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The 8L90 has four different gears sets and five clutches. There’s more on this specific version of the transmission below. The max power and torque specs bump up a little when it is put behind the LT1/LT4 engines. Through a combination of lightweight materials and wizardry, GM engineers were able to get the 8L90 to weigh in a couple of pounds less than the 6L80E, and keep it roughly the same size. Like most GM automatic transmissions that have come before it, the 8L90E has an aluminum case, overdrive, and can handle a lot of power. The addition of the two extra gears allows the 8L90 to realize a real world 5% fuel economy improvement over the 6L80.
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The addition of two extra gears over the previous generation 6L80 was necessary to meet ever tightening Federal fuel economy laws. It is an incredibly advanced transmission and has the technology to perform at a high level in the Corvette, while at the same time being cost effective enough to use in high volume production. Structurally, the 8L90 is similar to the 8L45, except that it is made to handle more power and torque. It is currently phasing out the 6L80/6L90 transmissions (although it hasn’t done its all the way yet. The 8L90E is an 8 speed automatic transmission developed by General Motors and introduced for the 2015 Model year.
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