2018款本田奥德赛（Odyssey）可乘坐8名乘客，且支持10个前向档位。据了解，这款新型变速箱历经3年本田内部研发而成，是市面上唯一一款用于前驱车型的10速变速器。目前，这款变速器正在本田公司位于美国佐治亚州塔拉普萨市的变速器工厂进行生产。

在位于俄亥俄州雷蒙德市的本田研发中心内，《汽车工程》有幸就2018款奥德赛搭配的新型10速变速箱的相关问题采访到本田研发首席工程师Tom Sladek。据他介绍，这款变速器的输入扭矩为370 N·m，且“还留有一定余地。”尽管本田尚未宣布奥德赛3.5L V6发动机的SAE评定扭矩，但预计将不会低于2017款发动机的338 N·m。2018款发动机的峰值马力达到280hp，较2017款水平提升了32 hp。

本田将为新款奥德赛休旅车提供两款可选自动变速器，分别为采埃孚生产的9速变速器或本田自产的10速变速器。具体来说，本田的10速变速器将配备标准的启停系统，为奥德赛等前驱车型设计，最初阶段将搭载高配车型上市，但未来这款变速器的应用预计将在本田与讴歌产品线中不断扩大，取代本田3.5L V6发动机常用的6速自动变速器。

对比来看，这款10速变速器的传动比高达10.1，而目前本田Pilot与讴歌MDX / TLX 所采用的采埃孚9速变速器为9.81、本田原产的6速变速箱为6.03。这款10速变速器将在7到10档超速转动。Sladek承诺，由于这款变速器采用了非连续型跳跃换挡设计，在快速加速时可以提供“非常顺滑”换挡体验，可瞬间从10档换到6档或从7档换到3档。

Sladek表示，公司优化了奥德赛的内比，且一直专注于“持续减少车辆的内部摩擦”，因此这款休旅车的燃料经济性至少比目前的6速版本提升了6%。由于新款变速器的传动比范围更宽，发动机可以在需要时降至每分钟1500转(100km/h)，而6速版本最低只能降至每分钟1,920转。另外，由于档位设计(Sladek并未在电子展上具体说明各档位的信息)带来的提升，新款奥德赛的高速通过加速取得了14%的优化，而转速较低的1档也给车辆的启动带来了一定优化。Sladek表示，车辆的电液控制和螺线管设计也经过重新设计，可减少30%的换挡响应时间。

自2015年10月，这款10速变速器首次在本田的日本技术演示活动中亮相以来，本田公司也同时在积极为11速变速器申请专利。与奥德赛采用的10速变速器相同，本田的11速变速器也采用了三个离合器的设计。在本田车展上，Sladek带领我们参观了这款变速器的一些技术细节。事实上《汽车工程》记者还并不是动作最快的，一位采埃孚的工程师已经赶在我前面，进入了剖面展示现场，正在拍摄照片。

“优化整体封装是我们的主要设计目标之一。”Sladek说，“新款变速器的总长度为375 mm，比目前的6速变速器缩短了1.7 mm。”具体来说，这款变速器有4个行星齿轮组匹配曲轴，以及三个离合器和三个制动。Sladek指出，这种超小型封装设计的关键在于：利用一款全新的双向离合变速器替代现有的前进/后退单向离合与多碟式制动设计；缩小扭矩转换器的尺寸；以及采用一款环形齿轮将扭矩输送至车辆差速器等。

Sladek表示，这种高衰减/低惯性的扭矩转换器，采用了一款为V6车型气缸钝化与启停系统设计的3级减振器。车辆配备了计算装置，可根据驾驶员的操作动作，快速或缓慢地激活1档离合，从而优化发动机的启停动作。据了解，友商与媒体记者有望在今年晚些时候体验这款顺滑换挡的10速变速器。

Honda’s 2018 Odyssey offers room for eight passengers and its transaxle is packed with 10 forward gears. Developed in-house over a three-year period, the new automatic is the industry’s first production 10-speed for front-drive vehicles. It is being produced at the company’s Tallapoosa, GA, transmission plant.

Automotive Engineering was fortunate to speak with Tom Sladek, principal engineer at Honda R&D in Raymond, OH, about the new gearbox during the Odyssey’s media unveiling at the Detroit auto show. He said the transaxle’s input torque rating is 370 N·m (275 lb·ft) “with some degree of headroom designed in.” While Honda has yet to announce the SAE-rated torque of the Odyssey’s 3.5-L V6, it is expected to be greater than the 2017 engine’s 250 lb·ft (338 N·m). SAE peak horsepower of the 2018 engine is 280 hp—a 32-hp increase over this year’s output.

Interestingly, Honda is launching the new minivan with two available automatic transaxles—the ZF-sourced 9-speed and the new corporate 10-speed. The latter, equipped with standard stop-start, will initially go into the premium trim-level models. It is slated to proliferate steadily throughout the Honda and Acura ranges, replacing Honda’s 6-speed automatic for 3.5-L V6s. The new Odyssey is front-drive only.

The overall ratio spread of 10.1 compares with 9.81 for the ZF 9-speed used on the Honda Pilot/Acura MDX and TLX and a 6.03 spread on the factory 6-speed, a 66% increase. The 10-speed is overdriven in gears 7 through 10. Sladek promised “beautifully smooth” kick-downs for rapid acceleration because the transmission is designed for non-sequential skip-shifting—it is capable of downshifting from 10th to 6th gear or from 7th to 3rd instantaneously.

Optimized internal ratios in combination with “a continuing focus on reducing internal friction” help boost the Odyssey’s fuel economy by at least 6% over the 6-speed, he said. The wide ratio spread allows engine rpm to be reduced to 1,500 rpm at 62 mph (100 km/h), compared with 1,920 rpm on 6-speed vehicles. The spread of ratios (Sladek did not have gear-by-gear specifics at the show) enables a 14% improvement in highway passing acceleration and a lower first-gear ratio boosts off-the-line grunt. Redesigned electro-hydraulic controls and a revised solenoid design provide a 30% faster gear-change response time, he claimed.

After the 10-speed first appeared in October 2015 at a Honda technology demonstration event in Japan, the company’s patent filings for an 11-speed transmission surfaced online for a brief period. The 11-speeder incorporates three clutches, same as the new 10-speed which was Sladek’s focus in Detroit. He walked us through some details aided by a cutaway property in Honda’s auto show display. AE was actually second on the scene when the cutaway was wheeled in—a ZF engineer was already snapping photos when we arrived.

“Optimizing the overall package was one of our primary design goals,” Sladek noted. “Overall length is just under 15 in (375 mm)—about 1.7-in (45-mm) shorter than our existing 6-speed.” There are four planetary gearsets aligned with the crankshaft axis, along with the three clutches and three brakes. Sladek pointed to key design elements that contribute to the ultra-compact package: a new two-way clutch that replaces the forward/reverse mechanism’s one-way clutch and multi-disc brake; a smaller diameter and slimline torque converter; and a clever ring gear incorporating a row of teeth on its inner diameter that transfers torque to the differential.

The high-attenuation/low-inertia torque converter incorporates a three-stage vibration damper that was engineered and calibrated for the V6’s cylinder deactivation and stop-start systems, Sladek noted. An accumulator activates the 1st-gear clutch either rapidly or slowly, depending on operational inputs, to optimize the engine stop/restart sequence. Competitors and your reporter look forward to experiencing the slick-shifting 10-speed later this year.

Author: Lindsay Brooke
Source: SAE Automotive Engineering Magazine