Dual Clutch

click above image to view more pics of the 2008 BMW M3

It looks like the dual-clutch preselector transmission is emerging as the leader in automated manuals. Volkswagen's DSG has been around a while and offers fewer compromises than less purpose-built manuals. Ford's champing at the bit to get their own trick DSG-like transmission into production, and it looks like we'll see such a unit drop soon with the PowerShift moniker. Gearbox maker Getrag has several different variations on the theme, and word is they'll start off in Dan Roth

Over the past three or four days, there have been a lot of rumors running through the tubes of the interwebs about BMW's surprise unveiling of a concept version of the M3 uber-coupe during next week's Geneva motor show. We had been holding off on posting anything about it, but thought that if it does come to fruition, you might like to know in advance.

Conventional wisdom says that continuously- or infinitely-variable transmissions (CVT and IVT, respectively) are destined to toil away under the hoods of compact cars, but Torvec is having none of it. The manufacturer recently installed its hydraulic-based IVT behind the Cummins turbodiesel of a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500 as a proof-of-concept demonstrator. While the primary application for the Torvec IVT is said to be school buses and other medium-duty vehicles - especial