FOUR DECADES AGO, a technology that would eventually have a massive impact on the drivability of cars today was born. The dual-clutch transmission (DCT), now a common feature in most cars to the point of exclusivity in some, was dreamed up by a small team of engineers at Porsche who by their own admission were probably punching above their weight at the time.
The Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK transmission) almost proved a bridge too far in the early 1980s. Computing power was a fraction of what it is today, yet the engineers managed to make it work well enough to gain big advantages in Group C racing with the Porsche 962 and in rallying with the Audi Quattro S1. So now, when the technology has not only been perfected but evolved…
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Autocar (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 3, 2022