Quote:
Originally Posted by jpd80
As i understand it, the gearbox was developed by Getrag and a former Ford
Transmission engineer in touch with that project said the gearbox was never
intended for Focus as it was much heavier and more powerful than Fiesta.
As the engineering team got into development, it became obvious that the
dry clutch set up was problematic but needed to keep costs down. A wet
clutch setup would have fixed the problem, but cost just as much as a true
automatic.
The engineers tried to tell Ford management that there was a problem that
couldn't be fixed - the email trail was kept contrary to Ford corporate regulations
to delete and shred all documents once project work is done, will be good when
a senior VP has to take the stand, the wheels will really fall off then.
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I would love to know how the conversations between Ford and Getrag went and are still going.
As a supplier do you supply a product knowing it's not dsigned for the vehicle size where the customer (Ford) is going to install it and then say sorry we cannot cover the warranty if you do?
I'd love to know what $'s were saved in buying the dry-clutch unit and what it's cost meeting warranty, litigation, penalties, plus the hard to put value on "product reputation" and "brand image"...
Could this partly explain why Ford did a JV with GM on developing their current 8, 9 & 10 speed torque converter autos.