Help!!! DSG or manual??!!!!

[gizzywizzy]

Wow, you spend ten grand on Petrol? 
[/quote]

Ha ha ha 

[howlingmoon]

Whatever it is, I love my manual... the play with the clutch and gear is the BEST!! I like to have an interaction with the car when I drive. The paddles will never give me that same pleasure... But since i have this foot injury, I realise how nice it is to have a DSG... since I have not driven for the past 3 weeks, sigh... But we cant have it all. So my advice, follow your heart... because without the heart, the brain cant live... ha ha ha

[keelaw]

I think the DSG is the best auto box ever and 90% of the time its great.

But if you like spirited driving then it has to be a manual.

That 10% of the time I mention I feel that the dsg is too keen to kick down, or too keen to change up which dulls the power. Sport mode is lively, but holds the revs a little too long. Manual is good, but now and again it can react funny with a slight unexpected delay, esp at roundabouts and junctions. Its good but not perfect, it might "learn" my drivng style though...

On the flip side it is extremely relaxing, smooth and great for my wife.

[R32UK]

I think the DSG is the best auto box ever and 90% of the time its great.

But if you like spirited driving then it has to be a manual.

I think that says it all 

If your only paying 90% of the price then its ok... otherwise its a waste of mulllar.
Not to mention the dsg service thats required and then the issues some have had

[Rolfe]

I've only had manual cars all my life, but went for the DSG this time.

I don't reckon I've got anything to prove, I can drive a manual, end of story.  I hadn't thought about the DSG until my test drive, and the demo car was a DSG.  Afterwards, the cogs started turning, and I thought about it, and thought about it, and as I had also realised that I didn't like the leather as much as I thought I would, I decided to spec the DSG instead of the leather.

I like being able to keep my hands on the wheel and let the car look after the gear changing.  Most of the time, it's doing a better job than I would (goes to 5 to climb hills I'd just have left my manual in 6th for, stuff like that).  I'm still grabbing for the stick and feeling for a clutch sometimes, but I hope to get over that soon.  I've not got in the habit of using the paddles occasinally when I can see stuff ahead the car can't, but again, I hope to form new habits soon.

I haven't seriously tried driving it in manual, and I haven't tried sport mode, so not knowing, cannot say.

The place I notice the difference, which isn't what other people were talking about, was the effect at slow and very slow speeds.  Not having a clutch to let in gently seems weird, and the ride can be a little more jerky as a result.  However, I'm not sure that isn't largely an effect of not knowing when the gear change is going to happen.  Someone else spoke about reversing into a narrow garage with a step up.  My own garage is on the flat (not so great, it sometimes floods), so I don't have that problem, but I can understand the problem.  Situations where you'd ride the clutch and use the clutch to control a very slow speed, don't work the same way.

This hasn't caused me any problem so far though, and in general, I'm a fan.

Rolfe.

[orca]

DSG - you either love it or hate it.  I had driven manual cars all my life too and decided to give the DSG a try.  I love it and drive it in manual mode for 95% of the time.  I only have it in automatic mode for town/heavy traffic. It can feel a bit computer game like at times but that adds to the appeal.  You just put your foot down and press them paddles.

There are times when it can be a pain though.  When I floor it in 1st/2nd, sometimes it changes up for me just as I press the paddle to change up resulting in a two gear change.  You have to time it very carefully in 1st and 2nd to avoid this.

[Saint Steve]

This has been covered a zillion times already, most people will groan at seeing this again.

Have a read through this, there's nearly 40 pages of total sh!t.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=122285.0

FFS what is your problem!!!, the guy is new to the forum and you slate the poor bloke when he comes in!!!.
Perhaps its better to say try looking in the search tab  (top of the screen) without offending a new member with your choice of words fella.

[Rolfe]

Well, it's not unreasonable to point out that a subject has been covered in previous threads.  And maybe explain why some long-time posters might be a bit unkeen on going over it all already.  And digging up and providing a link is hardly unhelpful.

And I note the thread progresses regardless.

If we're all supremely lucky, the people with entrenched ideas who either know that anything with a DSG is a taxi and no self-respecting driver would be seen dead in something that doesn't "engage" (whatever that means), or know that the manual gearchange is only for poverty-spec shopping trollies and anything with any bling will have a DSG, will stay away this time and let some actual insights emerge.

Rolfe.

[orca]

It doesn't help anyone when people have strong views for/against something that they have only experienced say on a test drive for an hour or two.

With DSG in this case, it takes a good month or so to get used to its behaviour.

I love driving.  Manual or DSG.

[Rolfe]

Oh, I bought the DSG after a test drive of only 15 minutes or so that didn't get out of a biult-up area!  And I wasn't even thinking about it when I had the test drive.

I've had it 5 weeks and I'm not really used to it yet - there are features I've not really used - but I still think it's the coolest thing on wheels!

I've driven manual cars for pushing 40 years.  I don't have to prove anything to anybody.  I like new technology when it works, and this seems to.  I wouldn't try to persuade anyone who preferred a manual that they're wrong though - it's definitely a matter of personal preference, and there's a reason VW offer it as an option.

What does surprise me is the level of scorn and derision.  I don't see people being scorned for choosing a 5-door, or metallic paint, or a sunroof, or a particular stereo or phone option.  I haven't even seen anyone being scorned for getting the parking sensors or the Park Assist, though for goodness sake, if you can't park a car without the computer doing it for you, get back in your dodgem!

And yet, the scorn poured on the DSG from certain quarters is vitriolic.  The first thing said to me when I raised the possibility that I might be considering the DSG was, "why, I thought you wanted a fun car!"  You'd think I'd just suggested getting a low-spec Fiesta or something.  Why?  Why scorn an automatic clutch and not a computer that takes over your steering and parks the thing for you?

Is it some sort of macho thing that's threatened if anyone suggests that ability to throw a gearstick around might not be the be-all and end-all of driving a car?

Rolfe.