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New Shelby GT500 Mustang Goes DCT

Wow. After all the headaches Ford had getting the DCT to work right in the Focus and Fiesta, I’m shocked they would even consider using DCT in what’s possibly the only “car” they’ll have in their future product line.
 
I think the only problem will be the bellyaching from those Mustang owners that will have trouble separating their man card from their manual transmission 'gives me control' state of mind. It happened here and other NC700 forums, it happened in the adventure bike community with the Africa Twin, and it's happening now in the Goldwing community.
 
I wasn’t so much “concerned” whether the Mustang market was ready to accept DCT, man-card wise, but whether Ford was ready to gamble on building a DCT that can function correctly to the satisfaction of the potential buyers, without horrific warranty expenses and reputation damage. Some owners of the Ford/Getrag Powershift DCT were not pleased because the transmission sometimes did not behave like owners expected an automatic transmission to behave. Hopefully the Mustang DCT version is ready for prime time.
 
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I wasn’t so much “concerned” whether the Mustang market was ready to accept DCT, man-card wise, but whether Ford was ready to gamble on building a DCT that can function correctly to the satisfaction of the potential buyers, without horrific warranty expenses and reputation damage. Some owners of the Ford/Getrag Powershift DCT were not pleased because the transmission sometimes did not behave like owners expected an automatic transmission to behave. Hopefully the Mustang DCT version is ready for prime time.
I think you hit the nail on the head with the Focus/Fiesta. Dual clutch transmissions are manuals that have a mechanism that shifts the gears without input from the driver. They do not feel or act like a torque converter automatic transmission that many drivers have experience with and since 94% of them never drove a manual they believe the transmission is faulty....this according to some stuff I have read was the basis of many consumer complaints against Ford's DCT in the Focus/Fiesta. Honda felt it and had to develop a hybrid DCT with a torque converter to get the smoothness they wanted.

A friend of my son owns a VW Passat with the Getrag DSG tranny. I rode around in it in San Francisco last year and I thought it was brilliant. You could hear and feel it shifting up and down those hills and it felt completely natural however VW has had their share of complaints with it. I think the market of high performance cars is more knowledgeable about DCT now after it's use in European sports GTs.
 
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I think you hit the nail on the head with the Focus/Fiesta. Dual clutch transmissions are manuals that have a mechanism that shifts the gears without input from the driver. They do not feel or act like a torque converter automatic transmission that many drivers have experience with and since 94% of them never drove a manual they believe the transmission is faulty....this according to some stuff I have read was the basis of many consumer complaints against Ford's DCT in the Focus/Fiesta. Honda felt it and had to develop a hybrid DCT with a torque converter to get the smoothness they wanted.

A friend of my son owns a VW Passat with the Getrag DSG tranny. I rode around in it in San Francisco last year and I thought it was brilliant. You could hear and feel it shifting up and down those hills and it felt completely natural however VW has had their share of complaints with it. I think the market of high performance cars is more knowledgeable about DCT now after it's use in European sports GTs.

I heartily agree with your analysis, Dave.

As I said in the past, I own a Fiesta because it's optional DCT automatic (Ford calls it Powershift) allows "four-down" RV towing. I might have bought a Fit (two times an NC engine, eh?), but with it's latest CVT, Honda does not approve RV towing of the Fit.

Anyway, I do like the Fiesta DCT, especially after getting a free, in-warranty clutch replacement at 96,000 miles. It fells more "hooked up" than a torque converter automatic transmission, because, well, it is. The Fiesta DCT employs synchronizers, if I recall correctly, which the Honda motorcycles do not. That, coupled with the extra mass of a car vs. a motorcycle, seems to make the Ford version shift more smoothly than the new GL1800 DCT. One cool thing about the Fiesta DCT, is that if your foot is on the brake, the clutches will not engage. When you engage Drive with a foot on the brake pedal, the car does not tug forward. You can be in Drive with your foot on the brake, and rev the engine freely as if a clutch pedal was depressed. If I recall correctly, and I may be wrong, the Honda DCT motorcycles do not behave that way.

One of the Powershift's downfalls was the use of dry clutches. I'm curious if the future Mustang DCT will use wet clutches, or perhaps an intermediate torque converter.
 
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Wow. After all the headaches Ford had getting the DCT to work right in the Focus and Fiesta, I’m shocked they would even consider using DCT in what’s possibly the only “car” they’ll have in their future product line.

I think the Fiestas were not using DCT. They were CVT and they worked; people just didnt like the chunk chunk when they shifted....that is what I read in all the online reports of the Fiesta-was consider buying one at one time...

Nevermind, I see where Ford is calling those DCT transmissions now....or the lawsuits are....
 
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One cool thing about the Fiesta DCT, is that if your foot is on the brake, the clutches will not engage. When you engage Drive with a foot on the brake pedal, the car does not tug forward. You can be in Drive with your foot on the brake, and rev the engine freely as if a clutch pedal was depressed.

OK! Now I get it....

That must be how some of the supercars with/DCT are able to use "launch control". I've seen guys in Porsches with the DCT practically floor the car (in gear!) with a foot on the brake, release the brake and "poof!" they are gone...Pretty cool.
 
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