A look at the Dual Clutch Gearbox
This manual transmission will send even the most experienced techs looking for a refresher course.
Wayne Colonna/Motor Age — The DSG, or Dual Clutch Gearbox, is a manual transmission using a Mechatronic system to shift the transmission automatically via a double wet or dry clutch with double input shaft arrangement.
TVS Engineering is a company in the Netherlands that specializes in the repair and tuning of Volkswagen/Audi DSG transmissions. TVS began seeing a need to modify both the clutch assembly and programming approximately 10 years ago. Premature clutch failure was on the rise due to a turbo being mounted to these vehicles. They currently repair about 1,500 of these a year through 18 dealers around the world selling clutches, Mechatronic, gearboxes and software. This article is the result of having and interview with Ronald Logmans, the software engineer for this company.
Currently, there are four generations of high production DSG transmissions on the road worldwide (others are on their way). They could be either longitudinally (AWD) or transversally (FWD) mounted. Of the four generations, one is a six-speed while the remaining three are seven-speed transmissions. The names of these different transmissions are as follows:
- 2003 – DQ250 – 6 speed wet – F/AWD
- 2008 – DQ200 – 7 speed dry – FWD
- 2008 – DL501 – 7 speed wet – AWD
- 2010 – DQ500 – 7 speed wet – F/AWD
The D represents Dual Shift Gearbox (DSG), the L is for longitudinal (RWD) and the Q is for transversely mounted (F/AWD).
The first DSG was a six speed “wet” clutch design that started in 2003 for the Audi TT. This transmission is referred to as the DQ250 (02E) and had AWD. The second generation began in 2007. It was the DQ200, which is a seven-speed double “dry” clutch design that came as a front wheel drive only. There are no AWD with a dry clutch design. It is the only dry clutch unit in the DSG family, and of all the DSGs, this is the most problematic of them all. It also was the most sold transmission worldwide except here in the United States. Globally, it is in two Audi vehicles (A1 and A3) and 16 different Volkswagen vehicles (Beetle, Bora, Caddy Van, Golf, Jetta, Lavida, Passat, Polo, Sagitar, Scirocco, Sharan, Tiguan, Touran and UP). Skoda and Seat models use the DQ200 and the DQ250.
Source: Motor Age
