Chevy previously claimed its new ten-speed shifts faster than the Porsche PDK during our ride-along in a Camaro ZL1 prototype earlier this year. Now Chevy has numbers to back it up. The automaker claims the upshift is 27 percent quicker, while the shift from 3rd to 4th is 26 percent quicker.
Those differences may very well be imperceptible from behind the wheel, but every millisecond counts when you're launching off the line. The PDK only engages one clutch at a time. However, because gear sets alternate between clutches, as one disengages the other can engage in one fluid motion. The internal gears and clutch pack of a PDK transmission. Blue highlights which gears the clutch operates. Green highlights which gears the clutch operates.
Think of a PDK like a seven-person Olympic relay race team. By the time one runner nears the end of his stint, another gets up to speed separately and is ready to begin, so the baton is effectively handed off instantly, with no loss in speed.
Rev the engine to a high-power point and slip the clutches to get maximum torque to the wheels without spinning them. As do so many automotive innovations, PDK got its start in racing because its faster shifts meant quicker lap times.
Traction interruption? Not a bit of it. It was some time before series production began, however. The control electronics first had to go through a number of development stages.
Above all, the new technology needed to grow out of its habit of jarring gear changes. The breakthrough came a year later with the world premiere of the Panamera model range. And the PDK in the new features eight speeds as well. Indeed, unlike in , the trend among Porsche drivers is increasingly toward automated transmissions.
More than three-quarters of all delivered Porsche and models today are equipped with a PDK system. The figure rises to percent for the Panamera and Macan—a manual transmission is no longer offered in these model ranges.
For the GT3 RS, the PDK boasts an even sportier setup, with shorter gear ratios, optimally stepped gears, and faster response times. And what about the purists, for whom nothing can compare with the marvels of manual transmission—not even a PDK? The new Porsche Speedster, for instance, is only available with manual transmission. Even the first generation of the PDK enabled faster gear changes. Compared to the conventional Tiptronic S automatic transmission, which was ten kilograms heavier, the optional PDK introduced in the Porsche Carrera and Carrera S in shifted up to 60 percent faster and without traction interruption.
0コメント