FiestaST
Honorary Master
BMW M: twin-clutch auto is dead, and the last manual gearbox will be the M2's
Looks like the future of M's performance car transmissions rests with torque converters. *Sigh*
BMW M’s future is automatic. We’re talking transmissions, people. As far as M is concerned the twin clutch gearbox is dead, the manual doesn’t have long left. After that, it’s torque converters only until single speed EVs presumably take over.
We’d predicted the demise of the manual. The just launched M2 is highly likely to be the last manual M car. Expect an M2 Competition in a couple of years, a facelift in four, an M2 CS at some stage and then a gradual wind-down until the M2 finally smokes its last set of tyres around 2030.
What’s snuck up on us is the demise of the twin clutch gearbox. That much-vaunted instant shift gearbox isn’t currently used on any BMW M car – and won’t be making a comeback either. We could have guessed as much when the M4 CSL arrived last year sporting the same eight-speed auto as the rest of the M3/M4 range, but now Dirk Hacker, Head of Development at BMW M, has confirmed as much.
“The double clutch, from BMW M’s point of view these days, it’s gone," he told TopGear.com. "It's now manual or automatic, and automatic electrified for the future.”
Looks like the future of M's performance car transmissions rests with torque converters. *Sigh*
BMW M’s future is automatic. We’re talking transmissions, people. As far as M is concerned the twin clutch gearbox is dead, the manual doesn’t have long left. After that, it’s torque converters only until single speed EVs presumably take over.
We’d predicted the demise of the manual. The just launched M2 is highly likely to be the last manual M car. Expect an M2 Competition in a couple of years, a facelift in four, an M2 CS at some stage and then a gradual wind-down until the M2 finally smokes its last set of tyres around 2030.
What’s snuck up on us is the demise of the twin clutch gearbox. That much-vaunted instant shift gearbox isn’t currently used on any BMW M car – and won’t be making a comeback either. We could have guessed as much when the M4 CSL arrived last year sporting the same eight-speed auto as the rest of the M3/M4 range, but now Dirk Hacker, Head of Development at BMW M, has confirmed as much.
“The double clutch, from BMW M’s point of view these days, it’s gone," he told TopGear.com. "It's now manual or automatic, and automatic electrified for the future.”
