Co-developed by BorgWarner and the Volkswagen Group, for the car-maker's transverse front- and four-wheel drive applications, the compact Direct Shift Gearbox or Direktschaltgetriebe (DSG) was released in 2003 and was the first mainstream twin-clutch transmission. At its introduction, twin-clutch units could swap ratios more directly and more efficiently than conventional epicyclic-geared automatic transmissions. They were also more efficient, due to their direct drive and lack of a torque converter. While revolutionary at the time, traditional automatics have since caught up. For example, ZF's nine-speed transverse autobox is said to be more efficient than any other twin-clutch transmission on the market, and is approximately the same size as a dual-clutch gearbox.
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