Mercedes-Benz announced a whole host of updates for the new E-Class sedan, chief among which the addition of a new 9-speed automatic transmission. The new ‘box replaced the 7G-tronic auto in the E350 BlueTEC model, and its sole purpose is to preserve fuel.

Both of the new gears have long ratios and are there to complement the start/stop and help the whole system to use less and less fuel. Now, you would imagine that since 8th and 9th gears are highway gears, they’d result in a drastic improvement in the the car’s fuel economy ratings for, well, highway. But no. The 9-speed does exactly the same 60 HWY mpg that the 7-G managed.

It does affect the urban and combined ratings, but not by much. The E350 BT with the 7G gearbox does 40 city/51 combined, while the 9-speeder can manage 44city/53 combined. So just because this new transmission has nine gears, do not expect miracles from it. And no, the performance has not been affected by the new ‘box, either.

In other news, Mercedes is now offering a natural gas-powered variant of the E-Class with around 160 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque. It is a pretty slow model with a 0 to 100 km/h time of 10.5 seconds. But it is fairly economical at 44 mpg; it makes less CO2; and it costs less to run because of the fuel costs.