On the 2013 Dodge Dart SXT, Rallye, and Limited models equipped with a 1.4L MultiAir engine, there’s a new and innovative type of transmission available that many Americans have never sampled before:  the Dual Dry Clutch Transmission, or DDCT for short.

The concept behind the DDCT is to provide the convenience and pure driving ease of a fully automatic transmission with the performance and fuel efficiency of a manual gearbox. You don’t have to compromise to get the best of both worlds — it’s a win/win.

The “dual-clutch” in the name might throw people off:  Yes, there are two dry-fiber clutch assemblies inside the transmission. However, there’s no clutch pedal for the driver to operate – only a shift lever with the traditional P, R, N, and D positions we know so well.

And in ordinary driving, DDCT is intended to operate like any automatic; or, when the driver wants to take charge, they can use the AutoStick® feature in the shift lever to up/down-shift manually.

Dodge engineers focused on making the Dart’s transmission as silky and unobtrusive as possible.  The early reviews are already coming in, and the reports are they succeeded.  One road tester noted that the DDCT-equipped Dart doesn’t sound, operate, or behave much differently, if at all, than a standard automatic transmission.

And that’s the whole idea.