General Motors power analysis transmission technology still has room for improvement

With the continuous introduction of new models of General Motors in the Chinese market, new Regal, New LaCrosse, Yinglang, and SLS Saiwei are all equipped with turbocharged engines with low displacement and high power output. This is an important part of GM’s strategy to implement a powertrain in China, which is to introduce fuel-efficient, direct-injection technology and introduce more efficient and energy-efficient ECOTEC engines to achieve environmental conservation goals.

The engine technology has played a role in the industry's unmatched policies and potential consumer demand for the Chinese market. In recent years, we can see that car manufacturers frequently launch turbocharged technology engines. Whether it is a popular brand or a high-end luxury brand, the small-displacement engine coupled with turbocharging technology has created an excellent engine with high power output. Currently the mainstream supercharged engines in the market are concentrated in the four areas of 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0. General Motors' R&D direction is 1.6 and 2.0 liter engines. Currently, two turbocharged engines are used at Buick Hideo, Regal, LaCrosse, Chevrolet Cruze, and Cadillac SLS Seville.

Compared with the same displacement engines of other brands in the industry, the Peugeot, Citroën Group and Mercedes-Benz 1.6-liter turbocharged engines have 110 kW and 115 kW maximum power respectively, and the maximum torque is 240Nm and 230Nm. It can be said that such a power output is a standard performance of a 1.6-liter turbo engine. However, when we compare their data with GM's 1.6-liter turbocharged engine, you will find that there is still a clear gap between the power output of the three engines.

This difference is even more prominent in the GM 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, such as the Volkswagen EA888 series 2.0 turbocharged direct injection engine, the maximum power and torque are 147Kw280Nm (the Audi Q5's engine can reach 155Kw), But even this is a far cry from Buick's 2.0 booster engine on Regal and LaCrosse. And if you compare the 2.0 turbocharged engine on Buick with the Cadillac engine used in SLS at the end of 2010, we will find that a 2.0-liter inline 4-cylinder engine can achieve a maximum power of 193 kilowatts and 360Nm maximum torque! This figure is simply amazing, to know that if a natural air intake engine wants to get the same power output, then its displacement must reach at least 4.0 liters. This shows that the engine technology introduced by General Motors in the Chinese market is indeed the strongest technology without reservation.

Transmission technology still has room for improvement. The technical improvement of the GM's models in the engine part is obvious to everyone. However, for this S6 transmission, we can also see on the network some riders who are not satisfied with it. A closer look at Shanghai GM's description of the S6 transmission, will find: "Clutch direct shift, can achieve the simultaneous combination or release of the clutch between the two gear, shift more quickly and smoothly while reducing energy loss." A paragraph, for this description may have friends that the general S6 transmission has some of the characteristics of the "double clutch manual transmission."

However, in fact, GM does not include the S6 transmission equipped with several brands such as Chevrolet and Buick in the country. The gearbox consists of an embedded gearbox control module and a patented single shaft technology with high-precision twill gears. There is still a fundamental difference between the structure and the common dual clutch manual transmission with clutch plates and gear sets.

As for the powertrain strategy, General Motors has achieved a high level of unsurpassed power in terms of engine development. On the other hand, the S6 transmission, which is almost matched to all models, appears to be incompletely matched with these engines. Perhaps in the future, GM should focus more R&D on the transmission or the matching of the transmission and the engine in order to achieve more perfect dynamic performance and give the driver more driving pleasure.