Daimler's development of torque converter automatic transmissions spans more than 50 years, beginning with the four-speed K4A025 that was brought to the market in 1961. That was the start of a development timeline that has seen big changes in automatic technologies, most noticeably the number of speeds a transmission has. In 2013 Daimler brought its latest torque converter to the market, the nine-speed W9A700 system, The transmission has been used in the firm's Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The first vehicle to receive it was the 185kW/620Nm V6 diesel version of the sedan, and it helped to cut fuel consumption and CO_2 emissions from 5.5 litres/100km and 144g/km to 5.3 litres/100km and 138g/km respectively, The transmission has now been adapted to be used in SUVs too, as well as in iiber luxury sedans from the firm's Mercedes-Maybach brand, allowing it to be mated to rear-wheel and all-wheel drive platforms. The first application was in the Mercedes-Benz GLE.
展开▼
