I want to talk transmissions and what we can expect in the near future for mainstream automotive shifting. Now most "in the know" have seen the increase of popularity auto-shift transmissions. These shiftable automatics go by many names. BMW calls it Steptronic, Dodge is Manumatic and Porsche has Tiptronic.

In a nutshell, these are "shift-on the fly" automatic transmissions and an added feature that most either don't use or don't know how to use. As much as people think of these transmissions are so different, they aren't. These transmissions still utilize a torque converter like any other automatic.

Now for the wave of the future. Our friends at Mitsubishi have decided to step into something VW has already released in the states. I give you the The Twin Clutch SST (sport-shift transmission). The SST makes use of two clutches in place of a traditional automatic transmission's torque converter. The result is faster, smoother gear changes, similar to those experienced with manual transmissions.

There are six odd and even gears on separate input shafts, each connected to an individual clutch. This enables the next gear in series to be "pre-engaged." The system is similar to the Volkswagen Direct Shift Gearbox system. The clutches are activated for gear shifts through electronics, either automatically or at the driver's command.

I had the opportunity to drive a VW Golf equipped with the DSG transmission recently and was thoroughly impressed. Like most gearheads, I always thought nothing came close to the experience or response of a standard transmission until I realized I can't shift as fast as a computer. Welcome to the new school my friends, and many are sure to follow.

Brief history of the "semi-automatic" transmission: Porsche was behind the racing industries semi-auto shifters (think F1 cars) but it has also been around the retail market for decades, mostly in Europe.

The first semi-automatic transmission which was marketed by a major manufacturer was the 1941 M4 Vacamatic Transmission by Chrysler. It was an attempt to compete against rival's automatic transmissions The transmission still had a clutch, primarily to change range. In normal driving, the clutch is not used.

Citron is the manufacturer that committed to the semi-automatic transmission. First appearing in 1955 on the Citron DS, a hydraulic system was used to select gears and operate the conventional clutch using hydraulic servos. This was an awesome accomplishment being done before the evolution of on-board computer systems.

Happy motoring.

(Lance Lambert is The Star's digital advertising consultant for automotive and resident "motorhead". His blog can be found at blogs.venturacountystar.com/vcs/motorhead. His e-mail address is llambert@VenturaCountyStar.com.)