Road and Track: Chevrolet is Still Refining the C8 Corvette’s Dual-Clutch Transmission

By
Alex Sommers
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Road and Track: Chevrolet is Still Refining the C8 Corvette's Dual-Clutch Transmission


Last week we brought you the news that the 2020 Corvette Stingray didn’t win Road & Tracks coveted Performance Car of the Year award and that the main culprit that lead to the mid-engine ‘Vette’s demise was the new dual-clutch transmission.

Well, Corvette fans, Road & Track is back this week with tidings of great comfort and joy! In a new piece entitled, “How the C8 Corvette’s Dual-Clutch Has Changed Since We Drove the Car” penned (typed?) by Chris Perkins, they remind us that the car they tested was a pre-production model and that the final product will be much improved.

Chevrolet is Still Refining the C8 Corvette's Dual-Clutch Transmission

Challenge of the day: try not to fall asleep when reading the next sentence. Last week Chevrolet held a powertrain engineering seminar where R&T was able to catch up with Glen Hoeflinn, controls program manager for the DCT. When asked about the Dual-Clutch’s current state, Hoeflinn said, “Maybe you get some humpy-bumpy shifts here, you get a little bit of that there. That all gets refined out… It’s in final refinement, and then it’s in final checks and looking what we’re doing and making sure that it’s behaving exactly [how] we want… That’s what we’ve done since the car that you had. Doing all that refinement and making sure it’s ready to go for everybody across the all the cars.”

He continued by speaking on the challenges of making a good DCT, “There’s a lot of pre-selection interaction that goes on in the background, It’s the same choreography between the engine and transmission but without the “luxury” of a torque converter, there’s a lot more programming work involved.”

The article goes on to point out the unique aspects of the C8’s dual-clutch transmission; it really is a great read if you are into that sort of thing, we recommend checking it out for some peace of mind about the future of the DCT (we have the utmost confidence that the final version will be world class!).

A final note of interest came when R&T concluded the piece by helping us continually put a bug in the Corvette Team’s collective ear about a desire for a manual transmission. Of course, the usual corporate lines were given: shrinking market, expensive, blah, blah, blah but with any luck they will eventually cave to our demands like tired parents of persistent, annoying children. Keep pestering, Corvette Nation!


Source:
Road & Track

Related:
The 2020 Corvette Stingray Shines and Stumbles for Road and Track’s Performance Car of the Year Award
Motor Trend Admits First C8 Corvette Dyno Test was Botched
[GALLERY] Chevrolet Shares Additional Details on the 2020 Corvette Stingray’s Powertrain

 



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7 COMMENTS

  1. The C8 has many new technical aspects; a 48 Volt architecture, front axle lift w/GPS location memory, mid-engine cooling requirements and I’m certain a comprehensive list that could fill pages. Based on my own anecdotal experience with two C7s, it’s a safe bet that the C8 DCT along with other systems will continue to receive revisions/updates. There should be no surprise that Chevrolet continues to tweak their new baby…(now and into the future). 🙂

  4. Crazy to buy one of these. It’s the first year for a completely new car, everything is different and there will be problems down the road. I see “fixes” and recalls every month. Then figure in the pissed off union cry babies (almost half of them voted against the new contract) and there’s no way I would want a first year C8, thank you. I’ll wait a year or two for a Z06.

  5. This why a second transmission option is so important. If that DCT ends up being problematic, it will be a major issue for GM. Just look at the eight speed auto GM put in the C7, many people had problems with them, some experienced not one, but two transmissions fail in two different cars. GM would be wise to bring back a manual option, even if it only represents 15%-20%. That way that DCT isn’t in every C8 that is made.

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