Buying a Hyundai i20 automatic soon, but worried about the DCT gearbox

The new car will be replacing our 13-year-old Santro Zing.

BHPian jaysheth recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hello everyone,

Our Hyundai Santro Xing GLS will turn 13-years-old soon and we have been very happy and satisfied with the car. We (myself and my wife) are looking to buy Hyundai i20 Asta (O) DCT as our next car because of the following reasons:

• Hyundai for the general liking for Hyundai cars, especially considering our experience with it so far.
• i20 as the premium hatchback. A hatchback is more than enough for us.
• Asta (O) is the top-end trim with all features, bells and whistles. I really liked safety features like 6 Airbags, ABS, EBD, ESC, Hill Assist Control, LED projector headlamps with cornering lamps, rear wiper and washer etc., clubbed with some great convenience features like Cruise Control, Sunroof, Rear seat armrest, Bose speakers etc.

Definitely, the asking price is much more compared to other hatchbacks, but we plan to keep this car as our primary car for the next 12-15 years at least and do not want to regret having settled for a lower variant just to save some money.

Why am I eyeing the DCT variant?

• Well, I cannot call myself a car enthusiast (though I really like driving), but have been tired of pressing and releasing the clutch in city traffic (Pune + Mumbai). Further, my wife hardly drives, and while she can drive well in sunny day situations, she is not too comfortable with an MT with respect to demanding situations. She would consider driving more if it would be automatic! For these reasons, we do not want an MT for sure.
• I have taken a test ride of DCT and iMT variants, and while iMT is a big relief compared to an MT (freeing up my left leg), I found DCT to be a much bigger relief (freeing up the left hand to a considerable extent too!)
• My sister has an i20 Sportz iVT and that has been a fuel guzzler! Also, I do have a habit of overtaking a lot of vehicles, especially on the Pune-Mumbai expressway and the ability to select gears/engage lower gears when required is something I would not like to compromise on! (Am referring to the manual mode of the DCT here)
• We make several Pune-Mumbai trips, and make other pleasure trips to areas around Pune (e.g. Mahabaleshwar). I would personally prefer engaging manual mode uphill/downhill, which is also in line with DCT-driving recommendations.

Considering the above factors, we do wish to go with the DCT gearbox for the sheer convenience, comfort and driving pleasure it offers, and this is where we need your help and advice as to whether we should go with DCT. Please read on.

The only apprehension about DCT:

• I have read on forums like Team-BHP that DCT really heats up in bumper-to-bumper / stop-and-go traffic, and while we do not expect such situations in our daily commuting, traffic conditions in cities like Mumbai are only going to get difficult with the passage of time as we all know!
• I did go through the 10 commandments of driving a DCT/DSG and that's a great compilation. However, one question still remains unanswered and that's the reason for this rather long post:
• In bumper-to-bumper traffic, I understand that the DCT gearbox is likely to heat up, especially if we are using half-braking, half-crawling, as that puts an extra load to the gear selectors, which are also likely to get confused around (a) whether you want to engage lower gear as you apply (often-half-)brakes, and (b) whether you want to engage higher gear as you accelerate. And quite unfortunately in such situations, you are forced to do both (a) braking and (b) accelerating for a prolonged period of time, leading to heating issues!

My question is simple: Can we not engage the "manual" mode when we encounter bumper-to-bumper / stop-and-go traffic, either on flat terrain or also uphill/downhill? That way we choose and command that we want to remain in the first/desired gear, thereby not confusing the gearbox any further!!

Will the above simple trick not work to not confuse the computer, and rather dictate our preference? If it was such a simple workaround, why has no one mentioned it anywhere? Am I missing something here?

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to benefiting from your advice and experience.

Here's what BHPian nikhilthegunner had to say on the matter:

To answer your question, you could definitely engage in manual mode and figure out the gears yourself but that invalidates the point of an automatic transmission. It's meant to give you peace of mind when it comes to shifting gears. Especially when it comes to overtaking, the car will work out what gear to engage based on your accelerator input. If you have to think about which gear to be in and accordingly tell the gearbox, then what's the point of it being automatic?

If you intend to do this, it's better to have an iMT then. Does the same thing you're suggesting for the DCT issues. It'll stay in whatever gear you want until you decide to change. Only the clutch is handled by the car.

This is also generally why you'll see lots of members suggesting TCs and CVTs over DCTs. DCTs just aren't designed to handle Indian stop-start conditions. I'd recommend looking at cars with TCs or CVTs to give you peace of mind when driving. They're far more reliable and proven on Indian roads.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.