Remember when dual-clutch transmissions were all the rage? The promise of increased efficiency over a torque converter automatic and lightning-fast shifts was tempting at a time when normal automatics couldn’t match the efficiency or performance of a manual transmission, but the tech landscape has changed greatly in the past 20 years or so. While these dual-clutch units have their place in certain performance vehicles, it’s not surprising to see many models turn back toward conventional automatics, and the popular Hyundai Santa Fe family crossover is the latest member of the bandwagon.
Up until the incoming 2026 model year, if you wanted to buy a delightfully rectangular new Santa Fe, you’d have to choose between two different powertrains. The more sensible choice here is a 1.6-liter turbocharged hybrid option. It’s smooth, offers excellent fuel economy, certainly doesn’t feel short on power, and is generally the right choice for the school run. However, if you pull outdoor toys or a camper on the weekends, you’d likely want the increased towing capacity that comes with the standard 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four.
This stout 277-horsepower unit gives this three-row family hauler some serious get-up-and-go, and it comes with up to 4,500 pounds of towing capacity in the XRT trim instead of just 2,000 pounds for the hybrid model. However, it comes hitched to an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that’s had its share of teething issues. Last year, Hyundai recalled 12,349 2024 model year Santa Fes with this transmission due to flawed transmission programming potentially causing transmission failure. As the recall report states:
The Dual Clutch Transmission (“DCT”) in the subject vehicles could become damaged during normal operation due to Transmission Control Unit (“TCU”) software logic that could inadvertently engage the clutches and damage the transmission case and/or parking pawl. A damaged transmission case and/or parking pawl may cause noise within the transmission and/or allow for vehicle rollaway while in PARK.
The solution, as you can probably guess, included a software update of all affected vehicles and the replacement of damaged transmissions. Not a cheap fix, but a necessary one. Since that incident, there have still been NHTSA complaints about the dual clutch transmission, some of which seem genuinely reliability-related and some of which seem to align with the fact that a dual-clutch transmission isn’t a torque converter automatic, so it won’t exactly drive like one.
A dual-clutch transmission is going to creep fairly aggressively from a standstill to engage those clutches compared to the slow roll of a fluid coupling, it’s going to be crisp at the occasional expense of some smoothness, it’s going to require specific fluid and a specific maintenance interval that isn’t quite what owners of vehicle with traditional automatic transmissions have come to expect. I didn’t mind any of this when I drove the 2.5-liter turbocharged Santa Fe, but I can understand that it’s not quite what some shoppers are looking for.
However, that’s about to change. Hyundai has announced that the 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe crossover and the 2026 Santa Cruz small truck with the turbocharged 2.5-liter inline-four will be swapping their eight-speed dual-clutch transmissions out for conventional eight-speed torque converter automatics. This should add a dose of extra smoothness to the driving experience while returning the same EPA fuel economy figures as the outgoing dual-clutch transmission.
It’s a similar story as we’ve seen from the Kia Seltos, the Acura TLX, the Volkswagen Tiguan, and even the BMW Z4. While dual-clutch transmissions have a place, most everyday drivers are just better served by the latest crop of efficient torque converter automatics of many ratios. We’re now in a place where it’s possible to have both traditional smoothness and appreciable efficiency, and although I’ll miss the sheer speed of the shifts, automakers gotta give the people what they want, right?
Top graphic credit: Hyundai
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I’ll be honest…every DTC transmission I have EVER driven is fairly terrible unless you’re driving it like you stole it. They all try to be super efficient and end up two gears away from where you want it and it makes the downshift SLOW. This is 100% the right move to ditch the DTC. I would choose a normal manual trans OR an automatic any day over a DTC. Some days I might even choose a CVT…at least those are honest about being terrible.
I was hoping they were going to fix the taillights; they look like poor UV mapping and they slipped downwards a good 12-20″ or so.
Taillights down low are STUPID. Imagine a cargo carrier on a hitch on this thing; nobody would be able to see them.
Beat me to it. I was going to ask when they’re recalling these to fix the hideous rear end.
i have not heard of any nissan/hyundai torque converter transmissions ever fail so this is probably a good thing! i think that maybe DCT transmissions should be reserved for enthusiast / sports cars
I need the input of a transmission centric commenter to form a proper opinion on this matter.
Good. DCTs in non-performance cars are awful.
Great news! Now bring those ankle taillights up to below the glass
Off topic but that Santa Fe has the greatest front end paired to the worst rear end I remember ever seeing. I just can’t get over it. I love it and I hate it when one drives by.
You love it and then you hate it as one drives by.
Fixed it for ya
I tend to believe that a DCT doesn’t belong anywhere except a sports car, especially not an SUV/crossover. Does anybody know anything about the Hyundai/Kia CVT? They don’t seem to use it widely. Drove one in a 2024 Rio and surprisingly it wasn’t /that/ annoying like most other CVT’s.
Rental Veloster with the 7 speed DCT… how can a sporter version of my car ( Fit Sport 5AT ) feel so much slower with 25% more power?
the honda fit auto transmission has taaaaaaaal gears. 3rd is direct drive and 4th and 5th gear are both overdrive. so you effectively only have 3 real “gears” to work with for acceleration in a tiny engine that has not much torque and is a bit peaky hp at high rpm. the main reason for the tall gearing is the tires are super small BUT nothing with only 110 horsepower needs TWO overdrive gears WTF especially on a 5 speed! The only silver lining was the first and 2nd gen honda fits were super reliable and the 1st gen especially was very well made in the japan factory.
Honda just did everything they could to advertise as high a mpg number on the sticker they could because nissan/ford/chevy/toyota all had them beat in fuel economy because the fit’s engine was so out dated.
the veloster has 7 gears and its a dct so there is almost zero loss of power between shifts.
Lotta words there…and not quite sure I understand your point.
I put ~150k miles on a 1st Gen and you are correct it has basically 2 ODs in that transmission. I put probably 700mi on that Veloster rental and the shifts were not quick nor maintained power. Also, since you love overdrive gears, that 7DCT had 3 of them. In 138hp car.
When your final drive is 4.7 you’re gonna want tall-ish gears.
I have a 2023 Rio and the owners manual says to change the transmission fluid at 100k miles, 50k if used as a taxi.
The “IVT” is the main transmission in most of their volume small car offerings – from Venue to 2.0L Elantra, Forte/K4, Kona, Seltos, Soul. I had one in a Forte rental a few years ago and actually liked it about as much as the 2.0/CVT Civic powertrain, even in “smart” mode that I expected to bog it down. I feel like I haven’t seen widespread complaints over CVT durability like the rep other brands gained, but maybe they all just got lifted with USB cords before anyone could find out (kidding but a lot of those models were also the immobilizer-less).
Just make it all electric already. These 8-9-10 speed transmissions and turbo engines with their flat torque curves are trying to simulate an electric motor. Skip the complexity and keep it fairly simple.
I much prefer my single clutch transmissions. Of course, they are operated by my left foot and right hand, so software isn’t much of an issue.
I rode in a friend’s 2025 Santa Fe and the DCT is fine, but it is not smooth coming from a stop. My parent’s 2025 Santa Cruz is the same – fine, but not smooth. I agree with there being zero reason these vehicles should have DCTs, and I suspect the long-term reliability will show that to be true.
As I’ve said, my wife drives a 2022 Kia Sorento that has the 2.5T + DCT combo. I have to agree the regular auto is probably better for these cars.
On the other hand, it rips and she hasn’t complained about the DCT. She is *not* a car person either. I know some people had issues and we did take it in for the recall to update programming but we never had a problem before or since. They told us ours was not among those affected but they updated the software anyhow. I didn’t notice a difference.
Coulda had a Jatco.
Skull ????
I don’t understand this application. It feels like something you get working backwards from wanting to market your products as having a DCT.
Automatic transmission torque converter creep is a feature that people actually like?!?
I always thought of as an annoying thing to work around.
I like it in traffic.
I certainly consider it a bug, not a feature. And I find it infuriating when transmissions that don’t have it simulate it.
Twice I have seen drivers stop their Prius, start talking to somone for a couple minutes, get out of the car, and after a minute or so the ICE starts up and the Prius drives off on its own. One time it was in front of my house after an accident where another car had gone off the road, and then a Prius driver was talking to a Highway Patrol officer who asked the driver to get out of the car. I guess the guy was a little rattled and forgot the car was not turned off. The car drove itself across the road, missing oncoming traffic and about 20 feet into an almond orchard until it bumped into a tree.
The other time a Prius almost backed over someone getting out of the car.
I shouldn’t find this funny, but I do. I also find it very odd that a Prius would not creep forward with the ICE off but will when it is on. Based on how the motor-generator system works this must be intentional, but why? I would think it would either always creep forward, since most people are accustomed to that in an auto, or never, since it doesn’t need to and that would probably improve efficiency slightly.
I suspect there’s some sort of regulatory defined behavior since as far as I know there isn’t any way for the transmission to be in neutral but not park. Or if there is it’s not obvious.
The ICE self starting for the AC or whatever probably wasn’t anticipated if it is a regulatory issue.
The shift knob and button on the Prius doesn’t make much sense either logically or mimicking something else. For example, what’s the point of of having a knob that returns to center when you let go rather staying put to visually indicate what state it’s in?
Yeah, I know some manual transmissions don’t give you any indication either, but they don’t engage on their own either. The downshift when you mean to upshift or skipping two gears might blow your engine up but probably not kill anyone.
The only thing other than pickup drivers getting unhinged if I pass them that bothers me about the Prius is the stupid center console. There’s no reason for it to be there other than to collect clutter and have the fake shifter joystick,
There’s a hold button on the Gen 5, and, if you leave it running, it will ask you if you want it to turn off automatically after an hour. Never had one take off by itself, though.
Yikes! You would think the thing would be smart enough to automatically engage Park.
My sainted Mother had a Prius-V for a decade, I am still shocked she managed to figure out how the thing worked, LOL. She’s not good with anything technical. I was trying to explain the button operated cruise control on her Soul yesterday, it was an adventure.
Huh. Now I’m going to have to check if my Prius creeps when the ICE is off. I’ve never actually noticed. I guess that means I wouldn’t need faux-creep feature in full EVs.
My Prius creeps when you first turn it on.
It creeps less vigorously if you have been driving and come to a stop.
If you are stopped on an incline, on the shoulder of a highway with the front wheels pointed toward the highway, for example, the creep is insufficient to overcome the incline until it isn’t.
Gravel surfaces also impede the creepiness.
In San Francisco, the creepiness is no match for the hills.
Good, but I feel like they might as well go hybrid-only on this car. It’s a good system.
Also, this is a really good idea to get the DCT out of the Santa Cruz. The owner of the dealer I bought my Santa Fe from had the turbo Santa Cruz and has blown multiple DCTs already on modest trails.
I believe it was the Acura ILX not the TLX that had a DCT.
And for god knows what reason I believe Honda only used it in that car and then put it out to pasture. It would’ve been great in the Integra and ADX but instead they’re stuck with miserable CVTs. I’d even say it would be cool to have it as an option in the performance Civics but Honda and the JDM bros would consider that a crime worthy of The Hague…
I’ve had similar thoughts about that unfortunate dead end, I feel like more Honda/Acura customers would appreciate the shifting of a DCT, and beefed up would’ve given them an option to make auto Si/TypeRs, sacrilege I know but I’m all for selling more fun cars in any form at this point.
Wilson preselector boxes, think turbohydramatic with a clutch instead of a torque converter, always seemed like a good idea.
It’s an interesting blip in Honda’s history, but I’ll bet it died because of the shift to turbocharged engines. IIIRC the 8DCT was limited to only about 270Nm torque and that wasn’t nearly enough for the 2-liter four.
Honda has a deep history of producing DCTs, but most of them are for motorcycles.
It is enough for that 1.5 liter though, I guess they just went with a shitty CVT because it was sitting there ready to go. They’d never offer it in a performance Civic though. Those cars have always been manual only and it’s part of the allure.
Honda knows what they’re good at, and one of the things they’re good at is making excellent but still affordable manuals…and if you go on any thread, comment section, etc. related to a hot compact with a DCT you’ll literally always find an SI or CTR owner bragging about how their cars are what the skilled driver’s choose and the car that’s being talked about is for sad poser babies.
Good mention, both the ILX and the 2.4-liter TLX got Acura’s eight-speed DCT.
I always forget about the 2.4 TLX being a thing.
As one of our resident DCT apologists (there at least like 3 or 4 of us in the world, I think) allow me put this as simply as possible: GOOD
DCTs are dead technology walking. There is absolutely 0 reason to use them outside of sporty cars. The two advantages they give you (one of which is subjective, your mileage may vary) are they make the car faster and they’re more engaging to play around with than a regular automatic with flappy paddles because when you really get on them the shifts reverberate through the whole car similar to a manual.
There is absolutely 0 reason to put them in commuter cars or family haulers. They are very rough in bumper to bumper traffic and parking situations and they’re both more complex and less reliable than regular old torque converter autos and even the newer planetary ones like the ZFs or the Ford/GM 10 speed. It was really fucking stupid that Hyundai put them in the Santa Fe and Santa Cruz.
When is the average soccer mom or Ute enjoyer going to want to bang shifts off redline or go to a track day? Never…so why are you saddling them with a less reliable, rougher transmission that they’ll never reap the benefits of? When you’re at low speeds and a DCT decides to be grumpy (which is often because they need to warm up) it’s like riding in the car with someone who’s learning to drive stick.
With that out of the way, when they beef this transmission up and program it for use in the N cars it’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve certainly been critical of Hyundai as a manufacturer and critical of my own Hyundai product, but the N DCT is the best automatic this side of PDK and the ZF8. It’s that good.
And before the VAG fanboys go BUT MUH DSG IS GOD’S OWN TRANSMISSION please take an N out for a test drive. I owned a DSG GTI and have driven a DSG MK7 Golf R. It’s a great transmission, but the Hyundai one runs laps around it. The shifts are faster, the kick down is faster, it’s not as antsy to get you to the highest gear for efficiency, and when you take control it gives it to you.
You can bang it off redline to your heart’s content and it’ll give you monkey brain downshifts without complaining. With the sporty Golfs you’re not doing that without a tune. Trust me, I’ve tried it.
I think automakers began to put them in to meet the rising eco requirements, as those promised some fuel savings over the regular automatic at the time. As complementary bonuses to those savings came unpredictable jerkiness, rolling back on an incline and a sudden failure on a busy highway before 20k miles (personal experience with Golf Mk6). So – yeah, you can have that on a racecar, I’ll have a traditional slushbox thx.
I’ve only driven two vehicles with DCTs. A VW Jetta and a Ford Escape. I disliked both. As Thomas notes, creeping is not their forte.
Side note: My mind always misreads the author’s name as “Thomas Hyundai.” Sorry.
I do too, but if he were Thomas Hyundai this site would be much more lux.
Not sure about more lux.. but definitely more fires and engines with inspection ports.
Then he should dress up as the Noid with a big N on his shirt.
Micro-review: My rental this week is a
HundalHyundai Venue with a CVT. I am not qualified to comment about Hyundai fires or inspection ports, but the cabin is nice enough and well-equipped. It’s also quieter than my ’17 Accord despite having a firmer ride. It would be a better venue with softer, longer-travel suspension a la the French.I don’t Hoon rentals, so I really don’t know how it handles. Especially with my 89-year-old mom riding shotgun to medical appointments.
The rental only has ~2500 miles on it and I can’t predict how it will hold up as the miles add up. At night, I was impressed with its low-beam headlights, but the high-beams were only slightly more powerful.
And the cargo capacity with the back seats up, barely holds a Samsonite Pullman and a Swiss+Gear backpack.
Sorry, I haven’t had time to evaluate the audio system with all the suggestions submitted to The Bishop’s article.
The Ford Focus or Fiesta had the DCT, the Escape only ever had a conventional planetary automatic transmission or E-CVT
Maybe it was a rental Focus… it’s been a while.
I haven’t been in a Fiesta since 1979, and it was a stick.
I drove both the ford focus and fiesta when they had dcts. It was really bad. I don’t know how ford even let that transmission make it to production. The cars would stutter and shake from a stop, the transmission would get super confused when trying to accelerate quickly from a slow roll, and the shifts were not smooth at all.
Yes! I had one as a rental in Vegas, I was actually a little excited because I really liked the look of the Focus. Driving that thing for a day cured me of that, the car only had a few thousand K on it, and the trans was jerky and clunky.
The design of a DCT would seem to make creeping more or less impossible. Now I need to go read how they get around moving more slowly than the engine can run.
Just Googled it, what a shit show, not what I was expecting at all.
All sorts of edge cases that I hadn’t thought of because apparently the brake also disengages the clutch. Sometimes or always ?
A Wilson or Cotal seems much more well designed. Or that tiger tank transmission. 3 gears, three clutches, 8 speeds.
It would make me so happy if someone named “HyundaiDCTFANatic” stepped up to defend the DCT.
The brothers at CarConfections bought one and Hyundai bought it back within a few months. The guys were polite about the whole affair but it’s nice to be a well read reviewer.
The 1.6t/DCT combo is excellent but not in an application like this. As Thomas pointed out, DCT’s are finicky and don’t suffer poor maintenance and driving habits gladly. Mine is too new to speak to its longevity but it’s properly fun to drive and I went into my purchase knowing that “lifetime transmission fluid” is not a thing with DCTs. A lot of people don’t.
Is this a wet or dry clutch? For a dry clutch I would expect the trans fluid to actually last longer than a conventional auto, since the transmission part is essentially a manual, with no friction material particles in the fluid and lower operating temps. I do agree they don’t tolerate some driving styles and like sharper inputs.
Mine is the 7-speed, which is a dry clutch. The 8-speed is a wet clutch. The DCT is okay in traffic (I keep auto-hold engaged to stop myself from inadvertently creeping) but it lives to play.
You want to change DCT fluid at 45-60k miles-ish depending on your driving and the transmission. If you don’t you’re asking for trouble. For nerds like us it’s no big deal. For the average Santa Fe buyer it absolutely is.
Exactly. Plus at 45-60k miles a lot of cars are on the second owner, who is probably even more likely to balk at a relatively aggressive maintenance schedule. I’d never buy a DCT-equipped car used if I wasn’t sure I was getting it from someone who was as big a car geek as I am.
A heavier vehicle with a smaller engine that does a lot of city driving seems like exactly the wrong application for a DCT. I’m sure it made sense at the time somehow.
It was strange that they even kept trying to make the DCT happen again after issues and complaints in different models over the years. Seems like they were trying to use up a bunch of stock. The Sorento supposedly hangs on to it, but 2026 updates haven’t been announced so that could change.
I like a good DCT. The problem is that Hyundai doesn’t make one.
Yep, VW and Porsche are still at the top of the dual clutch club.
Aren’t they all ZF transmissions?
I have no idea, and I won’t pretend I know what I’m talking about.
I just know I love my GTI’s DCT.
Hyundai makes its own DCTs (Hyundai Transys). The one in my Mini is made by Getrag.
They absolutely do, it’s just only programmed correctly in the N cars.
The problem with the DCT in the 2024 model was that people were just overdoing in. They’d be out in public, see someone they knew, then try to get out of there before the person saw the car. Hopefully the blur upon departure would just leave them guessing, but the “Hyundai” name on it inevitably made people think it was some kind of shipping container. And you were a weird hippie making your family live inside one.
OK, I’m biased as someone partial to the previous generation, and also possessing eyeballs, but this seems like a good move considering how much of a cointoss that DCT was. It always felt like overkill — that 2.5t could really scoot, but the chassis wasn’t ready for it.