8 Speed Gearbox's And Audi's New Headlights Look The Sex.

[skins]

http://blog.caranddriver.com/the-continental-nine-speeds-are-coming-legalizing-side-view-cameras-and-audi-bags-a-headlight-expert/

Now that seven-speed manuals and eight-speed automatics have become the “benchmark,” who wants more gears? I don’t, but it seems that the industry soon will have us consider nine-speeds as state-of-the-art. Daimler and Chrysler will be reunited in an odd way, as the leaders of this trend. Chrysler will launch the ZF-sourced 9HP nine-speed automatic in some of its front-wheel-drive vehicles. I now hear that Mercedes-Benz will also offer a nine-speed auto beginning in 2013; the NGS (Neue Generation Stufenautomatik), in its W9A and high-performance K9A variations, will be standard on a number of rear-wheel-drive Mercedes vehicles. You can bet several competitors will follow suit in the escalating gear-count wars.

It’s interesting to note that Benz is taking pride in its nine-speed slushbox, while—as we’ve reported before—its six-speed manuals will be purchased from ZF in the future. Priorities.

Mercedes has released photos of its Citan light commercial vehicle (shown above), which is a rebadged Renault Kangoo. I’ll refrain from comment on the styling, but want to share the company’s official statement that the lower air intake is “a typical styling element of Mercedes-Benz, from compact passenger cars to the Actros.” The Actros, of course, is a brick-shaped heavy-duty truck. If true, this statement explains a lot about Mercedes’ current styling.

[mad082]

surely they will get to a point where the time/performance gained by closer ratio gears will be lost by the time spent changing gears

[Nee-san]

That's when you move to CVT

[luke gtr]

I thought most of the modern multiple geared autos WERE just cvts with computerised shift patterns.

I know some are, and if done this way, you could have as many gears as you wanted....