Arguably the largest gearbox manufacturer in the world, ZF, is no stranger to ensuring that their products and services are seen as “trend enablers” to complement trend setters in the automotive industry. For an automotive parts supplier that has 74,000 employees under its umbrella, it’s still no mean feat to produce 2.4 million automatic car transmissions, 4.4 million torque converters and 5.7 million car clutches thus far, over and above other product lines related to chassis and suspension components. They are certainly not resting on their laurels, which is why the Chinese market is key in their expansion effrts. This, according to Rudy Von Meister, ZF’s President of Asia Pacifi, can be achieved via a term labeled as “global sourcing”, as well as boosting ZF’s supply chain to enhance effiency and effctiveness on a broader scale.

The Ride and Drive event held at the Shanghai Tianma Circuit is testament to the fact that ZF is on the constant push to tie up with the Chinese market. This comes as no surprise for a large fim seeking to enter a country boasting immense economic muscle throughout the past decade. Interestingly, the HQ in Shanghai is expanding four-fold to accommodate Research and Development effrts. The technicalities were explained by Dr Harald Massmann (Vice President, Head of Region Asia-Pacifi, ZF), who gave a run-through of their product lines, specifially on ZF’s driveline technology. He emphasised that there are various benefis of the transmissions offred in ZF’s portfolio, as these gearboxes are catered for varying applications. For instance, a ZF 7-speed dual clutch transmission can handle revs of up to 9000rpm, while the 8-speed transmission (used in the F30 BMW 3 Series) can handle torque of approximately up to 1000Nm.

This 8-speeder is a technological marvel by itself, as it builds on the success of the tried-and-tested 6-speeders, but now it can accommodate more gears and increased shift times with the same number of components. This also presents ZF with a platform to work on a next-generation hybrid transmission based on the 8-speed, which has already been tested to withstand up to 550Nm of torque. While the 8-speed transmission is primarily designed for cars with a rear-wheel drive setup, ZF understands that the overall vehicle volume is predominantly frontwheel drive (75% to be exact). Their latest product, the 9-speeder, attempts to tap on this volume as it is developed to work seamlessly with front-transverse engines (with a possibility to accommodate an all-wheel drive layout). Currently available in the Range Rover Evoque and Jeep Cherokee, Dr Harald understands the concerns of critics that having nine forward gears might be one too many. But he was quick to comment that the gear ratios are optimised and smoothened by calibration engineers for a more comfortable feel behind the wheel.

Smartly managed by what ZF call an “Intelligent Transmission Control Unit”, the 9-speed transmission can also accommodate “start-stop” functions without an additional oil pump, as compared to the 8-speeder that requires one. Drivers of these cars are now blessed with less NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), as this gearbox can cruise on the freeway at a lower RPM. Best exemplifid with a test drive on track, we were exposed to cars from diffrent spectrums of the market, from cars made in China right through to the track-ready Porsche Carrera Targa 4S. These cars are fited with a variety of transmissions under ZF’s gearbox portfolio, and this affrded us the ability to understand the drivability of cars in an environment as challenging as a track. It’s
interesting to note how ZF applications can be used on cars in diffrent segments for diffrent target markets, as this shows its ability to be flxible in its product offrings, while staying true to the quality of their outputs.

ZF’s involvement in motorsports can be considered to be relatively strong too. Their main engagements involve supplying shock absorbers to Formula One teams. Apart from that, ZF also supplies parts for Ducati, and they even sponsor Volkswagen for the  World Rally Championships. According to Dr Harald, ZF’s technology for the future will certainly embrace global megatrends, as they understand the need to factor in societal and political issues. And with the proliferation of electric cars entering the mix, he did not rule out a potential collaboration with EV manufacturers too. But as of now, it is pretty safe to observe that ZF’s 9-speed transmission stretches the limits of automotive technology, and end consumers can look forward to more cutting-edge products from ZF in the near future.