How do you drive a DSG?

[Rolfe]

Why won't it let you select second to move off in, in snow?  That scuppered me a couple of times last winter.

We've had snow already, and the winter tyres don't go on for ten days....

Rolfe.

Just take your foot off the pedals and it starts off from a standstill itself, it was excellent in the snow last year.
Once you get going it is easy to select second and because there is no disruption in drive, unlike a manual, it just keeps driving 

I caught on to that after a bit, but it didn't always work.  Sometimes the snow was just too deep anyway I think.

I think there are different skills to driving a DSG, as the OP implies, and those of us schooled on manuals need to learn some different approaches to get the best out of the technology.

And winter tyres seem like a good idea too....

Rolfe.

[ErikGTI]

That is easy ....... you drive a GTI DSG by putting your foot down and grasp your steering wheel...isn't life simple..
Your only problem is getting to "feel" the amount of power you give it on the edge of wheelspin...

I am truly amazed that every "manual-lover" thinks he is the Stig.....because in 99 percent of the other cases you are the losing one against a traffic light sprint...

Besides it is really not 2010 if your soffisticated engine has to be controlled by a wannabee Schumacher fumbling with a stick in a pre-cut hole trying to get the exact moments right....

The comfort in daily use is.....a gift from heaven...
Do not forget you can still get your "feeling of control" by the paddle or stick...whatever makes you happy...

All those huge advantages at a moderate price......it is a no-brainer.....full stop (unless you are on a budget).... 

[The Doc]

Above +1 

[Ess_Three]

That is easy ....... you drive a GTI DSG by putting your foot down and grasp your steering wheel...isn't life simple..
Your only problem is getting to "feel" the amount of power you give it on the edge of wheelspin...

I am truly amazed that every "manual-lover" thinks he is the Stig.....because in 99 percent of the other cases you are the losing one against a traffic light sprint...

Besides it is really not 2010 if your soffisticated engine has to be controlled by a wannabee Schumacher fumbling with a stick in a pre-cut hole trying to get the exact moments right....

The comfort in daily use is.....a gift from heaven...
Do not forget you can still get your "feeling of control" by the paddle or stick...whatever makes you happy...

All those huge advantages at a moderate price......it is a no-brainer.....full stop (unless you are on a budget).... 

If getting away from the traffic lights 0.1 seconds quicker is your prime concern...go for your life. Order DSG, it's faster.
In fact, if saving 0.1 of a second is your prime concern, buy a faster car.
If however, you want to be involved...DSG doesn't cut in in the same way a manual does...if VW had even remotely trid to give the 'paddles' some feel in may have helped, but they didn't. It's just a micro-switch, much as you get on a PS3...and about as rewarding.

DSG may be faster off the line, may give better economy on paper, may be better in traffic...but it bores the tits off me, so as long as I have two arms and two legs that work, and the Government don't find a way of taxing involvement...I'll spec a manual. Hell, I'd pay the cost of DSG NOT to have it.

You don't have to be the stig to remember you are human...and to remember how to have fun in a car.
If more people were more aware of the car they were driving - by the car doing less for you - then maybe the driving standards would be higher!

...and you don't need to think about how much power to give it...XDS/TCS does that for you.
Modern cars are designed for the brain dead with little skill.

[R32UK]

^^^Agreed

no one questions the technology or its efficiency. it simply removes the fun from driving. you find that your right foot becomes proportional to your speed. when that speed doesnt come you are left wanting to be in a lower gear...  habit means you often forget that you can change down manually, but i would rather be in the correct gear in the first place

[ErikGTI]

...............0.1 second faster....I have just caught another Stig...

Modern cars for the brain dead...ahum...tell that to Schumacher...The gloriuos F1 has given us better cars each year....please go on...

If you are still driving a mind-boggling  Austin 7 with a manual you should be taken off the road....it is simply dangeroust in traffic...

[ErikGTI]

^^^Agreed

no one questions the technology or its efficiency. it simply removes the fun from driving. you find that your right foot becomes proportional to your speed. when that speed doesnt come you are left wanting to be in a lower gear...  habit means you often forget that you can change down manually, but i would rather be in the correct gear in the first place

Use the paddle or the stick...if you are not satisfied...."how can you forget if you are/become aware of that "disadvantage"....

[R32UK]

^^^Agreed

no one questions the technology or its efficiency. it simply removes the fun from driving. you find that your right foot becomes proportional to your speed. when that speed doesnt come you are left wanting to be in a lower gear...  habit means you often forget that you can change down manually, but i would rather be in the correct gear in the first place

Use the paddle or the stick...if you are not satisfied...."how can you forget if you are/become aware of that "disadvantage"....

... where are your paddles when you are going around a corner?? 

[Snoopy]

I have posted many time on another forum about my time with our mk5 GTI. I had access regular to another mk5 with DSG and regular drove the same routes. One week using one car the next week the other car or swopping daily. The DSG 3door was more or less fully loaded our mk5 5door was basic spec. I got bored in the DSG i may as well been in a 1.0 tin box auto or the bus. Hell i had more fun in a mk2 pandaSelecta CVT! I lost concentration in daily use to the point once or twice i scared myself, the padels felt cheap and nasty and just got bored of them. I loved getting back into the manual version and 90% of my driving was city traffic the lack of feel and in control i found with the DSG, snatchy starts or selecting the wrong gear at roundabouts started to really piss me off. Plus it avaraged 10% less mpg than i was getting in the manual. The way in snow it just sat there and its tyres went round and round were as our manual one got moving. (Never understood why the GTI never got that button the TDIsport DSG got to reduce torque and help in winter conditions) The way it decided if you were near the rev limit to change up for you if you were trying to have some fun with the padels.
Too many disadvantages and niggles for me to go for DSG this time, Some i granted are fixed by the revo map but you should not have to have this done it should be like that or better from the factory.
Oh and anyone that does traffic light races is just a knob.

[Ess_Three]

...............0.1 second faster....I have just caught another Stig...

Modern cars for the brain dead...ahum...tell that to Schumacher...

Schumacher wasn't the best example...he did little of note this year.
Modern cars insulate like never before...so people are less aware of the road conditions, other motorists or their speed = worse and worse driving standards.

The gloriuos F1 has given us better cars each year....please go on...

Are you seriously trying to tell me that there is any direct link between your FWD shopping car and an F1 machine?
Please, don't insult me.
Next you'll be trying to tell me your rear diffuser actually works and is not merely a work of fashion.

If you are still driving a mind-boggling  Austin 7 with a manual you should be taken off the road....it is simply dangeroust in traffic...

No, not at all...but I'm also not exactly driving a Golf either...I just get in and it goes where I point it with 10% effort.
There is little skill involved...