What the Heck Does PDK Stand for, Anyway?

Porsche Dopplegndfka;… Porsche Dopplegeplungskjf;e… PDK is one of those fun, terrifically over-lettered words that only the Germans could have come up with. But what does it mean?

According to this reassuringly German man, it just means Porsche double-clutch transmission.

“Well, why the heck did it need to be so complicated, then?” I feel your frustration. It’s because of a fun little quirk of German that allows nouns to be strung together like beads on a rosary to make wildly long nonsense words as this fun little video shows.

But you didn’t come here for a language lesson. Unless you did. In which case you’re lost.

The Porsche Doppelkupplunge;wrklg;shjfrjfr started, as things often do, in racing. The transmission was developed for the Porsche 956, which competed at Le Mans in 1983.

Why two clutches? Because they’re used on alternating gears. One clutch for odd number gears, the other for evens. So torque can be applied to one clutch while it’s being disconnected from the other, allowing for lightning-quick gear changes.

PDK’s first on-road application of the PDK came in the mid-2000s with the 997, but double-clutch gearboxes have been used frequently across the whole VW group, with everything from the Golf R32 (the first DCT road car) to the Audi R8.

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