550isport

I just spent some time in my friend's new M3 and I now understand why so many Ferraris come with semi-automatic manuals and why so many M5 buyers still take the SMG over the manual.

Manuals used to be the only option for a true sports car. Think of the difference between a 2003 Corvette 4 speed auto and the 6 speed manual. Or a Porsche 928 GTS in manual vs. automatic. Or even a wrangler auto vs. a 5 speed. Those cars made the choice easy, because the automatics were such slush boxes. They usually start off in 2nd gear, they had a kickdown switch which meant you had to floor the pedal to drop down a gear. With modern automatics (6,7,8 speeds!) you choose the program, i.e. Drive or Drive Sport which dictates which gear you start off in as well as the shiftpoints etc.. And a 2008 smart automatic in most sport luxury cars will drop one or more gears without flooring it based on, among other things, the speed with which you depresss the pedal. So, enter the dual clutch gearbox, which can offer lightening fast shifts or can be set to offer essentially the smoothness of an automatic without the performance drawbacks of a torque converter.

But, I still liked the idea of grabbing the shift lever and pushing in the clutch. Until last night. I went on a long ride (100+ miles combined city highway) in my friend's 6 speed M3 convertible. Its fun to shift and adds to the sports car feel, but it is just not a quick proposition to get from one gear to the next and, its very jerky. I'll probably get slammed for that. But put my comments into context. I'm suggesting that the dual clutch is better because it will offer superior acceleration (magazines say .2-.3 sec quicker to 60) but give you option to drive it like an auto if you want. With an 8300 redline and only 295 ft./lbs. of torque pushing a 4000 lb. car (convertible is heavy!), M3 owners, like their E60 M5 counterparts, will be downshifting a lot (as they should), and the 6 speed is a tad bit cumbersome.

I predict the dual clutch will be a revelation...

Now I need to get one.

DRP

BetterMakeWay

DCT all the way

RJH&CO

dct also here.
love the dual clutch.

LowOrbit

I was at BMW of SF and the salesperson told me that after driving the DCT, no customer wants the manual. They have a lot of manual M3s they are trying to get rid of as the dealer underestimated how much better the DCT was when ordering for their stock.

heezy545i

I'd take the traditional manual.

ModBargains

On the track the DCT is of course faster, after all it is pure racing technology yanked from the track. However, with me, I will always stick with the maunal gear box, just something about it that screams "TAKE CONTROL." With me I feel that I have more control over the car and can drive better. Maybe its that I'm not use to the DCT or that I'm not too in tune with the changing tech around, call me old school but manual rules!

Rudy

Okay, you're old school!

Me? I loved my SMG and it wasn't even as good as the one on the current M5...

DCT? Probably even better. If the DCT is available on the F10 V8 (whatever it may be called), I'll be ordering one!!

formuleuno

DCT is the definitely the way to go in my opinion. If the new Porsches and the Nissan GT-R have it, the technology is definitely taken notice of.

530ISPORT

DCT all the way for me aswell... dont get me wrong i love a 6speed gear box... but after i got the smg in my car i fell in love... the dct will be so much better... and when the f10 comes ill be getting the dct in a tt v8..... put my order in now please.......

swajames

Definitely the DCT over the manual.