Patent ID: 7329205

Claim:
A drive train in a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine controlled via a load demand device and an automated-actuation twin-clutch transmission having a first and a second transmission input shaft, each of which is coupleable via a first and a second friction clutch to a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine, having at least one transmission output shaft and at least one first set of gear pairs engageable between the first transmission input shaft and the at least one transmission output shaft that has a first gear pair with a first starting gear ratio and at least one second set of gear pairs engageable between the second transmission input shaft and the at least one transmission output shaft that has a second gear pair with a starting gear ratio different than the first gear pair, wherein during a starting out operation of the motor vehicle in a first phase the first and the second gear pair are engaged between the transmission input shafts and the at least one transmission output shaft and both friction clutches are coupled to the internal combustion engine in a slipping state, and in a second phase one friction clutch is disengaged and the other is engaged, the acceleration of the motor vehicle in the first phase being estimated using at least one parameter that is directly derivable from the drive train and a decision being made using this estimate about which of the two starting gear ratios of the starting out operation is to be continued after completion of the first phase.