News : Dual clutch for Roewe 550 and 750

Ash Sutcliffe

Exciting technology for Roewe 550 and 750
Exciting technology for Roewe 550 and 750

Dual clutch technology is a big thing for Volkswagen, who of course make cars with Shanghai Auto Industry Corporation in Shanghai, now SAIC is planning to put dual clutch technology into their own cars. It’s not clear who the supplying company will be for the gearbox or if SAIC have managed to develop the technology in house, SAIC will launch the new 750 (above) with the choice of the old 1.8T and 2.5V6 but a new 1.8T and 2.0T engine will launch shortly afterwards.

The new 750 is expected to break its cover at the Guangzhou auto show later this year in concept form only, but should be on show in Beijing next year, the 750 will be based on a stretched Epsilon II platform that SAIC have purchased from long term partner GM. SAIC is also working on a 1.0T and a 1.5T engines for the MG brand.

The Roewe 550 will be getting a makeover later this year with the introduction of a new six speed DCT gearbox and will also carry SAIC’s new self developed EPS system.

[Source: China Car Times]

Keith Adams

18 Comments

  1. Not sure if the pilot photo above is of a Roewe 550 or 750 (methinks 550?) but the front looks very like a Passat or PassatCC to me. I wonder if VW have any or much input into the designs of SAIC’s own cars?

  2. Dual clutch boxes are the biggest nonsense the car manufacturers have made since decades… VWs DSG boxes tend to break and cost an awful lot to repair/change. They weigh more than an equal geared manual box (which they are supposed to replace sometime) and don’t always save as much fuel, as the VW “propaganda” claims. If they were so good, VW and Audi would use them on the high powered engines like the V8s and V10/V12 TDIs but they don’t. Like BMW, MB and others, the good ‘ol torque converter is still “the best of the best”.

  3. Most modern cars have similarities in styling though, so it’s not surprising that it looks a bit VW, just like it looks a bit GM, overall i think headlamp shape looks a bit Ford.
    If say they have employed an ex-VW designer, then his or her work is always going to be influenced by what they did before, while VW may have had nothing do do with the product.
    It’s a bit like saying a painting by one of Leonardo’s students looks a bit like a painting by Leonardo, of course it would, but it doesn’t mean Leonardo had ever actually seen it.

    They could of course outsource the styling. Remember the Farina bodied Peugeots and Cambridge/Oxford, totally different cars but it was hard to tell them apart visually! I think Farina saw them coming!

  4. Yes… you put it over well Dennis. I’ve just bought a facelift MK2 Focus and its headlights look almost identical in shape to the above Roewe. For that matter, the Farina designed Cambridge, Oxford and Peugeot’s looked similar to some Fiat’s of that era.

  5. If they could fit a proper gearbox and the VW TDi in, they would have a winner in terms of fleets and Taxis.

    The spiritual successor to the Octavia?

  6. No, not yet.. but if the roomer mill’s correct the next Octy will be much more up market… Still, “up market” hasn’t stopped the cabbies buying superbs so no worried there I reckon.

    Personally, I see E-Class head lamps above, but with the gap filled in.

    DSG box technology isn’t thaaaaaaat bad lads. If it was then the warranty claims would soon turn the manufactures off the technology.

    That Said, I drove an A6 avant the other day with the Flappy Paddles and was left a bit unimpressed.. it wasn’t one thing or the other… After a few drives I just started leaving it in auto.

  7. I think the car looks like its from the chevy stable. but you would think the Chinese would be quite capable of making their own bodies by now. alex

  8. @Dr Bobby Love – If the DSG boxes are breaking outside of warranty then VW are not really going to give a stuff what it costs to fix.

    If these new SAIC motors are GM/VW based then they have little relevance on this site save for the fact that they may one day appear with an MG badge with barely any BL heritage or UK input.
    Even if there is significant UK input it still doesn’t make them any different than many other lesser known marques who have turned to Western engineering firms for expertise – Lotus, Porsche, Ricardo etc have all contributed to pacific rim cars without major acknowledgement.

  9. Several Rovers were effectively Honda based, does that mean they don’t have a place on here either?

    The Aston Martin Cygnet is basically a Toyota.

    The Jaguar S-Type is based on an North American Ford model.

    The X-Type is based on a US/German Ford Mondeo platform.

    The City Rover was almost entirely Tata, and fully assembled in India.

    The Saic vehicles are apparently based on a GM platform, but that can mean little more than the floorpan and suspension, the engine is still the Rover derived N-Series with their own body work and interior.

    Like it or not SAIC aka MG, have their own development centre at Longbrige.

  10. BSD

    DAMIEN (NO.2) – YOU ARE SO RIGHT!

    HERE IN ISRAEL,THE DSG SUFFERES FRO RATHER BAD REPUTATION.

    MANY GOLFS,PASSATA & AUDIS SUFFER FROM BAD RELIABILITY PROBLEMS.

    I HAVE READ IN ISRAELI CAR FORUMS OF VW’S IN WHICH THE DSG “LOST ITSELF” AFTER 20-30,000KM!

    THE STRANGE THING IS THAT SKODA OCTAVIAS 1.9 & 2/0 TDI’S EQUIPPED WITH DSG AND ARE USED AS TAXIS HERE IN ISRAEL HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH THE DSG EVEN AFTER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS!

    I KNOW A TAXI DRIVER WORKING IN THE CITY I LIVE IN THAT HAD A 2009 1.9 TDI OCTAVIA WITH DSG AND HAD MORE THAN 300,000 KM WITH NO PROBLEM WITH IT’S DSG.
    HOW COME? I HAVE NO CLUE…

    THE STRANGEST THING IN ISRAEL IS THAT VW’S & AUDIS MANY TIMES SUFFER FROM ALL KINDS OF ROBLEMS (MAINLY ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS),BUT THE SKODAS 9FABIA,OCTAVIA AND SUPERB-ALL VERSIONS FROM ALL YEARS!) ARE CONSIDERED “TROUBLE FREE”!
    CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN WHY & HOW!?

  11. @Dennis You miss my point (I think)

    Most of the Honda based Rovers had Rover input and were built & marketed by Rover (Rover also built Hondas and Honda built Rovers),

    The Jaguars were built here, partly-engineered here and marketed by Jaguar

    The AM Cygnet pretends to be nothing more than a tarted up Toyota for emissions purposes.

    I like and applaud the fact that SAIC employ UK talent but their link to the old BL is more & more tenuous as each new model is developed.

    Elswhere on this site you will read how Nissan took the A & B series engines and evolved them to a point where nothing was in common.

    I am not knocking SAIC/MG – just doubting the heritage

  12. Whatever the debate arrives at about the availability of DSG transmissions, I have to say that that Roewe is hardly an attractive looking design. As other contributors have already said, it seems to be derived from using a concotion of different styling cues from other manufacturers’ existing models, rather than looking like it was designed without compromise on a ‘clean sheet of paper’. Thank goodness it can’t wear a Rover badge!

  13. You can say that about just about ‘all’ modern cars though, they all share styling cues from here and there. The current Citroen C5 for example actually boasts about it! (the german car ad campaign)If a european manufacturer happens to share a styling cue with another european car, it’s ok, but if a chinese owned one does they’re making a bad job?!
    Someone once mad the observation on here that many modern cars has a an upside down version of the mk2 mini grille.

    I don’t think it looks bad, i mean it’s not a Fiat Multipla is it. But then it’s hard to tell from a photo of half a car, that is covered in camouflage with obvious prototype/disguise headlights. From what i can see it certainly looks a lot better than that Rover 55 thing which never happened.

  14. The Ford DSG is meant to be far more durable than the VW uniot – see Honest John at the telegraph. Meanwhile I still lament my Rover 25 Stepspeed. That was brilliant, only the DSG units seem to get close to it

  15. Well, I prefer Honda quality. VW always have technical problems. The ”old” L serie diesel is better than a VW diesel engine.

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