The Koreans catch up and do not have to hide anymore - neither in design nor in technology. Red dot awards galore, turbo-charged downsizing engine and now an eight-speed automatic for front-wheel drive. Although Kia already has an eight-speed automatic transmission in the portfolio, but this was previously only for rear-wheel drive vehicles. Now, the "front scraper" can rely on this counterpart, so that the Kia eight-speed automatic on par with the competition, after all, the new gearbox is an in-house development.
Now you can ask yourself what the difficulty lies in adapting the Kia eight-speed automatic for front-wheel drive. Back to front and done. Not even close. On the one hand, the transmission cannot be installed lengthways, as is the case with the rear-wheel drive car, but must be installed across. Not least because of this, it must also be particularly compact. On the other hand, the space under the bonnet is limited, which is why the dimensions have to be cautious. Especially since the space is filled with the chassis, the engine and other auxiliary units.
But the high technical effort should have been worthwhile: The Kia eight-speed automatic should be highly efficient, allow smooth gear changes and even be lighter than a six-speed automatic transmission. 3,5 kg wants to save Kia against this. Further highlights: A more even acceleration from the stand with a simultaneous lower consumption as well as a reduction of the noises and vibrations. In addition, the Kia eight-speed automatic to provide more pulling power at high speeds.
Consumption reduction due to lack of space
Particularly interesting in the design: the oil pump has been greatly reduced. Usually this provides - in the larger format - for increased consumption. Kia wants to have even developed the smallest oil pump of all standard transmissions in this class and so reduce the thirst. In addition, the engineers have simplified the structure of the valve body. This means that now only twelve instead of twenty valves in the gearbox work and control the clutch. However, so that it does not interfere with the function of the clutch, it is now moved with a magnetic switch, which results in another advantage: faster response times.
Its premiere celebrates the new Kia eight-speed automatic in the Cadenza, a saloon not available in Germany. However, it is also planned for other models. Maybe you can be in the new Kia cee'd to be happy about. A date for the replacement of the current model is not yet pronounced, but the next generation of the Hyundai i30 was announced recently - the sister model of the cee'd.
