DCT Standalone Drivers

Applies to: Standalone controller only. What this means

Overview

The DCT standalone drivers run a dual-clutch transmission directly from a standalone transmission controller (direct controller) — there is no factory TCU involved. The driver operates the gearbox hardware itself: line pressure, both clutch pressures, the gear selector forks, preselection on the inactive shaft, and the clutch cooling valves. It provides full automatic and manual shifting, creep, launch control, and a self-learning adaptation system.

All dual-clutch gearboxes share one control strategy, so every driver in the family has the same settings, maps and behaviour — this page documents them once. Pick the driver matching your gearbox; the solenoid and sensor wiring is fixed per driver.

The features shared with the other drivers are described once and linked from here: Engine torque estimation · Fuel & injector model · Shift torque management. For keeping a factory TCU instead, see the BMW OEM Gateway — the opposite approach.

Supported transmissions

Driver Transmission Notes
DQ250 VAG DQ250 Wiring
DQ500 VAG DQ500 Wiring
DL501 Audi DL501
DL800 Audi DL800 Parking-lock control and a second clutch-cooling output
DKG BMW GS7D36SG (DKG) Parking-lock engage output; Wiring · Cross table
6DCT470 Getrag 6DCT470
PDK Porsche 7DT45 (PDK) Wiring — not the same as the OEM PDK Gateway
TR9080 Tremec TR-9080 Parking-lock control
NSX Honda NSX DCT ⚠️ Being withdrawn. The driver still exists and will be removed in a coming release — do not start a new build around it. See Stated limitations

Prerequisites & hardware

  • A standalone transmission controller wired to the transmission's solenoids and sensors — see the standalone pinout and the wiring page for your gearbox above. Sensor/solenoid assignments are fixed by the driver.
  • The mandatory engine signals from the ECU (CAN or pins) — see Inputs.
  • A shifter — sequential lever, paddles, an OEM selector, or a PRND switch — see Shifter configuration.
  • Transmission oil at a healthy level and pressure: the driver controls pressures, it cannot compensate for a worn pump or clutch.
  • BAT+/KL30 supplied through a time-delay-off relay, held about 60 seconds after the ignition drops. These drivers learn adaptations, and the controller writes them after KL15 goes away — cut the supply at the same moment and they are corrupted rather than merely stale. Wiring KL30 to permanent battery instead flattens the vehicle battery, because the controller has no low-power sleep mode. See Adaptation data lost when the supply drops with the ignition.

Add it in the app

  1. On a standalone-controller configuration, add the driver for your gearbox.
  2. Assign the mandatory inputs and your shifter triggers.
  3. Check the gear definition — ratios must be filled, non-zero and decreasing gear over gear.
  4. Choose a Torque calculation method and provide what it needs.
  5. Review the maps — the drivers ship with working base maps for their gearbox; start from those, not from empty tables.
  6. Route the outputs you need — everything is optional.
  7. Run the adaptation before the first drive.

Inputs

Engine signals

Signal Unit Required Notes
Engine RPM 1/min Assign it Current firmware reads engine speed from the gearbox's own input-shaft sensor; keep the input assigned for compatibility
Throttle position % Yes
Pedal position % Yes
Manifold pressure kPa Yes
Engine torque Nm With ECU Reported Torque The ECU's torque broadcast — see torque methods
Atmospheric pressure kPa No Used by the calculation methods
Intake air temperature °C No Used by the calculation methods
Lambda λ No Used with the Lambda efficiency map
Injector signals — With fuel methods Pulse width, dead time, fuel pressure/temperature/flex — see Fuel & injector model

Chassis signals

Signal Unit Required Notes
Brake switch on/off Yes Gates creep, takeup, mode changes and launch
Vehicle speed km/h No Used by takeup and safety logic; road speed is otherwise calculated from the output shaft
IMU inclination ° No Enables the hill-hold takeup correction map

Shifter and driving controls

The shifter triggers are individual on/off inputs; which ones you need depends on your shifter type. How each trigger changes the transmission mode is defined in the Gearbox mode map (with a matching safety-interlock map — e.g. brake required to leave neutral). The shifter pages cover the wiring and the mode table in detail: Sequential shifter · Paddles · OEM shifter · Analog PRND.

Signal Notes
Drive / Reverse / Neutral / Park / Manual Mode requests
Shifter up / down Gear commands from the lever
Paddle up / down Gear commands from the paddles
Shifter unlock Unlock trigger for gated shifters
Clutch by wire Optional clutch-pedal input — the driver modulates the clutch to your foot
Transbrake enable / bump Launch-control arm and stage triggers
Force preselect up / down Manually force the inactive shaft's preselection

Outputs

All outputs are optional — route what your dash, logger or ECU needs.

Group Signals
Gear & mode Current gear · Current gear/park · Next gear · Target gear · Gearbox mode · Reverse light · Transmission temperature
Speeds & ratio Input shaft speed · Output shaft speed · Shaft A / B speed · Vehicle speed · Wheel RPM · Gear ratio · Upshift/Downshift RPM · Next gear RPM · Up/Down RPM limits
Clutch & shift Clutch slip A / B · Clutch pressure A / B · Clutch torque capacity · Takeup status · CL shift mode · CL target input speed · Fork A–D positions
ECU handshake Engine torque · Cut request · Blip request — see Shift torque management
Status Adaptation status · Adaptation gear · Overrev protection active / lock · Transbrake status
Variant-specific Park release / hold / engage, clutch B coolant (DL800; park engage also on DKG)

If the configuration is rejected at start-up, the Current gear output shows a numeric error code instead of a gear — check the fault list.

Parameters

Shift method

Parameter Meaning Options
Shift method How shift pressure is controlled Open loop — pressures and times come straight from the shift maps · Closed loop — the driver regulates to a target synchronisation rate and self-corrects

Open loop is simpler to understand and tune; closed loop gives consistent shifts across temperature and wear once the base maps are close.

Gears

Parameter Meaning
Start gear Gear engaged when Drive is selected
Min / Max gear Range the driver may use
Downshift min Lowest gear automatic downshifts may reach
Queue size up / down How many shift commands may queue
Start from first after stop Return to 1st when the car stops

Engine and torque

The torque estimation is shared — see Engine torque estimation. The standalone drivers support every method offered — including Measured Torque Tables, whose two tables are mandatory maps here.

Rev limiter, Cylinder count, Displacement are used as described on the common page; Compression ratio, Throttle diameter and Maximum MAP value are reserved in current firmware.

Cut & blip

See Shift torque management for the concept.

Parameter Meaning
Cut/blip mode Outputs — raise request outputs for the ECU · DBW Modifier — override the pedal signal directly (needs the PPS in/out wiring and its own maps)
Cut shape Static/Dynamic × Square/Triangle — how the cut is profiled
Cut ramp in Ramp applied when the cut engages
Cut idle / Blip idle Output levels when no cut/blip is active
Cut / Blip time limit Safety caps on the override duration (DBW Modifier)

Clutch takeup (pulling away)

Parameter Meaning
Takeup axis X / Y Axis sources for the takeup map — default pedal × RPM, or any custom input
Engine inertia 0 = derived from displacement and cylinder count; set manually only as an expert override
Fork movement strength Force used for fork movements

Clutch pressure control

Parameter Meaning
Pressure PID P / I / D Closed-loop clutch-pressure regulator gains

Microslip adaptation

Fine-tuning for the continuous slip-learning controller; 0 = built-in default, which suits most installations.

Parameter Default
Close threshold slip 60 RPM
Adapt trigger slip 30 RPM
Close-slip timeout 2000 ticks
Drive adopt period 1000 ticks
Deceleration lockout release 250 ticks
Slip-close duty step 16

Adaptation & safety

Parameter Meaning
Adaptation temperature low / high Oil-temperature window in which self-learning is allowed
Disable adaptation save Stops persisting learned values (diagnostics only)
VSS safety level 1 / 2 Vehicle-speed thresholds for the safety interlocks
Diff ratio / Wheel diameter Convert output-shaft speed to road speed

Gear definition

The Gear ratio map (ratio per gear, including reverse) is validated at start-up: a zero ratio or a ratio that does not decrease from gear to gear is a configuration fault and the driver will not start. The gear layout map (which shaft, selector fork and clutch serve each gear) ships preconfigured per gearbox — do not change it unless you know the box internals.

Maps summary

All maps are entered as described in Scaling and Maps. Maps marked (req) must be present — the drivers ship with base maps per gearbox, so in practice you tune them rather than create them.

Shifting behaviour

Map Axes Purpose
Gearbox mode map (req) trigger × mode Shifter state machine — see shifter pages
Gearbox safety map (req) trigger × mode Interlocks (brake, speed) required for each mode change
Upshift RPM Lo / Hi (req) gear × TPS Automatic upshift points, blended between the Lo and Hi map
Downshift RPM Lo / Hi (req) gear × TPS Automatic downshift points, blended
Up / Downshift RPM delay (req) gear × TPS Debounce before the auto-shift fires
Shift blending map (req) blend input (1D) Blend position between the Lo and Hi shift maps (e.g. by drive mode input)
Overrev protection (req) gear (1D) RPM above which a downshift into the gear is refused
Stall protection (req) gear (1D) RPM below which a forced downshift occurs
Cutoff RPM (req) gear × PPS Engine-cut reference used by clutch logic
Cut map (req) gear × torque Cut strength during upshifts
Blip map (req) gear × ΔRPM Blip strength during downshifts

Clutch pressure

Map Purpose
Clutch quick charge (req) Fast-fill pulse when a clutch starts filling
Clutch pressure mode (req) Pressure-control scheme per state
Clutch torque → pressure (req) Converts torque demand to clutch pressure
Clutch RPM → pressure (req) Pressure component from engine speed
Torque gradient correction (req) Compensation for fast torque changes

Shift tuning — open loop

Seven maps each for upshift and downshift (req): rise time, fall time, spread time, prefill pressure, prefill time, shift pressure, shift time.

Shift tuning — closed loop

Map Purpose
CL fall time (up/down) (req) Old-clutch release profile
CL target synchro rate (up/down) (req) Target engine-speed slew during the swap
CL prefill / shift pressure / ongoing rate corrections (upshift) Manual trims on top of the closed loop

Preselection

Map Purpose
Up / Downshift preselection limit (req) When the inactive shaft preselects the next gear
Up / Downshift preselection delay (req) Debounce for preselection
Disable force preselect below VSS (req) Speed below which forced preselection is ignored

Takeup

Map Purpose
Takeup RPM–PPS (req) Base takeup clutch behaviour vs pedal and RPM
Takeup torque–PPS Torque-based takeup component
Corrections by gear / inclination / temperature Optional takeup trims
Takeup strength Creep/takeup aggressiveness (closed loop)

Engine torque & fuel

The torque estimation maps — torque tables (req), drag maps, VE tables, lambda efficiency — and the fuel/injector tables when a fuel method or User defined fuel is used. With the DBW Modifier enabled, its cut/blip pedal tables are also required.

Adaptation

The transmission must learn its own hardware before it can shift well — fork end positions, line-pressure behaviour and the kiss point (touch point) of each clutch. Run the adaptation from the app:

  1. Car stationary, engine running at idle, transmission oil warm.
  2. Start the adaptation — the driver sequences automatically: sensor health check → fork end-stop learning per shaft → line-pressure learning → clutch kiss-point learning → selector position learning. Results are saved automatically when it completes; the Adaptation status / gear outputs show progress.
  3. If started with the engine off, the driver waits for the engine first.

Run it after installation, after transmission work (clutch pack, mechatronics, oil change) and when takeup or shift quality degrades noticeably.

Between shifts the driver keeps learning on its own: a background prober refines the inactive clutch's kiss point, and the microslip adaptation continuously trims clutch pressure while driving — both only inside the configured adaptation temperature window.

Safety features

  • Gear-ratio validation — refuses to start on zero or non-monotonic ratios.
  • Safety-interlock map — mode changes can require brake and speed conditions.
  • Overrev protection — refuses downshifts that would overrev the engine (status on the Overrev active/lock outputs).
  • Stall protection — forces a downshift when RPM falls too low for the gear.
  • Clutch slip watchdog — monitors both clutches for unexpected slip.

Troubleshooting

  • Current gear output shows a large number, transmission dead: the configuration was rejected — a mandatory input or map is missing, or the gear-ratio map contains a zero/non-decreasing ratio. Check the fault list; each fault names the offending item.
  • Harsh or shuddering takeup / creep: run the adaptation; verify oil temperature is inside the adaptation window and the takeup maps and corrections are sane.
  • Slow or flaring shifts (open loop): tune the up/downshift pressure and time maps for the reported oil temperature; consider Closed loop once base maps are close.
  • Engine jerks on shifts: the cut/blip execution is off — check the torque management setup (ECU-side handling or DBW Modifier tables) and the torque method feeding the driver.
  • Wrong shift points in auto mode: check the upshift/downshift RPM Lo/Hi maps and the shift blending input and map.
  • No reaction to the shifter: the mode map/safety map does not allow the transition — see the shifter pages.