There are four types of transmissions: 1) manual, 2) automatic, 3) CVT and 4) semi-automatic and dual clutch. Therefore, a DCT is a type of semi-automatic transmission. It's a manual transmission fitted with two clutches.
But wait. A CVT on a typical scooter is an automatic transmission. It has a clutch that engages and disengages automatically upon starting and stopping. It has a belt/pulley drive system that automatically varies the ratio between the engine output shaft and the rear wheel. That sounds fully automatic to me. CVT falls under the automatic “type.”
The Honda DCT will engage and disengage the drive to the rear wheels automatically when starting and stopping. The transmission also automatically engages the gear set as needed for the proper ratio between the engine and rear wheel. It does all of this with no operator intervention. It sounds like it’s fully automatic to me, not semi automatic.
If you define the DCT as “a manual transmission fitted with two clutches”, what defines that transmission as “manual?” Do people think because it has paired gear sets as opposed to planetary gears, that it’s a “manual?” If so, I don’t see how the gear arrangement defines a transmission as manual or not manual. What’s important is whether the transmission operates with or without a required interaction with the operator.
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