VW 10-speed DSG details emerge
Next-gen Volkswagen dual-clutch gearbox to make cars faster and cheaper to run, says makerVolkswagen's next-generation 10-speed dual-clutch automated manual gearbox will not only be used to make the company's cars more efficient, it will also make them faster.
As we confirmed in September 2013 from the Frankfurt motor show, Volkswagen's assault on CO2 emissions will make big strides forward via a sophisticated new 10-speed DSG expected to arrive in 2016.
But new details spelled out by Volkswagen powertrain boss Dr Hans-Jakob Neusser in Vienna reveal the new 10-speed DSG won't be a frail unit, but able to handle up to 500Nm of torque.
That means it could be used in upcoming ultra-powerful versions of the Golf R, conceptualised recently in the form of the 300kW Golf R 400 concept.
Volkswagen also spruiked a brand-new high-output twin-turbo 2.0-litre diesel engine at Vienna motor symposium, pumping out 176kW in its current state of tune. The new engine will be offered in the next Passat, which is penned in for its international launch later this year.
The new 10-speed DSG is claimed to be a key part of the company's push reduce emissions by up to 15 per cent, aided by a range of more efficient turbocharged three-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
"We will have more downsizing, we will have more three-cylinder [engines], diesel technology will be improved for four and three-cylinders," Neusser said at last year's Frankfurt motor show.
"From the transmission side, we will stay with DSG technology, but we will improve it and we will have more gears, 10 gears," he said.
The new 10-speed gearbox is already undergoing testing on the road in prototype vehicles, Neusser said, and the new technology will be production-ready "in a few years", with an expected ETA in 2016.
It will be offered with both transverse and longitudinal engine layouts and is widely expected to replace the company's six-speed DSG. It should therefore be offered across a wide range of vehicles and engine types.
In Australia, the Range Rover Evoque is available with a nine-speed automatic transmission and, when it arrives in June, Jeep's new Cherokee will join it in offering the highest number of gear ratios available here.
Both transverse-application torque converter-type transmissions can handle up to 480Nm of torque and are made by ZF, which has indicated nine ratios is enough for now and will continue to produce its eight-speed auto for a range of brands including BMW, Audi, Jaguar and Land Rover.
However, Mercedes-Benz now has its own in-house-developed 9G-TRONIC nine-speed torque converter auto, which handles up to 1000Nm and debuted in the E 350 BlueTEC hybrid, a rear-wheel drive vehicle with a longitudinal V6 turbo-diesel.
Hyundai is known to be developing a 10-speed torque converter auto, as are General Motors and Ford, which are also jointly working on a nine-speed auto.
But VW's '10DSG' is expected to be the only 10-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission for both front- and all-wheel drive applications.
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