On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 2:26 PM, Gerhard Fiedler wrote: > But then there are the newer automatic transmissions of mostly European > descent. They are dual-clutch gearboxes, essentially a manual > transmission with a clutch that can be easier controlled automatically > than the clutch of a standard manual transmission. These together with > an electronic drivetrain controller gives an automatic transmission that > has transmission characteristics that are more similar to classic manual > transmissions than to classic (hydraulic) automatic transmissions. > Gerhard, I am curious - do these dual-clutch automatic transmissions automatically slip the clutch to provide static torque? For example, what happens if you are facing up a hill and you try to apply just enough throttle to hold position on the hill? The torque-converter type transmission can just dissipate the engine's work as heat in the fluid of the converter. A person would normally do this by slipping the clutch on a manual transmission, I think. It would seem that the automatic transmission using clutches would have a higher risk of damaging the clutches if it were driven by someone who was used to the torque-converter type because there might be a lot of clutch slipping going on. Sean --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .