Prowler-mania, Demonology; what's up with Chrysler's automotive tastes these days? What Car (indeed) reports that the foul Chrysler Sebring diesel (and we're not talking about emissions here) may be the first Chrysler product blessed with a Dual-Sequential Gearbox (DSG). As DSG is Borg Warner's name for Volkswagen's sublime paddle shifter, the magazine is hedging its bets regarding sourcing: "It is not yet clear if the dual-clutch transmission is Chrysler's own, if it has been developed with former sister company Mercedes, or if it is from another manufacturer – the Sebring's 2.0-litre diesel engine is already sourced from Volkswagen." And while they're at it, What Car says the gearbox might spread to other Chrysler products. Funny thing is, I can't think of a single Chrysler product that really deserves needs it… Viper? Do they still make that?
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The Chrysler DSG is developed with Getrag. It is a better idea than the CVT.
perhaps they should put the money into facelifting the car itself…
Are they really that clueless? To me, DSG’s represent sporty driving. So why stick in a Sebring, much less a diesel Sebring? I would guess that almost 99% of Sebring buyers are perfectly content with an automatic. Either way they obviously can’t be too discerning. They are buying a Sebring after all.
right on Matt
RF: A DSG on the SRT-8’s or the new Challenger would not be so bad.
Wouldn’t the improved performance and fuel economy that a DSG transmission affords be appreciated on any vehicle? I believe Chrysler plans to roll out the transmission across a wide variety of models, from the new minivans to the LX cars, once the new Phoenix family of V6 engines arrives in MY2010.
Strange that Chrysler wouldn’t just source VW’s DSG for the 2.0 diesel in the Sebring, since VW already sells its 2.0 turbodiesel engine with DSG (Golf GT, for example).
“As DSG is Borg Warner’s name for Volkswagen’s sublime paddle shifter”
Actually, Borg-Warner invented it*. VW was the first manufacture to use it.
*Although I think it was based in part on some designs from the 1930s for “clutchless pre-selectors” that faded away withe popularization of torque converters.
I remember reading that the currently available DSGs couldn’t handle high powered engines. That’s why you can’t get it on cars like the Audi R8 or S6. Chrysler’s more performance oriented cars all have V8s or V10s right now. That might be too much power for their DSG to handle, so it goes on the Sebring.
The upcoming Caliber SRT4 would be a good car for it.
I remember reading that the currently available DSGs couldn’t handle high powered engines.
They Veyron uses DSG, so we know it’s good for at least 1000hp.
OK, maybe it’s not exactly the same one as the Golf, but I don’t think there’s anything inherent to limit the amount of power.
It could be the beefed up DSG that can handle the higher horsepower is too expensive to build at that price point, at least right now.
Two totally different systems between VW/Audi and Bugatti. The DSG we know and love is only featured on transverse-mounted engines as in the Rabbit/GTI/GLI/Beetle/Passat/A3/TT. None of the other Audi platforms feature it because their engines are all mounted longitudinally, despite all being front-wheel-drive.
The Veyron’s seven-speed DSG is a joint venture with British transmission maker Ricardo, and is ridiculously overbuilt.
Why waste a perfectly good transmission on a perfectly crappy automobile? Given that the Sebring was developed before daddy Benz and mommy Chrysler divorced, couldn’t we at least get some hand-me-down C-class running gear? But nooooo. The Sebring/Avenger is a product of the time when disease-ridden uncle Mitsu still sat at the family table.
Good that these DSG transmissions are becoming more generally availalble; bad news that anyone would waste the time and engineering effort to put one in this waste of a good parking space.
This whole thing is a moot point, because frankly I haven’t seen a heckuva lot of new Sebrings on the road here in Memphis. Maybe we’re not the target market, but if they’re hoping that a new transmission and a diesel are going to make this car a hit, they need to go back to the drawing board.