The Aston Martin DBS Superleggera. The Toyota Supra. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The BMW M5. The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. The Rolls-Royce Phantom. Though these cars are all different, there's one thing they (and many other cars) have in common: ZF's 8HP eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.
First introduced in 2008, ZF's eight-speed gearbox has come to occupy the transmission tunnels of countless new cars, from big American trucks to compact hatchbacks and ultra-luxurious grand tourers. In some cases, it's even replaced dual-clutch transmissions. ZF sold an astonishing 3.5 million units in 2017 alone, according to our colleagues at Car and Driver. How has the 8HP come to conquer the market? Well, it's very good at a lot of things.
As Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained says in his latest video above, the ZF eight-speed has been engineered to fulfill many different roles in a single, compact package. It can be quiet and well-behaved in a Ram 1500, or wildly responsive on track while bolted into a new M5. It can be used as a transaxle, like it is with every new Aston Martin, or sit right behind the engine, like in the Giulia. It's also not any bigger than the company's last-gen transmissions, despite having more forward gears. That means companies like Dodge don't have to design an entirely new chassis with a bigger tunnel to fit a new, bigger gearbox. It's also lighter than your average dual-clutch, broadening the performance appeal. It truly checks all the boxes.
