Ford and Getrag moving away from Dry clutch Powershift to wet clutch versions and 6F

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This is the latest news from Getrag

Speaking at the Frankfurt show in September, Kotecha predicted that DCT sales would advance faster than those of manual transmissions, especially with Chinese consumers. Getrag begins local production of DCTs in China next year and expects to be producing 1.4 million units by 2020. “This isn’t a fantasy figure,” said Kotecha. “It’s based on actual orders.”

The unit to be produced in China beginning in 2016 is a new entry-level wet clutch DCT, the six-speed 6DCT150. Optimized for cost, it will first see production in Asia but is also expected to find a market among Western automakers. Its relatively low torque rating makes it unsuitable for most European turbo diesel engines. However, it is easy to imagine a good future for it in North America, where the first-generation dry clutch DCTs from Getrag-Ford (and also Fiat, on the Dodge Dart) have had a mixed reception from drivers accustomed to super-smooth CVTs and planetary automatics.

At present, Getrag supplies its dry clutch 6DCT250 to both Renault and Ford, and Volvo also employs it on the V30 and some of its current mid-sized models. It is expected that Getrag will replace this unit with a wet clutch version offering greater torque capacity and, possibly, seven rather than six speeds. This will complete Getrag’s move away from dry clutch DCTs, leaving only Fiat, with its high-torque D635, and Volkswagen, with its seven-speed DQ200, as providers of dry clutch transmissions.

Volvo, for its part, will soon be moving away from DCTs in their present form. The Swedish company’s innovative new modular two-liter gasoline and diesel engines will be paired with Getrag’s new six-speed manual transmission or one of two planetary automatics from Aisin – an eight speed and a six speed. “These transmissions are so efficient that there’s little point in going for a DCT,” said Volvo engineering director Derek Crabb. Nevertheless, added Crabb as an aside, it would be a different matter when it came to the planned three-cylinder derivatives of the new engine.

If Volvo continues to remain loyal to Getrag, the wet clutch replacement for the 6DCT250 could well fit the bill – as could the new entry-level 6DCT150 for the lower-torque gasoline versions.

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The new wet clutch replacement being mentioned is the 7DCT300 seven-speed.

In November, Ford USA had 17,000 dry clutch units on back order, some owners are waiting
up to a month or two for replacements under warranty. Currently Getrag and Ford engineers are
working on how to deal with the dry clutch thermal issues. From the efforts going on, it looks like
the low cost of the dry dual clutch compared to the wet dual clutch is why so much priority is being
put into getting this rectified and the reason why wet clutch DCT was not used in the first place.

Lots of damage has already been done to the Ford's (and VW's) name for the sake of saving bucks on using
a dry clutch in place of the more dependable and reliable wet clutch DCT or even a simple Ford 6F auto transmission

And with Ford/Getrag developing the new 6DCT150 wet dual clutch lower-torque derivative for the Asian markets,
Signs are there that Ford is getting out of the dry dual clutch game. Plus Ford's decision to mate the higher
horsepower 1.0 EB 125hp in Europe with the US-designed and sourced six-speed planetary automatic 6F