Last year I published a list of cars with direct injection, looks like Winding Road beat me to it and published a an updated list. I love direct injection engines because it’s one of those technologies that defy the fuel economy/horsepower tradeoff. Direct injection engines have better fuel economy and higher performance.

Their complete list is on their website and it’s amazing how large this list is. Just a few years ago, only Audi produced cars with this technology, now almost every brand is represented.

Dual clutch transmissions are one of the more exciting car technologies that have come in the past few years. Audi/VW was one of the first manufacturers to make this available on production cars available to normal consumers – the first car was actually the Bugatti Veyron. It’s been made on the VW Golf/Audi TT since their last generation – the cars share a similar platform.

Dual clutch transmissions offer all the fuel economy benefits of a manual tranmission while also allowing manual shifting via paddles or gearshift. Manual shifting does not use a clutch pedal. Moreover, these transmissions can be computer controlled for an “automatic” mode for customers that are used to automatic transmissions.

With automakers racing to reduce fleet-wide fuel economy numbers, all major automakers are rushing to put out these transmissions into their cars. Here’s a list of cars that are available right now with these gearboxes. Each company uses a different name for the gearbox.

BMW M-DCT (available in the M3) – Getrag 7DCI600
Bugatti Veyron – Made by BorgWarner
VW/Audi DSG (Jetta, Rabbit, TT) – BorgWarner
Audi DSG (S5) – BorgWarner
Mitsubishi SS-T (Evo X) – Getrag 6DCT470
Nissan (GTR) – BorgWarner
Porsche PDK (911) – ZF

Furthermore, the following car companies have announced efforts to put out dual clutch transmissions in the near future:
Chrysler – Getrag
Ford – Getrag (DirectShift)

My sister has begun shopping around for a new car. One of the priorities is to get power seats with a memory option so that its easier for her and her husband to share the car. Unfortunately after doing some research into the Japanese brands, none of them offer power seats with memory. Only two offer power seats and one with memory.

acura csx (same car as honda civic) $28,290-29,990
no power seats

honda civic $16,990-23,480 (not including Si model)
no power seats

mazda 3 $16,895-25,745
no power seats

mitsubishi lancer $16,598-22,998
no power seats

nissan sentra $16,798-24,298
no power seats

subaru impreza $20,695-23,195
no power seats

toyota corolla $14,565-23,210
power seats on the LE model

toyota matrix $15,705-26,775
no power seats

volkswagon jetta
power seats with memory on 2.0T model