MotoringFile Most liked posts in thread: Rumor: MINI to Introduce Dual Clutch Transmission Option for 2017

For those of us with a bum left knee the DSG dual clutch is a true Godsend. I've driven stick shift cars almost exclusively since I was a 15 year old young snot. Now as an old fart with a newly minted Medicare card I really don't miss having a clutch in the GTI at all. To me it is that good. My Miata on the other hand, I see no good substitute for. A Miata with a torque converter auto is sad.

I wish professor Randy would have had a dual clutch transmission car to compare in his video.

I find a dual clutch in a MINI as interesting. Now if they could do something about the other stuff this old fart doesn't care for. :wink:

 

I just hope and pray I never get a bum left knee...I'd miss the clutch. But I'd miss driving even more; it's the only scenario I could see getting me out of my R53.

 

DCT is the future; it's easier and faster. But it's just not as engaging. This video sums it up nicely....





[ame="http://youtu.be/vTwnsWdxZ3M"]Shifting: Don’t Be a Shift Knob! - The Racing Line Ep. 3 - YouTube[/ame]

 

A dsg tranny...sometimes called dct is pretty neat...my vw has a 6 speed...but keep in mind if is still an sutobox of sorts...so it will only be as good as the logic..
If the logic matches your driving style, life is great. If there is a mismatch...you will never be happy.
I wonder...tq converter trannys have come so far, and dsg/dct trannys seemed to have been left for high endcars/supercars with crazy tq, and maybe some diesel cars (many Vw/Audi)....shy would mini jump to a technology that is kinda getting left behind UNLESS THEY GOT A GOOD DEAL cause VW/AUDI is not building many diesel cars, so suddenly there are units for sale?!
Trannys tend to be used with (minor changes) by different makers...look at the ASSIN units mini usesas TQ converter units...some Toyota, Audi, vw and fords use them....similar internals, just different cases....
My gut tells me there is capacity that is unused at a tranny factory....and they got a deal that makes $$ sense...question is, does it make sense for the car.
The units are slick...but $$$, and $$$$ to repair...if things go well, life is great, but dsg/dct repair $$$$ make a cvt look cheap if out of warrenty. Folks have found ways to reprogram vw's computer if "sport" or normal mode is not to your liking, but add the cost of a $450 tranny flush at 40,000 miles, (required as per vw for warrenty due to early failures) the again at a longer interval...makes me wonder if mini really wants or NEEDS to go down that road unless they introduce a DIESEL MINI....

 

The DSG has a different feel around town with its clutch on takeoff from a stop. Very unlike a smooth torque converter automatic. If you want the slushy smoothness of a torque converter the DSG is not for you. That fact may be the one thing that makes some folks not like the DSG. For me the DSG is damned near perfect.

I'd guess whoever is building BMWs DTC now will build one for transverse use. No worry about that 40,000 fluid change MINI will use lifetime fluid. Any transmission replacement is $$$$. At least MINI is not using a CVT now.

I thought about a WRX as a MINI replacement, but they use a CVT for an auto. :frown2:

 

The solution to that is to learn to "float" gears like in a truck or classic car with straight cut gears and no synchro's....
Classic cars and HD trucks tend to use trannys that have the same rpm drop for each gear change, making the up shifts easy with the right cadence, and downshifts ARE harder to get just right, but doable (blip the throttle)..... Then you only use the clutch to start and stop...it is kinda fun...do it right and it feels great... It is kinda funny listening to folks driving classic cars that don't have scyro's....grrrrrr....errrr...grrrrrr...as you hear them mis the shift cadence....it is a real skill...
To ring the rpm drop for each gear, simply drive at the same speed in each gear and find the difference...unfortunately automakers have complicated things in modern cars by changing this for each gear a bit...

 

Straight cut gears=Awesome.

Replacing straight cut gears frequently=Not so awesome.

I've thought about it for the track...

 

I had a very old Toyota Crayola that I only used the clutch on to start from a stop. Done right it works the charm. However when you don't do it right it makes ghastly expensive noises. I like synchronizes & use them. Now I use a transmission robot to match my shifts.