tuandino

What are your thoughts on dual clutch transmission (DCT) vs. tradditional manual 6spd? To me, DCT might shift faster than any human can, but I still prefer the feel of shifting through the gearbox myself. I drove the audi A4 quattro recently with DCT, it drove and accelerated quite nice, the downshift was quite abrupt though. Overall, i still prefer the drive and feel from a traditional manual 6spd gear box.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

It's pretty subjective. I learned to drive stick on the family '93 Accord 5-Speed, which is good to learn/know. But with Bay Area traffic you couldn't pay me to drive a traditional three pedal. Give me Auto/Semi-Auto any day these days.

tuandino

Hoovey, i totally agree with you. My current daily is an accord with manual. Fighting through traffic with that setup is hell

RNM GS3

peteharvey

One of my friends has the current model Audi A5 with DCT.
He said that brand new, it is fine.
However, these days with age, it thumps and shudders as the multi-wet plate clutches wear out.

DCT shift is quicker; in fact quickest.
However, long term reliability is always an issue.
If the DCT is not used properly in traffic congestion by increasing the car following space, the multi wet plate clutches will wear out faster.

Traditional manual is more work and more fun.

Neither trannies are perfect; choose what you like most.

Htony

DCT depends on electronic controls. It has no stick per se. Little leve mounted on steering column sends signals for P-R-N-D mode. Also it comes with EPB as well like other cars. Some are more reliable than others. In drive mode when you step on the gas pedal there is split seconds delay B4 car starts moving which needs some getting used to. Wife drives small Benz with DCT. Shifting is very nimble once it starts moving. My son still likes stick. Both of his BMW(winter, summer) have stick shift. For me I don't care what shift I use. ATM, 8 speed automatic which has no hesitation or shift problem . I can use paddle shift on sports mode setting.

Johnhav430

If you care about time, and drive at the track, dual clutch is faster. But if you happen to like using a clutch, which I do, manual with clutch. It's what you like.

But if you race for a living, you'd definitely want to win, and to get the fastest time. The BMW 3 having no clutch potentially in North America for 2019 is sad to me. To many, it's good riddance!

The fact that a brand new truck driver today does not know how to use a manual and would never consider a job where the fleet had manuals, kind of lends legitimacy to clutches being archaic. But if you like it, like I do, doesn't matter what others think. I had a coworker who ordered a smoked meat sandwich in Toronto, the sandwich that's like 4" thick. He hated it and threw it away! You can't tell him you must eat it, it's delicious, because to him, it was disgusting. We like what we like.

huy33

I totally agree on this. It all depends if you're driving for fun or for the fastest times. The new Porsche PDK can do amazing things and do it extremely fast everytime. They rev match, downshift, blurp the throttle consistently every time. I think the DCTs can't handle high HP/torque though. Audis have the ZF automatics on the RS cars instead of the dual clutches.

sivikvtec

I drove a 911/PDK a few years ago in city and back roads and it only felt marginally more fun than the 6AT in my GS.

To me at least, there is no equivalent to a proper manual transmission when it comes to driving for pleasure.

bagwell

exactly, have fun if/when the DCT requires repair$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

S2000toIS350

The DCT in my NSX is fantastic.

I live in the city and have a traffic riddled commute.

A three pedal car would be misery.

When I had a 15 minute commute the S2000 was perfect. No comparison about being engaged in the drive relative to a 2 pedal car.

Stroock639

call me weird but i feel like the instant shifts of a DCT are almost boring compared to slower shifting transmissions. also when a transmission takes good ol' fractions of a second to shift instead of instantaneous split seconds it gives your brain more time to take in all the awesomeness that occurred and prepare for more to come in the next gear. DCTs are also heavier, i think pagani chose not to use one in the huayra since the increased weight would negate any performance gains.

Htony

DCT is considered as an automatic tranny without converter. It was call semi-automiatic when it first came out. VW Beetles had it back then as an option. Modern DCT is very light in weight, it improve fuel efficiency due to reduction of friction loss, etc. Not all DCTs are created equal. Some are very good, reliable and some are not. Even big rig trucks have automatic trannies.

Aron9000

Personally on lower HP cars, especially those with 4 cylinders, give the manual every damn time. Nothing drives me nuts more than a car with a gutless engine/no torque that constantly upshifts to "conserve fuel". Cars like that don't feel nearly as sluggish with a manual. Same thing with sports cars that are designed to drive on tight, twisty two lane roads, the manual is that much more involving, I don't care that an automatic Porsche Cayman is .2 seconds quicker to 60 with the automatic, you aren't really seeing the point of owning a Porsche Cayman if you order it with an automatic IMO.

Now if its a big bruiser V8 car with a lot of power, a lot of torque(aka muscle cars, big fast sedans, and big pickup trucks), yeah give me that automatic. You don't really notice a performance difference with the manual on those types of cars, other than it being easier to do a burnout(ie rev engine, dump clutch). Plus if you ever take them to the drag strip, its WAY easier to be consistent with an automatic trans vs a manual.

arentz07

Hmm, unless of course I don't know how to drive a manual, or, I want to also be able to drive my Cayman in slow traffic more easily. Some of us have dual-purpose cars.