According to Japan’s patent office, Honda has developed at least a concept for an 11-speed, triple-clutch transmission. With dual-clutch transmissions fighting with traditional torque converter-based automatics, it was only a matter of time before development work made DCTs even more efficient.

If dual-clutch transmissions are fundamentally more efficient than torque-converter-equipped automatics, then how can an additional clutch change anything? Well, the third clutch should allow for gears to be skipped, which should significantly reduce shift times and virtually eliminate the power lost while changing gears.

It might be difficult to understand, but those are the rudimentary backbones of Honda's 11-speed triple-clutch transmission.

The patent, which was first discussed by Autoguide and then Jalopnik, shows interesting solutions for the problems inherent in dual-clutch transmissions. Ironically, the massive spread of gears nearly mimics the ratios available in a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which Honda already has.

The patent wasn’t clear about the transmission finding its way into a car or truck -- even though there is a patent on file, there is no guarantee that the transmission will ever be slated for production.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io