General Motors and SAIC to jointly develop small engine and dual clutch transmission

Filed under: China, Technology, GM

General Motors has reached an agreement with one of its primary Chinese partners, Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp. (SAIC), on the joint development of powertrains for small vehicles.

GM and SAIC will develop and produce a family of four-cylinder engines ranging from 1.0- to 1.5-liters with direct injection and turbocharging. The GTDI engines should cut fuel consumption by around 20 percent compared to similarly-sized engines with equivalent output.

The engine will be used in GM and SAIC vehicles in China and around the world, and to go along with the new engine, the partners will also develop a small dual-clutch transmission that should provide a 10 percent boost in efficiency over current six-speed torque converter automatics. Work on the engine and transmission will occur at GM’s powertrain engineering center in Pontiac, MI and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center in Shanghai.

GM has yet to announced when the new powertrains will debut in production, but mid-2011 is a safe bet.

[Source: General Motors]

Continue reading General Motors and SAIC to jointly develop small engine and dual clutch transmission

General Motors and SAIC to jointly develop small engine and dual clutch transmission originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Autoblog

Updated Euro-spec 2011 Range Rover includes new diesel, transmission [w/video]

Filed under: SUV, Europe, Videos, Land Rover, UK, Luxury, Off-Road

It may seem hard to remember now, but back in the day – before Porsche Cayennes roamed the earth alongside Mercedes SUVs aplenty – the Range Rover was the be-all-and-end-all in the luxury sport-ute market. Today Range Rover may have some stiff competition, but JLR is keen to prove its top of the line is still the king of the hill, and to that effect has released a series of upgrades to the 2011 model.

First and foremost is the diesel drivetrain: a new 4.4-liter LT-TDV8 with 308 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque (rumored to be sourced from Ford) replaces the old 3.6-liter unit, coupled to a new ZF eight-speed automatic. The 7.5-second sprint to sixty may be a far cry from the 5.9 seconds it takes the gasoline-burning supercharged 5-liter V8, but for a heavy oil-burner returning over 30 miles per gallon on the European combined cycle (the first Range Rover to break that particular efficiency barrier), that’s nothing to cough at. Speaking of the Supercharged model, that engine carries over essentially unchanged, while the diesel benefits from the Supercharged model’s Brembo braking system.

Other revisions include an upgraded Terrain Response system, some minor cosmetic changes, new wheel options, an optional Exterior Design Pack and a special 40th anniversary Autobiography Black edition. These details – more of which you can read about in the press release and view in the video after the jump – are unfortunately limited to the European model, so we’ll have to sit tight for the revisions to reach American shores. No word on plans to bring the diesel model across the pond, so for now we’ll just have to add this to the growing list of torque-tastic diesels to admire from afar.

[Source: Land Rover]

Continue reading Updated Euro-spec 2011 Range Rover includes new diesel, transmission [w/video]

Updated Euro-spec 2011 Range Rover includes new diesel, transmission [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

View full post on Autoblog

Toyota Plans to Cut Local Transmission Plant Output on Weak Demand

Toyota Auto Parts Philippines Inc. (TAP), a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP), is planning to reduce the output in transmission plant due to the slowdown in the global demand for automobiles.

In an interview, Toyota vice chairman Alfred Ty said they might decrease the production of transmission due to a drop in demand in key export markets.

Last year TAP has invested P5.4 billion to double the production capacity of its transmission plant in Laguna. Read more