The recently widely proliferated automatic gearbox ... on Track to Save $2.5 Billion, 700+ Million Gallons of Gasoline With TorqueFlite Eight-Speed Automatic Transmissions TorqueFlite eight ...

For instance, Subaru’s CVT, dubbed Lineartronic, does this in models such as the WRX, enabling the transmission to swap between eight ratios in a manner that simulates an eight-speed gearbox.

The additional top gear is a big part of what makes an automatic transmission with more gears more economical than an automatic with fewer gears. A six-speed in top gear at highway speed doesn’t ...