Someday will come a complete variable speed transmission which should alleviate all of the problems of staying within the torque and horsepower curve and still present good mileage. The Fiat Jeep has one now and an engine re-builder friend purchased one without much research only to discover it is a variable speed belt drive similar to the drives in UTV's and snowmobiles. Time will tell the reliability. But for high torque engines it will be interesting if this concept ever comes to fruition within a price range acceptable to the consumer.

 

Well, you're talking about very incremental steps. One gear at a time. Now the jump from 6 to 10 is quite major. The additional amount of swapping gears is considerable. Swapping gears more often cannot be easier on a transmission. And the only thing that increases fuel economy is the ratio spread...so if 10th isn't considerably higher, than it wouldn't be worth it.

 

Yuck. But I doubt they can make one strong enough for HD truck duty anyway.

 

It's just going to depend on what is best for efficiency and reduced wear and tear. I know Americans love going up hills without downshifting, but if the throttle response is vague and requires a lot of vacuum, it's probably not the ideal ratio. Existing 4/6 speeds might hold it because it's better than revving hard in the next gear down. But going from 10th to 9th wouldn't be so bad and your truck might feel a bit livelier. Also it might hold 10th for going up, and if you decide to increase speed a little it might go to 9th or 8th? Or maybe they will optimize 10th for cruising at 80mph with no trailer by making it heavily overdriven. So uphill with a trailer might go to 8th where you find a ratio similar to today's 6th?

 

Going from 3 to 6 is not much different than going from 6 to 10. It's just happening in a shorter time span.

The ratio spread is not the only thing that increases fuel economy. You could now have a lower rear-end ratio. Or, the fact that the gear changes are smaller changes, you don't have to run as high of an RPM. Or, the tranny can be much more efficient. Or you keep the engine in it's most efficient operating range. Or, you tune the engine to be more efficient, but maybe with a narrower powerband since you now have a tranny that can take advantage of it.

There are many ways a tranny with more gears can improve fuel economy. They are all incremental steps.

Well said!

 

gears which are more closely spaced can shift a lot smoother too. My prediction is that when (not if) they put a 10-speed in the super duty, it'll shift really nicely, and will really improve the driving experience.

 

Man I'm still getting over my skepticism of automatics. 2 of the 3 automatics my gf and I have owned have had transmission failures, one of them took out the engine in the process.

 

Buy a 2017 F250 Diesel or wait and hope a 10-speed gets added to the 2018s?

 

I would buy now if you are in any kind of hurry. If it is coming for 2018 (as opposed to 2019), it will likely be September by the time they announce it. Then several more months until they trickle into the dealerships.

 

I still do not think this is going to happen. We have a 10-speed transmission which can be used in some high performance gas vehicles like the Raptor and Camaro ZL1. But the Camaro's 640lb-ft only has to move a 3500lb weight. In a Super Duty, the transmission potentially has to move more than 40k lbs, and do it every day.

I'd bet the 6R140 sticks around for quite awhile. Its a great transmission.

 

10 speed is coming for super duty but i don't think it will be MY 2018

 

Yeah it won't be the 10R80, as it won't be able to handle the torque. Probably a 10R140. The last number indicates the maximum input torque in Newton Meters. The entire transmission assembly will no doubt be larger physically with bigger and stronger internal components. Perhaps a 10R100 for the F250 gasser. Who also wants to bet we will see alternative engines coming to Super Duty also? Some kind of EcoBoost and/or possibly a hybrid within that 2020 target?

 

Part of the deal is the EPA stuff. I was reading about the new CK-4 oil on the API site and one of the reasons for the new oil is EPA wants smaller diesel engines that cruise at 1700 RPM instead of 2600 RPM. If the engines can't rev as high, and you want to maintain highway speeds, you will have to re-design the transmissions. Including more gears to account for differences in the torque curves is one method.

 

10r80 in a 250 gasser as is now with 6r80

 

2019 for the 10 speed is what I heard.