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I’m trying to decide between a traditional automatic and a dual-clutch transmission for my next car, a hot hatch. I’ve only ever driven regular automatics, but everyone says the DCT is much faster and more engaging. I’m just worried it might feel jerky in daily traffic compared to what I’m used to.

I rented a hot hatch with that kind of gearbox for a weekend. In sport it felt sharp and alive, you could hear the engine begging for the next shift. In city traffic it surprised me a couple of times with a quick lurch when pulling away from a light. I still enjoyed it, but I left it in the normal auto mode most days.

My daily driver uses a traditional automatic, and it feels butter smooth in traffic. The other car with the fast gear changes wowed me on a back road, but I could easily imagine it being annoying in long gridlock. If you spend hours in stop and go, the smoother auto wins for me.

I went automatic, mostly because the city is never not busy. The quick shifts sounded cool, but the jerkiness at low speed was enough to put me off.

Do you actually care about the shift speed or is a quiet, smooth pull away more important to you in day to day driving?

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