Quote:
Originally Posted by car_freak85
Let's be clear on one thing: VW's DSG/Porsche's PDK are NOT automatic transmissions, nor are they a "type" of AT. They are AUTOMATED manual transmissions (AMTs).
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Sorry, but as soon as you add any kind of automated shifting mode to a transmission, that transmission is by definition an "automatic" transmission by the mere fact that it can do its own shifting independently of the driver.
IOW, just because a DSG is neither a conventional torque converter/planetary gear automatic nor a CVT does not exclude it from the 'automatic' category. The operative characteristic is that a DSG/PDK/whatever includes shift logic all its own (whether you choose to use it or not). On this logic concept . . . older automatic transmissions employed hydraulic logic rather than electronic logic.
This isn't intended as flame toward DSGs, it's just a matter of characterizing them by the one feature that distinguishes as automated transmission from a manually-controlled-only transmission. It's probably best if we avoid associating any of today's automatics with terms like 'slushbox', even though that was perhaps an accurate description for some of yesteryear's automatics.
Norm