8 speed transmission, did I read that right? That's just asking for a failure mode to surface.

I don't know much about cars. Is it eight speed so the power band can be smaller, a cheaper engine? It just shifts constantly?

I'm just going by how I shift bicycle gears.

I had a WRX 4 speed automatic. 1st gear took it up to 80kph, the kick into second could be hard to control, went like a rocket up to 110kph, then there was a long draw up to 180kph where 4th gear would kick in. I dunno what the top speed was, I had it up to 210 one time, about 6500rpm.

Then I had a six speed BRZ. The shifting was much smoother with 2 more gears. It had less HP than my WRX but still quite a bit at 200hp for a small car. Lasted until I traded it in at 300,000km, no problems.

These days I have a Crosstrek with a continuously variable transmission, no gears.

Not really.

The racing world has used these for a while now, long before cars got them.

Motorcycles had 6-speed transmissions in the 80's.

If anything it reduces loads on each gear (and everything else) by having less of a sudden torque load when it shifts.

DCT really helps with the loading by ensuring a smoother transition.

I've never been a fan of these, but I can't argue by how much of an improvement they are.

Even Honda has been using them since at least 2016 - and they don't use anything until it's mature/robust.

Better fuel economy by having more ratios to choose from, so it can keep the engine closer to its ideal RPM range for the current load.

Another big thing is by having the ratios closer, the sudden torque load from shifting is greatly reduced. Imagine shifting your bike from 3 to 8 and how much harder it suddenly is (or jump from the small front ring to the largest).

As an example, I've seen drag racing cars break engine mounts during an upshift. That's an extreme case, but it demonstrates the torque loads that occur during shifts.

Also, DCT is a given with these transmissions, and it makes for an incredibly smooth shift, further reducing the torque loading during shifting - you almost don't even feel it.

Looks like pressure got Toyota to do the right thing.

Consumer Matters reached out to Toyota Canada about Wilkie’s case. She says she received a call from the automaker the next day telling her it would cover the cost of the transmission.

Hopefully Toyota will replace the other ones that have failed.

This is a Highlander. Dual Clutch Transmissions are for sportier cars. This is a more standard automatic unless it’s a hybrid, I didn’t finish the article.

Also Ford and GM use 10 speed transmissions in its trucks these days. And they designed it together. They’re built like regular automatics but with more clutch packs, planetaries and valves.

Again, these are standard automatics. They use locking torque converters and planetary gear sets. The main reason for so many gears is to keep the ice engine rpm in the right range to provide torque for accelerating and passing, and fuel efficiency for higher speed driving.

DCTs are for much more performance oriented vehicles and actually more complicated to control smoothly than a traditional automatic.

Racing is fine, you expect it to blow up at some point. In F1 if you aren't done with a broken car its over engineered for that race.

The more moving parts the more points of failure when you do your FMEA study.

It's why a 3 speed planetary can be robust, its a lot less complex. Don't get me wrong I love new tech and efficiency gains, but 8 speed is just asking for problems.

Multiple reasons: torque range kept optimal, fuel savings, etc. Just gets much more complex than the old 3 speed with Overdrive or 4/5 speed. Thus them blowing up at 100k

A CVT would probably be better than this ever increasing gear count.