DCT is new to me

R

ronk

Lifer
 Durham
When I come home fron holiday I'm collecting a new 35is which has the DCT system.
I've never driven one before but accept that it's good - not heard anybody say anything derogatory yet - bur what should I expect and how do they drive in the real day to day world of stop start, hill starts etc!
 
Don't sweat it Ronk seriously, the biggest drawback with the DCT is they are a bit clunky and slow changing into reverse and then back into drive, 3 point turns are a pain to do quickly, other than that you'll love it, so smooth and quick changes especially when pressing on. Hill starts are a doddle, pull up to a set of lights, foot on the brake, lights go out, foot off the brake, car stays put, foot on the gas, away you go, simple as that. Use the paddles and the changes will surprise you, they are so quick, seamless and smooth. Day to day they are faultless, smooth and calm when driving in every day situations. Have your hols and look forward to it, you won't regret it. :thumbsup:
 
john-e89 said:
Don't sweat it Ronk seriously, the biggest drawback with the DCT is they are a bit clunky and slow changing into reverse and then back into drive, 3 point turns are a pain to do quickly, other than that you'll love it, so smooth and quick changes especially when pressing on. Hill starts are a doddle, pull up to a set of lights, foot on the brake, lights go out, foot off the brake, car stays put, foot on the gas, away you go, simple as that. Use the paddles and the changes will surprise you, they are so quick, seamless and smooth. Day to day they are faultless, smooth and calm when driving in every day situations. Have your hols and look forward to it, you won't regret it. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Spot on description.

It can also be a little hesitant when rolling to a stop and then pulling away again, mainly a problem on roundabouts when going for gaps in traffic. You eventually learn to drive around the small issues.
 
You know when the car will hesitate pulling away because the engine revs will stop being related to road speed. I find that it's great to roll to a stop in 2nd then drop into 1st just before pulling away. This seems to give the pickup more pep. I drive in manual mode most of the time.
 
The hesitation is due to the fact that it's disengaged gears/clutches ready to slip into first and engage at a full stop, something it doesn't do in most other driving scenarios. When you apply throttle again it has to slip the clutches to get the gears spun up ready for engagement, no synchromesh or squishy slopbox components to do this for you.

It's the only minor downside for me, low speed hesitation or confusion. Other than that it's one of the single best things, aside from the N54, about this car.
 
I think you are on your own - I'm off to a friends 70th birthday party.
Im at that stage of life !
 
techathy said:
john-e89 said:
ronk said:
Thanks for that !
I just didn't know what to expect. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Hey Ronk fancy a game of tiddlywinks? There's only you and me left today, they've all legged it to zedfest...
Click to expand...
I'm here too :(
Click to expand...

Did'nt you fancy it Techathy?

It's a shame as Stuartinzg offered me a drive in his fettled 35is, it would have been very interesting to see what difference his suspension mods have made, an area I'm interested in improving if I keep mine. I still think there's a very good car lurking in there, just a matter of extracting it. Power wise I'm not overly interested in, especially after reading about the clutch packs problem you and others have described, seems folly to go that route but hey, it's not my money. I bought some barely scrubbed in MPSS off Kermit, itching to try them out.
 
Mrs K heard somebody at the dealers talk of the safety of the RF system and how/why they don't suffer blowouts !
Now they are a must have as far as she's concerned.
 
john-e89 said:
Did'nt you fancy it Techathy?
Click to expand...
Just bad timing, I'm the only person who's not got family commitments this weekend so can't get out of weekend contact duty. That means being able to get into work within 2 hours. So no Zedfest for me :(
 
ronk said:
Mrs K heard somebody at the dealers talk of the safety of the RF system and how/why they don't suffer blowouts !
Now they are a must have as far as she's concerned.
Click to expand...
There's a very narrow window of decompression speed & vehicle speed where an RFT show an advantage over non-RFT tyres if the car is exposed to any lateral load. cConsidering high speed roads in the UK are deliberately designed to have shallow bends, it kind of eliminates most of the safety aspect of RFT tyres when dealing with near instantaneous decompression events..
 
techathy said:
ronk said:
Mrs K heard somebody at the dealers talk of the safety of the RF system and how/why they don't suffer blowouts !
Now they are a must have as far as she's concerned.
Click to expand...
There's a very narrow window of decompression speed & vehicle speed where an RFT show an advantage over non-RFT tyres if the car is exposed to any lateral load. cConsidering high speed roads in the UK are deliberately designed to have shallow bends, it kind of eliminates most of the safety aspect of RFT tyres when dealing with near instantaneous decompression events..
Click to expand...

She was mainly twisting on about my speed while in Germany - although the novelty of high speed blasts has worn off now, a steady 100/110 mph where allowed is good -- and that's just about when she starts to complain!
 
Chopin piano concerto no 2 is good , 1812 takes 20 mph off :lol:
 
ronk said:
techathy said:
ronk said:
Mrs K heard somebody at the dealers talk of the safety of the RF system and how/why they don't suffer blowouts !
Now they are a must have as far as she's concerned.
Click to expand...
There's a very narrow window of decompression speed & vehicle speed where an RFT show an advantage over non-RFT tyres if the car is exposed to any lateral load. cConsidering high speed roads in the UK are deliberately designed to have shallow bends, it kind of eliminates most of the safety aspect of RFT tyres when dealing with near instantaneous decompression events..
Click to expand...

She was mainly twisting on about my speed while in Germany - although the novelty of high speed blasts has worn off now, a steady 100/110 mph where allowed is good -- and that's just about when she starts to complain!
Click to expand...
I'd suggest at those speeds prayer is about as a effective as RFT tyres if you get a sudden decompression.

My take home from engineers who develop tyres is that basically RFT tyres are designed to get you home after the flat happens IF you survive and it's marketing people who push the safety side of it because under test conditions tests show the tyre performs better. The reality is that the biggest issue with a high speed decompression is the human reaction factor. If it's a full on tyre lets go completely blowout, you're gonna crash.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom