BRIGHT FUTURE FOR DCTS

The emergence of the DCT has chipped away at the traditional manual transmission segment. Getrag decided early on that DCTs would be the transmission of choice and it has built its business growth plan mainly on this technology. “The ratio of DCTs to manuals in our order book is already about 1:2. It’s a telling point and it’s not hard to see why such a trend is taking place, especially when figures from QUBE reveal that DCT growth in the Asia-Pacific region is set to rise from slightly over 2.5 million vehicles today to beyond 10.3 million by 2030, while in Europe, the number of DCTs is set to double in the same time. DCTs offer enhanced efficiency and most components can often be supplied by a country’s existing manual infrastructure, which adds to its attraction in China, thinks BorgWarner’s Moser.

But the DCT’s popularity in China is due to Volkswagen being “a dominant manufacturer in the market and pushing its DCT technology”. What cannot be ignored, however, is the Chinese government’s insistence on the development of fuel-efficient technologies for its domestic manufacturers. “In this context,” says Getrag’s Casimir, “the DCT is seen as the most fuel-efficient transmission technology, but also one where its development is still relatively young and offers the domestic industry an opportunity to achieve real technology leadership.” But that’s not the only factor that’s aiding DCTs and CVTs and hampering manuals. Many Tier 1 suppliers recognize that automatics, whether they are CVT, DCT or stepped automatic, are key enablers for new technologies in a way that manual designs can never be. Why? “Because hybrid systems and all-electric drives are out of the question with manual transmissions,” explains ZF’s Dr Jürgen Greiner, head of development for passenger car transmissions. “Further diversification in the driveline is one reason why the importance of manual transmissions will continue to decrease.” In this respect, ZF has put its acclaimed engineering knowledge and experience of DCTs to good effect to improve manual designs in premium vehicles. The German Tier 1’s newest manual product, for example, is the S7-45HL, a 7-speed shifter for Porsche. It’s a derivative of the 7-speed DCT and has been designed with a lot of identical parts, explains Greiner.

Which kind of lubricants are recommended for DCTs ?

It depends of the type of DCT: either dry clutch or wet clutch ( with common or separated carter)Looking forward to discovering the TOTAL recommended fluid for your DCT? Click here