Eaton Discontinues Procision Transmission

Recently, Eaton has announced that the company plans to stop production of its Procision dual-clutch automated transmission. In response to numerous questions on the reasons behind this decision asked by different media sources, an Eaton representative did not provide any significant details, just noting that the transmission would be produced only until the end of this year, adding that all customers had been informed about this decision in advance.

The Procision, presented in 2014 and manufactured since 2015, was the 1-st automated DCT solution in the US market. It was a 7-speed layout with a 0.64:1 double-overdrive final drive ratio and was capable to handle up to 895 Nm of torque. When it comes to specific features of this unit, this sophisticated unit has something to offer.

Learn more about Procision transmission

This transmission was equipped with a creep mode, hill helper technology, tap down shifting, and had 3 conventional power take-off openings. Creep mode allowed the vehicle to move at engine idle without having to apply an accelerator pedal. This mode is useful during the slow speed parking, driving at stop-and-go traffic, and on minimal grades. This unit could be operated with the use of an OEM shift lever and push-button controller. The hill helper was used when it was necessary to launch the vehicle on a grade, it maintains the vehicle position, while the driver transitions from the foot-brake to the accelerator pedal. Tap down shifting (TDS) started downshifts at the earliest opportunity, with a momentary tap of the foot-brake. Thus, it helped to maximize engine braking at situations like driving down long grades or when coming to a stop.

Testing of the Procision transmission under real-life conditions

However, the main feature of that advanced solution was its shifting mechanism. The company officials said that in practice this solution significantly outperformed its manual/automated manual analogs: the process of torque transfer to the wheels in this gearbox is not cut off by gear shifting. Eaton said, when the transmission was launched, that the torque path to the drive wheels is not interrupted by speed changes, so drivers wouldn't feel insufficiency of power when upshifting as they do with conventional manuals. Gear shifts are performed here in such a way that when a specific gear gets engaged, the coming one gets preselected. Advanced features implemented in this product such as Eaton Dynamic Shifting helped to ensure automatic switch between economy and performance shifting determined by different factors.

The Procision production end limits Eaton’s solutions for the medium-duty market to a line of 5- and 6-speed light- and medium-duty synchronized manual gearboxes.