continue reading
Audi’s new 2015 TT is certainly striking from the outside, with the third-gen design bringing the crisp lines of the original right up to date, but it’s the all-new dashboard … Continue reading
There is a huge difference between most automatic transmissions that have a torque converter and paddle shifters and the dual-clutch automatics with paddle shifters featured on many European sports cars. A paddle shift automatic in a Ford product, like the Taurus SHO, needs about 1000 RPM to shift a gear making for a very annoying driving experience.
On the other hand, the dual-clutch transmission on something like the BMW M3 will shift gears much faster than your typical person can shift a manual. Chevrolet is going to be offering a new 8-speed auto transmission in the 2015 Corvette Stingray. However, many people were not happy when it was announced that the transmission GM made for the car isn’t a dual-clutch unit.
GMs tranny has a torque converter, but the company claims it will shift faster at wide-open throttle than the dual-clutch unit Porsche uses in its 911. GM says the 8-speed 8L90 transmission will shift gears .08 seconds faster than the Porsche gearbox. At the same time since it has a torque converter, GM says that it remains smooth and comfortable around town. The 8L90 transmissions will be offered in the standard Stingray for 2015 and the Z06 version.
“Corvette Stingray’s new eight-speed automatic delivers the comfort and drivability of a true automatic transmission, as well as lightning-fast shifts and the manual control that enhance the performance-driving experience,” said Bill Goodrich, assistant chief engineer for eight-speed automatic transmissions. “It was designed to enhance the Stingray’s driving experience, with performance on par with dual-clutch designs, but without sacrificing refinement.”
Guess we’ll have to wait to drive a 2015 Stingray to see how well the transmission lives up to its promises.
Chevrolet is giving the 2015 Stingray Corvette a new transmission option that is an 8-speed paddle shift automatic transmission. When this transmission was first announced, some were disappointed that it … Continue reading
In January, Toyota took the wraps off its FT-1 sports car concept, a monster of a vehicle that wasn’t slated for production. A single model of the FT-1 concept was … Continue reading
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