What have you done to your MK 7 today ?

[P6GTD]

I can’t get my head round drivers who don’t use the paddles.
I use them every day, both in town and (before Covid) on out of town driving.
Always a combo of D, S and manual paddles.
But that’s just me......

[Ryan90GTI]

Gave it a wash and topped up the Soft99 Authentic Premium wax coating.

Also, I recently purchased a GoPro so thought I'd stick it to the back of my car on the way home from work last night. Sounds alright to be fair... https://youtu.be/xNtUztNjDh0

[monkeyhanger]

I can’t get my head round drivers who don’t use the paddles.

I use them every day, both in town and (before Covid) on out of town driving.
Always a combo of D, S and manual paddles.
But that’s just me......

The worst thing about DSG and paddles for me is that unless you've slotted the stick over to the left for full manual mode, what you do with the paddles can be (and frequently is) overridden by the car deciding what gear to be in by how much throttle you've given it.

Just yesterday in my Polo GTI+ with 6 speed DSG, I was about to exit a 50mph average speed camera zone to 70mph. I want to accelerate in 3rd but I know that

1. if I mash the throttle, it'll drop me down to 2nd at 5700rpm with no torque for 500rpm and then into 3rd.

2. If I drop down to 3rd with the paddles and mash the throttle, it'll still drop me down to 2nd at 5700rpm with no torque for 500rpm and then into 3rd.

3. I need to slot the stick left and then drop down to 3rd with the paddles or stick and mash the throttle.

Option 3 is completely un-natural to do on the fly.

The only way to be sure that the car will behave as you want it to at all times is to run it in manual mode all the time.

DSG is sold on the "advantage" of fast gear selection. It's not quick to change gear, it's quick to switch clutches for a preselected gear.

I think DSG has a fundamental flaw. If you are in D mode, it's fair enough for the car to base gear changes on throttle response, but the moment you touch those paddles and go to M mode, the car should behave as in manual mode and the drivers paddle selection should be respected within self preservation parameters. You should only need to slot the stick over to use the stick to go up and down the gears. If the car operated like I just described, it would be so much better.

[monkeyhanger]

I fitted the black version of Watts paddles. Driven the car a couple of times, and they work really well. I was a little concerned at the angle of the upper parts, but they line up nicely with your finger ends when your hands are in a normal driving position. I’ve been trying to post a photo of mine above, but having trouble with imagur!

Here’s the link to my photo: https://imgur.com/a/QwbwPef

Just because they are so cheap, I might buy a set to see if they feel any better ergonomically than the ST2 copies. I'll definitely get bkack though. The ST2s definitely suit back better, I'd expect these to be the same.

[mcmaddy]

I fitted the black version of Watts paddles. Driven the car a couple of times, and they work really well. I was a little concerned at the angle of the upper parts, but they line up nicely with your finger ends when your hands are in a normal driving position. I’ve been trying to post a photo of mine above, but having trouble with imagur!

Here’s the link to my photo: https://imgur.com/a/QwbwPef

Just because they are so cheap, I might buy a set to see if they feel any better ergonomically than the ST2 copies. I'll definitely get bkack though. The ST2s definitely suit back better, I'd expect these to be the same.

I've just bought the black ones Matt 👍

[monkeyhanger]

I've just bought the black ones Matt 👍
[/quote]

So have I. Worst case I'll pass to my Dad if I prefer the ST2s.

Have you got your dashcam out in preparation for your TCR yet Chris? Only refitted the wife's earlier this week, 51 weeks after we took delivery of her car!

[dubber36]

I think DSG has a fundamental flaw. If you are in D mode, it's fair enough for the car to base gear changes on throttle response, but the moment you touch those paddles and go to M mode, the car should behave as in manual mode and the drivers paddle selection should be respected within self preservation parameters. You should only need to slot the stick over to use the stick to go up and down the gears. If the car operated like I just described, it would be so much better.

It will do that with one of the many gearbox remaps applied.

Personally, I am quite happy to leave mine in D and modulate gear selection with my right foot. To accelerate in 3rd, when a throttle mash would give you 2nd, ease the throttle open and it will do what you want it to.

[monkeyhanger]

I think DSG has a fundamental flaw. If you are in D mode, it's fair enough for the car to base gear changes on throttle response, but the moment you touch those paddles and go to M mode, the car should behave as in manual mode and the drivers paddle selection should be respected within self preservation parameters. You should only need to slot the stick over to use the stick to go up and down the gears. If the car operated like I just described, it would be so much better.

It will do that with one of the many gearbox remaps applied.

Personally, I am quite happy to leave mine in D and modulate gear selection with my right foot. To accelerate in 3rd, when a throttle mash would give you 2nd, ease the throttle open and it will do what you want it to.

It doesn't do what you want with throttle input only, you are compromising what you want to fit in with what the car would have you do. If I want to give it full throttle in 3tf, I can't do that with throttle modulation. Changing down to the top end of the rev range in 2nd momentarily when the torque has died off to then go to 3rd is a dumb decision by the gearbox. I have to counteract that by only giving 80% throttle - that's not doing what I want it to do.

No logical reason for VW to set up the car to ignore the drivers input if safety/self preservation parameters wouldn't be compromised. If my car is a keeper (and 21 months into ownership it would seem that way), i'll be seriously thinking about a DSG remap once the warranty is up.

[dubber36]

100% throttle mash won't give you any more power than an initial 80% then feed in the next 20% at the same rate as the torque would build as if you had mashed it.

An electric motor will give you instant 100% torque, but no ICE will do that. So it may seem like a compromise, but learning how to operate any machine efficiently to get the best from it is often the best way. That goes for wives too.

[monkeyhanger]

100% throttle mash won't give you any more power than an initial 80% then feed in the next 20% at the same rate as the torque would build as if you had mashed it.

An electric motor will give you instant 100% torque, but no ICE will do that. So it may seem like a compromise, but learning how to operate any machine efficiently to get the best from it is often the best way. That goes for wives too.

It's the unnecessary change to 2nd where there's nothing there at the top of the rev range that is my issue. The box is too dumb to realise that it's wasting time going into 2nd rather than straight into 3rd. The change up thresholds should be mapped intelligently to match the power and torque curves. If there's nothing above 5700rpm to give, why rev it out to 6200rpm before changing up?

Having to only give it 75% throttle to avoid it kicking all the way down to 2nd and then putting in the other 25% when you're beyond the threshold of 2nd gear is a massive compromise - you shouldn't have to think that hard about an overtaking manoeuvre because VW didn't have the good sense to respect the driver's paddle input and not override them. The paddles are effectively redundant in high throttle downshift situations unless you've slotted the stick to the left. If that's not a compromise then I don't know what is.