Well I had an hour and a half with the car (about 65 mins driving) and I can conclude that as clever as it is, I really don't like DSG at all. If you could only get a GTI/GTD with DSG I wouldn't buy one. I felt so detached from the car at times, even using the paddles. I think sometimes it's too smooth for it's own good - a few times I was unaware the gear change had actually happened, it is that smooth (which sounds like a good point but paddling it is a bad point because you might end up putting it up 2 gears as a result!). I found it most enjoyable forgetting about the changes and sticking it in "D" on "Normal" setting so the car wasn't leaving itself in 5th maintaining 80mph on the dual carriageway (as it did in "Sport" when I had a brief go in sport).
Anyway, DSG rant over, the GTD is noticeably sharper and smoother in it's ride than my Scirocco 170TDI. The performance feels less exciting though because it is so smooth even when you really put your foot down, although it is quicker than the Scirocco on the 50-80 climb by a margin. The car had Dynaudio but on the move I didn't appreciate any great benefit with my MP3s (320kbps bitrate - I came prepared with an SD card) so I can't say it was money well spent IMO.
The "Sport" ACC/DCC setting is smoother than my Scirocco, but not sure whether the car as a whole is a lot smoother anyway, but it was a good comparison between Scirocco with ACC "Sport" setting and GTD with ACC "Sport" setting. "Normal" ACC mode seemed very rough and fidgety, like the system was trying too hard to adjust all the time.
I suppose it is not so much of an issue with a manual, but with DSG and the car in "Sport" is a pain in the arse if you don't like the way it changes the gearbox change up/down profile, so it is really handy that you can do a custom setting where you can specify normal DSG mode but "Sport" for steering and ACC. On a manual I will probably just stick it in "Sport" as I will be in charge of my own gear changes.
The cabin is a great place to be, noticeably nicer than my Scirocco.
To get a good feel for fuel economy I didn't use the cruise system or the aircon (although when I got the car it was just under 20C, so having normal blowers on without aircon was fine anyway). Fuel economy was a little disappointing for a TDI. On the journey I took and the way I drove, I got 50.3mpg. In the Scirocco, driving it the same way, but using the aircon I would've been an easy 56mpg. Figuring 10% fuel penalty for having DSG (the official figures between manual and DSG support this) it would seem as if a manual GTD will do the same as my Scirocco does right now. It'll still be all tight etc with less than 700 miles on the clock, but i've never noticed an appreciable difference on economy after running in with my 6 VWs I had from new.
My journey was some moderate acceleration between Sunderland and Cleadon/Boldon up to Testos roundabout doing 30/40/50mph on those roads. As soon as I got on the A19 it was maintaining 80mph for the 28ish miles of dual carriageway down to Hartlepool (less if a slower car got in front to briefly overtake a lorry or caravan), then a few miles into Hartlepool Headland, stopping at the Heugh/Middleton pier for a few pics (my camera battery died after 3 shots!
). Probably 4 times on the journey when i'd been stuck behind someone doing 55-60mph who moved out of the way on the A19 I buried the accelerator to get straight back up to 80mph.
I did pretty much the same on the way back, but drove it a little harder when a Black Astra SRI was right up the back end on a stretch where we'd dropped to 60mph. When the car in front was out of the way I left the Astra for dead.
The engine seems capable of amazing economy when you're sitting at 50/60mph, but use of the throttle seems to have a far bigger negative effect on the economy than any previous TDI i've had. 50 miles into my round trip I didn't expect to see a 3mpg drop for the trip for 1 50-80mph stint of heavy acceleration requiring 2 miles of cruising to allow it to recover.
Anyway, what I think i'm saying is don't expect miracles from MK7s for fuel economy - the new amazing figures seem unbelievable because they are.
Despite it being a little rough around the edges and lower output, I think the Scirocco is a more entertaining drive (but only just) - maybe that was the DSG frustration kicking in.
Pics:-
At least i've assured myself that Red is the right colour for me (even if the pics aren't great due to a lack of wax on the demo car).
