Alfa Romeo was in Scotland over the past couple of days to
launch its latest twin clutch gearbox in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCT. Unlike
the VW/Audi wet-plate ‘box, the Fiat PowerTrain developed unit uses a dry-plate
arrangement.
Coupled with the fact that Fiat is building some damn good
engines these days, both diesel and petrol, the 6 speed TCT gearbox marks
another technological step forward and makes the most of even small capacity engines.
There are three modes to the gearbox with full ‘throw your
left leg out the window’ automatic, plus a manual stick-shift sequential option and
paddles. On the whole it works pretty well, but it can be caught out on occasion,
such as slowing down on the approach to a roundabout. If the driver spots a gap
and then floors it, the ‘box has a wee think to itself before it drops a gear
or two and goes for it. That type of situation can catch out most auto boxes,
so it’s not a criticism of the Alfa ‘box just something the driver has to be
aware of.
On the other hand, using the manual stick-shift will allow
the driver to hang on to his or her chosen gear for as long as he or she wants.
The paddles are more gimmicky. They work well, but revert to ‘auto’ mode if not
used for a few seconds, although that’s probably more of a software setting issue
than a mechanical hiccup.
The ‘box is particularly well suited to the 2 litre, 170 bhp
MultiJet diesel but it works equally well in the 170 bhp, 1.4 litre MultiAir
petrol engine, a small capacity engine which has more powerful ambitions! Alfa
also revealed that it is working on a 1.8 litre MultiAir engine which is
destined to go into production next year and will be capable of producing 300
bhp!
Over recent years
Alfa Romeo has been working hard on turning around the public perception of its
products, fast but flawed, and the new Giulietta with its TCT ‘box will further
enhance that process. Build quality is good and it feels pretty taut with Fiat
engineers predicting a 250,000 mile ‘life’ for the clutch plates.
No comments:
Post a Comment