Automatics Are Getting Good Enough To Kill Off DCTs, Says BMW M Boss
At this point, we’re pretty used to the concept that - certainly for higher powered cars at least - the future of the manual gearbox is looking a little dicey. However, according to Peter Quintus - BMW M’s vice president of sales and marketing - the days of the dual-clutch gearbox may be numbered too.
Speaking to Drive.com.au, Quintus said: “It’s more a question of how long has the DCT got to go.”
DCT ‘boxes were nothing short of revolutionary when they broke into the mainstream, providing near immediate shifts that were a world apart from traditional, lazy auto slush-boxes many were used to. The trouble is, torque converter automatics have gotten a lot quicker and a lot smarter in recent years.
“The DCT once had two advantages: it was light and its shift speeds were higher,” Quintus explained, adding: “Now, a lot of that shift-time advantage has disappeared as automatics get better and smarter.”
On the subject of manuals, Quintus reckons 450bhp is about the limit of what they can reliably take. And while quite a few American cars manage much more than that with a stick shifter, he noted that “We looked at US gearboxes. We found they were heavy and the shift quality was awful”. Ouch.
Source: Drive via Jalopnik
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Im sorry, but im driving an automatic (crap-o-matic in my world) and i dont like it. You give me a brand new vehicle with a “good” automatic, and i promise you that transmission will be dead by 15,000 miles maybe 20,000. I have a very heavy foot and have the tickets to prove it. Heavy foot on the highway and slowing down to just punch it again kills them in short order. Granted, in my 96 chevy K1500 pickup i blew through 3 transmissions in 4 years, but 1. They were junkyard transmissions and 2. I never upgraded the main and counter shafts to handle my foot. I twisted both shafts on the last one.
I live driving Stick much more than Auto, more fun, and a more intricate feel for your vehicle when driving, and my favorite part, your essentially tied to your vehicle because you need all 4 limbs to drive!!
#ManualShiftingForLife
and I’ve been daily driving a manual car for 4 months and sometimes I wouldn’t mind having an auto
I know he’s BMW’s vice president of whatever, but honestly he’s not got a clue what he’s on about.
I’ve got an automatic ZF 8 speed in my Charger, an autobox that’s German made and even I know that DCTs like the one in my friend’s Golf GTI are way faster and smoother than my automatic.
And I’m sorry, but you can build a manual transmission to withstand the abuse of everyday driving a car with more than 450bhp. You know what that’s called? Making a transmission that’s built to last. But I guess he just doesn’t get the point of making a car that’s built to last more than 5 years.
The faster part I can understand but smoother? A little skeptical about that
then out of nowhere, a tri or quad clutch gearbox gets made by some car company and autos will never get their chance
#Manual4life
I don’t know where he’s getting the 450 hp number from. There are numerous manual transmissions that can handle more power that are aren’t terrible to drive. Jalopnik is the BuzzFeed of the car world.
I’m not worried about manuals disappearing. From an engineering standpoint, yeah they are obsolete, but there are still cars like the Mx5 or the 86 that advertise driving experience, and it’s cars like those that will never see the disappearance of manuals
Where’s the thumbs down on this
why?
NV4500, Bruh.
Do you guys remember when manual used to be more effective/efficient than auto when shifted right? I remember something like that…now the auto is even more efficient (fuel consumption) than the manual
sadly this stopped about 12-15 years ago