Powershift Dual Clutch Automatic/Manual Transmission



 The 2010 Volvo S60 will feature Powershift dual clutch automated transmission in at least some of the engines in the range.

Volvo/Ford Powershift is a development of Getrag Ford Transmissions GmbH, a 50:50 Ford and Getrag JV.  The new gear box was jointly designed by Ford, Getrag and Volvo. There are currently two versions and Volvo is rumoured to be working on a third heavy duty version for use in upcoming larger engines.

The Powershift box is reported as being fantastic to drive, with incredible levels of smoothness. Shifts are reported to be almost imperceptible. It has all the benefits of an automatic when cruising and stuck in traffic etc but none of the annoying 'kick down' associated with standard automatics. As the current Powershift has been developed for the Volvo/Ford 2.0D with its 320Nm of torque, the transmission  electronics are intelligent enough to make full use of that wide spread of torque to accelerate, without having to sort through the gears looking for more revs. If extra grunt is called for however, the gearbox will drop down to give more urgent acceleration, but again this is very smooth. It doesn’t have the vagueness of a CVT.