MBUSA should bring us the SEQUENTRONIC option available in Europe then we can really feel like we are in the WRC. Is the US Market not big enough for the SEQUENTRONIC tranny? Wouldn't it be nice?

 

What is it?

 

i too would like to have one!
here's more info:
https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...t=sequentronic

 

paddle style shifting like on F-1 cars?

i hear it's awesome and the shifting is actually a lot quicker than manual shifting, something like 0.3sec.

 

Sequentronic is like BMW's SMG, which is pretty cool.

It is a car that has a manual transmission and clutch, except the clutch is hydraulically operated and controlled by a computer. Controlled usually by paddles or buttons on the steering wheel. Like a Formula 1 car.

This is very different than, for example, Porsche's Tiptronic or MB's Touch Shift, where you can shift with buttons on the steering wheel or the shift lever. Those type systems are basically automatic transmissions (with a torque converter, like a regular automatic) that have a gimmicky way of shifting them.

Sequentronic and SMG are still pretty new technology for street cars. Ferrari has used it for a few years now, but they have had many bugs. It is difficult to make it work right for a normal street car (i.e. to make it work smoothly, on a F1 car, that is not a concern). Esp. for US consumption, where everything has to be smooth and perfect.

It may eventually be worked out and filtered down to lower end cars and models in the US, but for now it is only on a very few cars.

 

Ok, but this one has an "A" mode, which is Automatic... How does this agree with it being a "manual" tranny with an auto-clutch?

 

Both the clutch and the gear selector are actuated by computer. This allows the computer to shift the manual transmission automaticly.

I read on here somewhere that CAR magazine didn't like the MB version.

 

My uncle (after he came back from WWII service as a navy officer) purchased a Mercedes--in the late 40's or early 50's--with a clutchless manual transmission! What goes around comes around, albeit in a sophisticated implementation. Do any of you M-B historians know of the early clutchless manual transmission?

 

For a while VW had an 'autostick' on the Bug. Could this be the same thing?

 

The slickest tranny out there is the CVT in the Audi 3.0 on the A4 and A6. Performance an economy that rivals the 5 speed and you can manually shift it in 6 preset ratios. Car and Driver says it shifts so fast, smooth and quiet it like using a remote to change stations on your TV. It takes a while for technology to filter to MB.

 

I drove a bug (circa 70s) that had an automatic clutch. It had a low and a high gear, as well as reverse. It was actually kind of neat. I'm sure anything in today's age would be much more advanced though!!

 

Oh boy! Now that I'm reminded, that's what my dad drove in ca. 1969 - VW called it Halbautomatik (semi-automatic). Tipping the shifter slightly forward or backward actuated the clutch electromagnetically. Absolutely neat! I was aware of the Sequentronic, and I regret its non-availability on the US market to date.