Honda?s new automatic transaxle revives the company?s dormant spirit of invention. During much of this past decade, it seemed as if Honda had taken a break from stretching technological boundaries. The arrival of a new 10-speed transaxle suggests that the engineers? creativity nap has ended.
This new 10-speed automatic mates to a 280-hp 3.5-liter V-6. It made its first appearance nestled between the front wheels of the fifth-generation 2018 Odyssey minivan. Credit Honda with two significant firsts: This is both the first 10-speed automatic for any front-wheel-drive vehicle and Honda?s first use of planetary gearsets.
Until now, Honda automatic transmissions have fit into three categories: belt-and-pulley continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) manufactured in-house, planetary automatics purchased from suppliers (such as the nine-speed ZF design that will continue to be available on lower trim levels of the new Odyssey), and Honda-built automatics combining a torque converter with servo-shifted helical gears. That last arrangement, which anticipated today?s popular dual-clutch automatics, was highly developed to work well in scores of Honda models that were sold for decades. The need for greater packaging efficiency is what drove Honda to its new planetary-gear 10-speed. According to Tom Sladek, a development leader for the Odyssey at Honda?s Ohio R&D office, the traditional helical-gear approach simply wouldn?t accommodate 10 forward gears in the available space. The...