SOCIETY OFAUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, INC. TwoPennsylvania Plaza, NewYork, N.Y.10001 General Motors Overseas Automatic Transmission R.P.Michnay General Motors Strasbourg, S.A. G.K.Hause Engineering Staff, General Motors Corp. Mid-Year Meeting Montreal, Que., Can.June7-11,1971710613 Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Wednesday, September 26, 2018710613 General Motors Overseas Automatic Transmission R.P.Michnay General Motors Strasbourg, S.A. G.K.Hause Engineering Staff, General Motors Corp. THIS PAPER describes therequirements andthedesign ofan automatic transmission foroverseas vehicles. Thesimple adaptation ofadomestic transmission often leads tocompromise ofweight andsize. With lowvolume, thiscom promise canbejustified. However, when thevolume justifies manufacturing atransmission overseas, thedesign canbespe cific fortheintended market. Indesigning such atransmission, weight, size, andcostareof extreme importance. Here iswhere close liaison between the design engineer, manufacturing research people, andproduc tionpeople can"pay off." Thedesign engineer must bemade aware ofmodern manufacturing techniques-their capabilities andlimitations. HISTORY General Motors made anadaptation oftheOldsmobile F-85 Hydra-Matic andintroduced itin1960 intheoverseas 6-cyl vehicles. These consisted ofthe159cuin.Opel Admiral (Ger many), the161cuin.Holden (Australia), andthe201cuin. Vauxhall Cresta (England). When production ofthistransmission wasdiscontinued in 1964, thetwo-speed Powerglide wasadapted tothesame vehi cles. Bythistime, Holden's hadincreased their engine dis placement to186cuin.In1965, popularity ofautomatic transmissions wasincreas inginEurope. ThePowerglide wasthenmade available onthe 4-cyl, 115cuin.Opel Rekord andthe4-cyl, 96cuin.Vaux hallVictor. These vehicles hadcurb weights of2380 and2245 lb,respectively. Because ofthelowpower-to-weight ratio, the performance wasmarginal. Inaddition, thehighvolume Opel Kadett andVauxhall Viva lines stillcould notbepenetrated. They hadengines of66and71cuin. In1965, astudy wasinitiated todetermine what future course should befollowed byGeneral Motors regarding auto matic transmissions intheoverseas market. Thisstudy was based onfuture engine programs, vehicle programs, andmar ketstudies. Theresult ofthese studies wasthat G.M. should manufacture automatic transmissions overseas. Anewtrans mission hadtobedesigned anddeveloped tomeet thefollow ingrequirements: 1.Atleast three speeds. 2.Flexibility tocover anengine range from 4cyl,66cuin. engines uptoa308cuin.V-8. 3.Flexibility forinstallation inleftandright drive vehicles. 4.Small package size. 5.Minimum weight. 6.Low cost. Late in1965, theTransmission Development Group ofGen eralMotors Engineering Staff presented atransmission design ABSTRACT Anewthree-speed automatic transmission hasbeen designed anddeveloped foroverseas vehicles. Aunique arrangement of aRavigneaux gearset, torque converter, three plate clutches, overrunning clutch, andaband employs newmanufacturing techniques. Theresult isalowcost, lightweight transmission capable ofcovering awide range ofengine sizes.Therequirements ofthenewtransmission were: atleast three speeds, flexibility tocover anengine range from 4cyl, 66cuin.to308cuin.V-8,flexibility forinstallation inleft andright drive vehicles, small package size,minimum weight, lowcost, andinterchangeability ofmajor components. This paper describes thedesign andmanufacture ofthisnew three-speed transmission. Downloaded from SAE International by University of British Columbia, Wednesday, September 26, 20182 foroverseas vehicles toG.M. management. Thisautomatic transmission proposal appeared tobecapable ofmeeting the sixbasic requirements already established. Thedecision wasmade tomanufacture thesame transmis sioninEurope and Australia. Thisintroduced anewrequire ment: Regardless ofthecountry ofmanufacture, allmajor components must beinterchangeable. With thisnewrequirement, along with ashort leadtime, it