What is Dual-Clutch Transmission and Do You Need It in your Used Car?

Being a modern-day driver, you will hardly have to worry about the word transmission. Most cars come with efficient automatic transmission mechanisms that do all the hard work for you. But even in that scope of automatic transmission, you will come across terms like CVT and DCT and you will find experts debating about the proficiency of the two. It all comes down to what you need in your car. How much auto-savvy are you? Accordingly, you need to look at used cars for sale in Spartanburg, SC with a DCT or a CVT.

Let’s see what’s what.

What is Dual-Clutch Transmission?

Cars with manual transmission come with a clutch pedal that sits right with the acceleration and brake pedals. The clutch pedal disengages the transmission system from the engine, thus allowing the driver to change gears. The entire process is tricky for some people to master, especially while driving a car, and the need for automatic transmission came from that.

In the automatic sphere, cars generally use continuously variable transmission (CVT) or dual-clutch transmission (DCT). And dual-clutch transmission carries out the same internal functions as manual transmission to change gears, just without the intervention of the driver.

Which is better – CVT or DCT?

Most used car lots in Spartanburg, SC have vehicles with the CVT-type automatic transmission. And they are rising in popularity as CVT cars are known to deliver superior fuel efficiency than DCT ones. But DCT uses two clutches which makes shifting from one gear setting to another extremely quick. This eliminates a lot of noise that emanates from CVT vehicles, combined with adding to the positive drive feel and acceleration capacity. Ask any car enthusiast and he/she will rate DCT over CVT any day.

But do you need a DCT equipped used car?

Honestly, if you are an average Spartanburg citizen just looking to own a quality used car, it will not matter whether your vehicle has a DCT or CVT. You will simply not be able to tell the difference. Our suggestion – focus on just having automatic transmission while buying used cars or used trucks in Spartanburg, SC. The type is irrelevant. Test drive to judge the drive feel, check service history. Buy from a reputed dealership like Uncle Joe’s and make sure you get warranties. The choice between DCT or CVT is for auto-savvy car buyers who care a lot about how their car sounds and feel. If you do not fall on that list, you need not worry about having DCT.