Nother CarGuy

Volkswagen has confirmed that it has dropped its plans of launching a 10-speed dual-clutch transmission. While speaking to Automotive News at April's International Vienna Motor Symposium, VW powertrain chief Friedrich Eichler confirmed the gearbox had been dropped. “Two months ago, I had the prototype crushed,” he said. The automaker originally intended on launching the transmission for high torque engines and announced its plan at the 2013 Vienna Symposium, the same location where Ford and General Motors confirmed their partnership to co-develop nine and 10-speed transmissions. GM and Ford's nine-speed debuted last year in the new Chevrolet Malibu and the 10-speed was first dropped into the Camaro ZL1 and Ford F-150 Raptor. Eichler failed to provide a reason why the project had been scrapped but said it was dreamt up during the company's outdated “bigger is better” engineering philosophy. While the gearbox is off the cards for the time being, Eichler didn'...

The potent Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 and  GT350R  twins may receive an optional dual-clutch automatic transmission in the coming years. An article from  Road & Track  cites a report from the Mustang6G forums who have uncovered evidence that Ford will soon offer the GT350 with a dual-clutch auto while retaining the current six-speed manual 'box. It isn't yet known if the automatic transmission in question will have six speeds or like the new Ford GT, seven gears. Whatever the case may be, the reason to offer the  GT350 models  with a second gearbox option is quite simple; improved performance. The manual-only GT350R has already proven itself to be a rival to much more expensive  European sports cars  and supercars on a racetrack. The inclusion of a quick-shifting dual-clutch would make the muscle car that much more capable, both in a straight line, along twisty canyon roads and of course, at a circuit. As is, the 526 hp, 5.2-liter flat-pla...