When people first started to ask if 8 speeds in an automatic transmission might just be pushing things a bit too far, there was a part in all of us which just knew that 9-speeds were inevitable. And indeed, here it is, part of the several new features announced by Land Rover for the highly successful Evoque model. More gears in the box means better fuel economy, in theory, and LR says this one improves consumption by as much as 11.4 percent.

The transmission is built by ZF, which claims the response time is so fast as to be "below the threshold of perception." We're sure it's good and all, but frankly that sounds a bit like BS. The new tranny also comes with some new driveline improvements, including an all-new on-demand 4WD system which should help further balance agility and fuel economy. There is also a new feature called "InControl", and we've waded through LR's longwinded marketing-speak to tell you it's a vehicle tracking/remote function/emergency call service, which is basically the same as GM's OnStar.