Chrysler’s new dual-clutch transmission—developed in partnership with Getrag—will provide consumers a fuel economy improvement and CO2 emission reduction of 6 percent compared to a traditional four-speed automatic transmission.

“Chrysler’s new dual-clutch transmission is the next step in transmission technology, offering consumers improved fuel economy along with smooth shifting,” said Frank Klegon, Executive Vice President – Product Development, Chrysler LLC. “This important new Chrysler technology is one of several initiatives we have in place to directly focus on improving fuel efficiency across our vehicle line-up.”

The 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine is now available on the Dodge Avenger SXT and positions the Avenger competitively in its class for power, torque and fuel economy. Maximum power is 103 kW and peak torque is 310 Nm. The 2.0-litre engine achieves combined fuel consumption rating of 6.2 L/100 km when matched to the all-new six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Dual-clutch transmission technology

Chrysler’s dual-clutch transmission technology improves fuel economy and CO2 emissions by reducing parasitic losses—first, by eliminating the torque converter, and second, through the use of synchronisers instead of shift clutches.

The dual-clutch transmission is an automatic transmission that utilises dual launch and shift clutches with a manual transmission style lay-shaft gear arrangement instead of a conventional torque converter and planetary gears. One clutch drives the odd-numbered gears and reverse, while the other clutch drives the even-numbered gears. During shifts, the next gear is anticipated and pre-selected. Then one clutch is opened while the other is closed, allowing shifting without torque interruption. Further, with the lay-shaft arrangement of gears, there is increased flexibility to optimise gear ratio selection for performance and fuel economy.

The all-new dual-clutch transmission does not require a torque converter to transfer engine torque to the transmission. Instead, it uses two wet multi-plate clutches. With the wet multi-plate clutch system, the clutch components are bathed in lubricating and cooling fluid in order to provide adequate thermal capacity.

The wet multi-plate clutch system uses hydraulic pressure to actuate the clutches and provide for gear selection. With this system, the power flow from the engine to the transmission is not interrupted during a shift, resulting in a power-on shift. This means that there is less torque disturbance than a conventional planetary automatic transmission with torque converter. Also, by eliminating the torque converter and reducing the number of shift clutches, parasitic losses are reduced, leading to improved fuel economy.

Dodge Avenger range