One of the most significant changes in the automotive market in recent years has been the increased number of vehicles fitted with Dual Clutch Transmissions (DCT).

A Dual Clutch Transmission is essentially an automated manual gearbox with two gearboxes running within the one housing, each with their own clutch. One Clutch is designed to operate odd numbered gears and the other is designed to operate even numbered gears.

When the vehicle is in use, one gear is selected at a time to drive the vehicle; however, the other clutch already has a gear preloaded and ready to engage as soon as the gear is required. This makes the gearbox extremely fast and also helps to make the transmission smoother than just a standard automatic transmission.

There are two types of clutches that can be utilised in a dual clutch transmission, a dry and wet clutch. The dry clutch uses no lubrication oil for the plates, whereas a wet clutch will use oil to keep the system cool.

Dual Clutch Transmissions are being offered by many car manufacturers such as Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mercedes, Ferrari, Ford and BMW. This change in market trends is due to the increased competition for faster and smoother transmissions as well as increased efficiency.

ACS offer a variety of OE and Aftermarket Dual Clutch systems for various vehicles including the necessary tooling for the installation of these clutches. Specialist training must be completed before changing a clutch system in one of these transmissions, this can be arranged for workshops looking to develop these skills.

The complete range of ACS DCT components is available in the ACS online catalogue

Australian Clutch Services have developed Dual Clutch Transmission video guides for the replacement of popular dry and wet DCT setups. These can be accessed below.

Dry Dual Clutch Transmission Clutch Assembly Removal and Installation Guide