ZF 6 speed auto in Oct - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

Aussie Falcon · 03-31-2005, 17:00

In todays SMH 1/4/05

Quote:

Falcon hits a six
JOSHUA DOWLING

A gearbox once exclusive to Jaguars and Aston Martins is destined for locally made Ford sedans, writes JOSHUA DOWLING.

Ford will have the most technically advanced automatic transmission in an Australian-made car when an updated Falcon goes on sale in October.

In a major coup, Ford's performance and luxury models will be available with a six-speed automatic transmission - the first time such a gearbox has been fitted to a locally made car.

Significantly, Ford will leapfrog Holden, which amid much fanfare late last year released a five-speed automatic gearbox for its V6-powered performance and luxury models.

The Falcon's six-speed automatic is being sourced from the respected German transmission specialist, ZF.

Ford Australia will not confirm what changes, if any, are to be made to the Falcon later this year to bring the range into line with the latest emission standards, as well as to give it a visual freshen-up before Holden releases an all-new Commodore in March next year. (An all-new Falcon is not due until 2007).

A number of Ford Falcon GTs with German number plates have been spotted in the car park at ZF's German head office and Drive's European sources have confirmed they are being tested with the new six-speed transmission.

The Falcon's six-speed automatic will be far more expensive than the humble four-speed auto it replaces.

For this reason, Drive understands the six-speed will be reserved for the upstream models such as the Fairmont Ghia, Fairlane and LTD and the performance models such as the XR6 Turbo, Typhoon, XR8 and GT. It is expected the rest of the range will retain the four-speed auto.

Other makers to use the Falcon's new six-speed automatic include Jaguar and Aston Martin - brands owned by Ford's luxury division, the Premier Automotive Group.

Drive believes that Ford has used its enormous buying power to lower the costs and enable such an expensive and technically advanced gearbox to be fitted to Falcons.

Ford was forced to fit an expensive ZF gearbox because no other automatic could comfortably and reliably handle the huge power outputs of Ford's latest range of engines.

..snipped..

CDAA · 03-31-2005, 17:35

Well there you go, it's all good!! Thanks for that Aussie Falcon.
I really looking forward to seeing the auto implimented along with some other changes Ford/FPV have instore.

TJS-81 · 03-31-2005, 17:38

This sounds awesome.....can't wait!!!!

madmelon · 03-31-2005, 17:51

How wrong i was....and how happy I am :) This is awsome. I just hope that the base cars get some sort of mechanical "brighten up" along these lines too.

Nobby · 03-31-2005, 18:19

This should be excellent, as Ze Germans are the ones fine-tuning it.

I'm looking forward to it.

McobraR · 03-31-2005, 18:23

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG, I'm gonna wet my pants here folks.
6 SPEED AUTO did i hear? OMG OMG OMG.
Finally Ford oz is doin somethin right, and it's good to hear they're gonna do a mild facelift (better than nothin) to the falc.
Bad news about this is 1) base models retain the 4 speed (not that its crap, it's just missing a gear). Hopefully the 2007 model see's a 5 speeder.
And 2) the falcon will gain weight, and that aint good.
ANWAYS, I aint complainin, a 6 speed auto is always welcome in my place

CDAA · 03-31-2005, 19:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by McobraR

.
And 2) the falcon will gain weight, and that aint good.

The new ZF 6 speed auto is actually 10kg lighter than the current 4 speed unit. Internal testing have shown its actually makes the BA significantly faster

ivorya · 03-31-2005, 19:32

Gr8 newz!!!!
But how much more expensive will this gearbox make the cars???? What % increase can we expect???

Curls · 03-31-2005, 19:51

It's also been openly admittted that Ford's supply contract with Ion (current A4 supplier)was going to end in 2007 so its a VERY safe bet that the Falcon due then will come out with at least a 5 speed auto in base models and if we look to what the US Fords currently use then my money would be on one of these sitting in a future Falcon.

Curls · 03-31-2005, 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDAA

The new ZF 6 speed auto is actually 10kg lighter than the current 4 speed unit. Internal testing have shown its actually makes the BA significantly faster

The rumours (and lets be optimistic) are 10% performance and economy gains but lets be pessimistic and say for the same power and weight of current cars 0-100 times might drop by 0.4sec and economy by 0.4L/100km. The real interseting thing will be if Ford decide to remove or raise the restrictions on the engines (torque tag I think is the nickname?) or keep the boost up for XR6T and F6 at higher revs as the arguement (fear) of gearbox durability will be nolonger be a concern.