Mercedes-Benz & Mercedes-AMG Transmissions.

[twistedlifestyle]

A couple of questions I thought I'd raise and I'd love input from enthusiasts as well as Mercedes owners. This isn't a bashing post but really curiosity.

Coming from an older AMG, I know that when cruising the transmission is slow and only speeds up when you're driving fast. On the newer AMGs like the 507 for example there are wet clutch packs which make the transmission nice and fast, combined with blips and other trickery, I found it really nice and would be great for daily driving. Why is it then journo's constantly complain about these transmissions (the one on the newer AMGs with the wet clutch packs, when they're smoother than some DSG boxes at slower speeds and do change easily / more responsive without lagging like on the older AMG models.

That said I saw on the new Mercedes-AMG GT there's a dual clutch transmission and and I know the A45 AMG has one as well. Does anyone know if they plan on extending this to the rest of the AMG (now Mercedes-AMG) range?

IMO, The transmission on the newer AMGs aren't bad or am I the only one that thinks this way?

 

[Rolf]

I would have thought they would have replaced the wet clutch MCT gearbox with the SLS/AMG GT dual clutch gearbox in the new C63 as it shares a brand new engine but maybe their are some technical reasons for using the older box. I haven't experienced this MCT gearbox yet but I can say that the Dual clutch gearboxes are not perfect, I have a DSG gearbox VW CC and it has clutch slippage and gear shudder at low speeds when pulling away as well as in sport mode sometimes in higher gear doesn't slip to lower gears if you kick down. Maybe in future AMG's could use a modified version of the new 9G tronic gearbox not sure!

 

[dekii97]

My grandpa has had terrible trouble with he's 2011 ML63 AMG he purchased it brand new and after traveling 40,000kms in 2 years he has changed he's transmission twice under warranty!
But previously he owned a 2006 ML500 and that car was amazing no troubles at all!
So it all depends on your luck with transmissions and cars in general!
I wouldn't regard the transmissions as bad it's just that my grandpa had bad luck with he's AMG!

 

[PC Valkyrie]

For a transmission to be praised, it needs to achieve 3 things:

1) Shift quickly
2) Shift smoothly
3) Allow the driver to have full control (no automatic downshifting or upshifting when the driver wants full control)

The knock against typical AMG transmissions is that they don't do number 1 and sometimes number 3 very well (relative to the competition, like the BMW M-DCT, Porsche's PDK, GT-R's dual clutch box, etc, etc.).

We'll see what journalists will say about the transmission in the new AMG GT to see if they have caught up or beat the competition.

 

[Sunny]

I would have thought they would have replaced the wet clutch MCT gearbox with the SLS/AMG GT dual clutch gearbox in the new C63 as it shares a brand new engine but maybe their are some technical reasons for using the older box.

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The dual clutch unit in the AMG GT (and SLS before that) is a transaxle unit - it sits in the rear axle. So it is not practical in a sedan like C63, at least not with out major changes.

 

[martinbo]

One also has to consider the need for the transmission to be readily compatible with AWD in order to support Mercedes Benz' rather expansive 4matic strategy. If memory serves, the trans-axle dual clutch unit is developed by Getrag and is not used in any AWD application. This naturally creates a feasibility issue in both financial and practical terms - particularly given Merc's approach to in-house transmission engineering for the vast majority of its gearboxes.