It wasn’t too long ago that the dual-clutch transmission (DCT) was the darling of the automotive industry. After Volkswagen became the first major automaker to add a DCT to a mass-market car in 2003, other brands like Ford, Dodge, BMW, Fiat, Audi, and Skoda jumped on the bandwagon, releasing new transmission designs based on the technology. The outlook was bright for these transmissions, with some forecasts predicting they could grab 25% or more of the market in some regions.
Seemingly just as quickly though, the tide turned, and many automakers have divested themselves of DCTs. While these transmissions still have a niche on the modern landscape and a market expected to grow by 6.4% over the next decade, that’s a far cry from what was expected. Furthermore, most of the demand is overseas, with nearly 53% of the current market in the Asia Pacific.
What happened to the DCT? I decided to find out. This retrospective looks at the DCT’s origins, why it had a surge, and why it fell out of favor. I’ll also check into the current state of the DCT. Before anything, though, I should talk about what a DCT is.
What Is a DCT?
A dual-clutch transmission is a special type of automatic transmission. Unlike a traditional hydraulic automatic transmission that uses a torque converter, the DCT has multi-plate clutch packs like a manual transmission. However, unlike the early automated manual transmissions, it uses two computer-controlled clutches instead of just one. One clutch controls even-numbered gears, and the other controls odd-numbered gears; this lets the transmission preselect a gear to make shifts almost instantaneous. Because it combines elements of manual and automatic transmissions, the DCT has been referred to as a semi-automatic, clutchless manual, and automated manual transmission, though it truly belongs in its own category.
A Brief History of the DCT
Although it first broke into the mainstream in the early 2000s, DCT technology dates to World War II. Adolphe Kégresse, a French engineer, came up with the DCT in 1939 in response to the problems with existing manual gearboxes. Kégresse conceived a smoother, self-shifting alternative for use in the Citroën Traction Avant, which has already broken ground as the first mass-produced unibody front-wheel drive car. Unfortunately, the engineer ran into business problems and thus never had the funds to develop a prototype.
Others soon picked up the torch, seeing Kégresse’s idea come to fruition. Smiths Industries and Rootes developed the Easidrive DCT in the 1950s, which shifted gears using electro-magnetic clutches. It was offered as an option on the 1961 Hillman Minx but suffered serious reliability issues and thus never widely caught up. In the 1970s, manually operated DCTs became an option on some Eastern European tractors. Then, when the 1980s arrived, Porsche developed the Porsche-Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) for endurance racing; it was then purchased by Audi for their rally cars.
The impact was immediate. An Audi Sport Quattro S1 with a DCT triumphed in the prestigious Pikes Peak hill climb in 1985. The following year, Porsche captured a World Sports Prototype Championship win at Monza in a Porsche 962 featuring the PDK. It was part of an assembly with paddle shifters to make the transmission function like a manual. Several supercar companies like Ferrari and McLaren subsequently adopted the tech for their precision machines.
The Rise: Benefits of Dual-Clutch Transmissions
This success led to the eventual development of DCTs for cars driven on public roads. As I noted earlier, Volkswagen was the pioneer, initially licensing the BorgWarner DualTronic transmission for its vehicles. The 2003 VW Golf R32 earned the honors of the first commercially available car with a standard-issue DCT, and VW soon added it to the Jetta, Beetle, and Touran—though these versions were initially only sold in Europe.
Ford and Getrag then jointly developed the PowerShift, a DCT that debuted in 2008. The PowerShift gearbox was used on many Ford compact and subcompact nameplates, plus Volvo vehicles powered by the Ford EcoBoost engine. Audi added a DCT to several vehicles, as did Spanish automaker SEAT. Honda, meanwhile, popped one in the Acura TLX and even installed them in its motorcycles. Fiat Chrysler (now Stellantis) also developed a DCT that debuted on multiple European models in 2009 and came to the U.S. with the 2013 Dodge Dart.
There were plenty of reasons to justify the switch. The dual clutch packs meant smoother and faster gear shifts than a manual transmission and many conventional automatics, with almost no loss of torque transfer during the shifting process. This allows drivers to accelerate faster, improving overall performance. DCTs also tend to get better fuel mileage since the engine’s power is used more efficiently. They can be manually shifted if desired but don’t require a separate clutch pedal, so the smoothness is maintained. Finally, advanced DCTs can adapt their automatic shift points based on road conditions.
The Fall: Problems With Dual-Clutch Transmissions
Seemingly overnight, though, the mainstream love affair with DCTs was over. Just two years after the report of its long-term commitment to DCTs, Audi reversed course, equipping the next generation of the S4 and S5 with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Officially, Audi said the reason was because the turbocharged engine had more torque than its S-Tronic DCT could handle.
However, other automakers also began jumping ship. Volvo ended any involvement with DCTs in 2015 when it stopped putting EcoBoost engines in its cars. Over the back half of the 2010s, Ford removed the PowerShift gearbox from numerous models, including the Focus, Fiesta, Galaxy, EcoSport, and Kuga. In 2021, BMW said adios to DCT technology and started phasing the transmission out of its M Series vehicles.
The change was partly due to advances in automatic transmissions, narrowing the performance and efficiency gap and thus making it less cost-effective to offer both. Several disadvantages to DCTs, though, also contributed to their downfall. DCTs have some jerkiness and shuddering at lower speeds, and you may experience lag or hesitant shifting if you want to go to a gear other than what the transmission preselected. Frequent stop-start driving can also cause the gearbox to overheat. Their mechanical complexity means DCTs are more expensive, take up more space, and cost more to repair—and when Ford and Honda introduced DCTs to North American buyers, reliability complaints skyrocketed.
This leads to perhaps the biggest reason automakers turned away from DCTs: because drivers were turned off. The feeling of driving a DCT is unlike the automatics that now dominate the road or the manuals that once did, meaning there is an adjustment period to them—especially for going in reverse or parking. Such unfamiliarity helped lead to the potential DCT revolution landing with a thud.
The Future of DCTs
Despite the takeover of DCTs flaming out, they do have a modern-day presence. The DCT is still a mainstay of high-performance street cars; vehicles like the VW Jetta GTI, Audi RS 3, and Hyundai Elantra N still use dual-clutch transmissions. Among the cars that resemble daily drivers, perhaps the most notable ones to sport a DCT are the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia K5. And, of course, supercars past and present flaunt the DCT, with the Porsche 911 Turbo, Ford GTD, Lamborghini Revuelto, and Ferrari F80 all sticking to the technology.
The DCT will likely never become the dominant player in transmissions. But like premium ice cream, it has an established niche market that doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. That’s good news for DCT fans who enjoy using these sweet transmissions even with their flaws.
