I don’t care if you call it DSG, PDK, E-Gear, Twin-Clutch SST, or SMG.
It’s an automatic.




Have absolutely zero interest if the successor to the S2000 has an automatic.

 

It is a great tranny. All I was trying to say is that I find driving a manual much more fun, plus I feel like I have more control of the car by having the ability to press the clutch and choose my gear.
For DD the paddle shifting is pointless and boring to me. But I can see how on a track or curvy mountain road it could be fun to paddle shift (with any car or tranny).

 

I can see why Ferrari is doing this. They're heritage has always been in racing and selling cars is just to fund that. Racing is about being able to achieve faster lap times and if these automated manuals can do that then why not?

People who can afford to buy and collect Ferraris either just keeps them as garage queens or go cruising once in awhile. I don't think they give a rat's a** about the art of driving.

IMO these F1 gear boxes and DSG should belong on the race track and leave the proper manual gear boxes on the street.

 

That's where I think things can go wrong... Cars are designed to make the fastest laptimes using the technologies available. ABS, Stability control, traction control, all offer better lap times.

I've seen new technologies on tv the other day about how the ecu will soon be able to control the steering wheel when making the wrong decisions. I mean sure, the laptimes will be better, the car will be safer. but really, do I want this?

I don't know about you guys, but i'm afraid of that day...You go to the track, sit in the drivers seat and just press "auto drive" and then brag in the cockpit about your car that is electronically driven.

Where's the fun in that and where's the challenge?

 

Seems to me that many people here don't even know what they're bashing, let alone having driven a car equipped with a real dual-clutch gearbox...

Torque converters eliminate the mechanical linkage between the tire and the engine. That's why the car feels dead and unresponsive, all because of the fluid coupling. DSG keeps the mechanical linkage even while it's shifting. It anticipates your next gear and pre-engages that gear. And when you actually pull the paddle, the power transitions from one to the other. There is no neutral, no loss of power, not even a millisecond. I think its really cool, useful, fun, easy and satisfying. Having learned driving on a Lada Samara (everything, everything manual), I appreciate this kind of advanced stuff.

 

Ever thought about this? Nowadays, there are 7 or 8 speed transmissions available for selective models. It’s just more efficient and like someone mentioned here, It is the future. I personally never owned anything other than manual gear cars and wouldn’t want to have it any other way. But every now and then, I wonder where they’re going to fit the 7th or 8th gear in the future, if that’s where it is going.

Who knows, in about 100 yr or so, manual gear box will be an ancient thing and only may be found in history or documentary, and brought up as “difficult to master and impractical, however preferred by many so called Purists.”

Trust me. The gear box is one of the best things I am very proud of in our cars.

 

technology wins

 

I love all these trannys being called "flappy" or "floppy" paddle gearboxes... thanks Top Gear/Jeremy Clarkson

How much does it cost to do a 'clutch' or transmission job on a DSG VW? Why did BMW have so many problems with the early SMG cars and the later Z4 equipped models?

In my opinion, having driven quite a few cars with such gearboxes... I agree, they're boring. Thats coming from someone whos 22... hardly 'old school' by any means..

Aisin did a fantastic job with the S2000 gearbox and its absolutely fantastic... definitely one of the best out there.. To see these eliminated by the guidos/yuppies and posers that buy the new BMW M cars and "F1" Ferrari gearboxes is sad. Im with the poster above who said I'll be buying used for a long time to come if they're gone... not that it matters to those buying new cars... you market it right, they'll buy it. **** em.

 

DSG's are great and improve performance. But they do take the driver out of one more part of the equation, clutch engagement/disengagement. Personally, I prefer non-ABS, non-drive-by-wire, and to do the clutchwork myself as well. Not because I think I'm faster or better, but because I think it's more fun. And as wonderful as computers are, I like to be in charge of the car!

Another point is that an automated dual-clutch gearbox is necessarily going to be more expensive and a bit heavier.

If I'm a professional racer, I want every unfair advantage I can get! But as a weekend warrior/time-trialer, I prefer to do the work myself and keep the computers and actuators out of it.

 

Let's see if we can even get an S2000 successor in the first place...

I don't care for them but I agree with others in that it's the way things are headed on performance vehicles. If we're lucky one or two manufacturers will continue to offer a true manual for control freak enthusiasts like me. That third pedal just gives you another degree of control that these new transmissions can't replace.

I almost agree. However, there's always a benefit, IMO, to being able to select a gear when you want it versus when the transmission thinks you want it.