Quote:
Originally Posted by GrussGott
Do you have a DCT M3?? Says you have a 6 speed so I'm wondering if you've ever driven one. Also you wrote "it never knows what the driver is trying to do" - mine does what I tell it to do, but then I have never driven it in D so maybe that's what you're talking about?
In any event, for me the SMG/tiptronic transmissions were not any type of benefit. My S4 with tip had a fairly good sport shift program that i was happy with for sporty daily driving but I would never have tracked it.
The DCT, for me, is like nothing I've ever driven - it feels like truly new technology and I've had to learn to drive it just like when I was 13 learning to drive stick.
For me, it feels like the future - I can't imagine ever going back to a manual ... maybe for old times sake, but not for my primary car.
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My m3 is 6spd. And yes I have driven an m3 dct. I drove it on the track quite extensively. It never felt as fast or anywhere near as smooth as my 6spd, of course the dct is faster. In day to day the dct lags, lags, lags. Surges or lags no in between. Sport mode alters it to more surge, but there is still a lot of lag. Drive them back to back and you will see what I'm talking about.
The offensive dct is in my 135i, which uses the same dct as the m3 sans the controller box. It feels no different then the dct in the m3 that I drove on the track. Lags the same,shifts the same. Dct shines once you are going 20-30mph+. Stop and go, or making turns at low speeds is where it rears its ugly head.
The people that say they don't feel the lag or hesitation in their dct at low speeds either don't drive enough or they don't know what to look for.
There has been complaints on the smg and dct gearboxes ever since they came out. I am not alone in this, just check out the complaints at NHTSA, they will go into detail about the issues that I mentioned there.
DCT needs more work from the transmission manufacturers, or bmw needs to have better sensors feeding it the right information to do the job. Dct reminds me of early drive by wire systems, where there is a lag between the right foot and the opening of the throttle, just worse.
Can DCT outperform a 6spd in a straight line, yes. Can DCT be smooth in stop and go traffic, and when slowing down or speeding up to make a turn. SADLY we are not there yet.