Dual-clutch transmission lies some where between manual and dual transmission. It had been earlier used only in race cars but now it is also used in production vehicles .The significance of using Dual-clutch transmission is to deliver uninterrupted power.

We generally know that cars comes with two basic transmission types manual, and automatic .Manual is the one which requires driver to change gears by depressing a clutch pedal and changing gear by shifting the gear stick and

Automatic is the one which do all the shifting work for drivers using clutch ( a torque converter) and sets of planetary gears. But there is one more sort of transmission which is something between manual and automatic transmission called Dual- clutch transmission or semi automatic transmission or ‘’clutch less ‘’ manual transmission or also termed as automated manual transmission .This sort of transmission enables us to extract best of both of the former ones.

A dual clutch transmission offers the two manual gearboxes in one. In manual transmission driver presses the clutch pedal to shift the gear this operates the single clutch and disconnects the engine from the gearbox and then shifts the gear by stick .In this process power to the transmission gets interrupted and later when gear is changed and driver releases the clutch pedal .This reconnects the engine to gearbox and transmits power to wheels. The power delivery follows the pattern of on- of and on.

Whereas in Dual- clutch gear box ,there is a use of two clutches, but there is no clutch pedal to be pushed instead its controlled bye sophisticated electronics and hydraulics ,they operates independently ,similarly as in Automatic transmission. Basically what dual clutch does is it ‘phase out’ one gear and ‘phases in’ the second one. This process takes place under load so that permanent flow of power is maintained. Function of dual clutch is that gears can be changed without interrupting the power flow, one clutch controls odd gears (first, third, fifth and reverse) and second clutch controls the even gears (second, forth and sixth). This is made possible by ingenious two-shaft construction separating odd and even gears.

Although Dual clutch technology is not new and had been in use in race cars from many years ({example Sequential manual gearbox (SMG)}. Still it can be said as new in terms of its use in production cars but now it’s cropping every where and seems like replacing other transmission traditions.

Almost all the big manufactures like BMW, VOLKSWAGON, AUDI, NISSAN etc are now using this technology in their cars especially in their sports versions. It has now even started creating buzz in its drivers as of its extraordinary driving pleasure and fuel efficiency with power.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 at 7:03 am and is filed under Car News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.