Just ordered a GTD in DSG, now worried

[Mark V GTD]

The only thing I didn't like, even in manual mode, is that if it thought it knew better it would select another gear e.g. at say 40 in 4th you want to accelerate using the torque of the engine and not change down to third, if the software thought that third was a better gear it would select it..

It should not do that if you have pushed the gearstick across in to the manual gate (unless the revs applid by the accelerater would damage the engine then it will change up to protect the engine). Sounds more like you were in 'manual over-ride' mode where you are still in 'D' but select a different gear using the paddles. The box will hold this gear for about 30 seconds but will revert back the the gear it prefers unless you select another within that time...

His only slightly negative, in Sport mode it tends to hold the gear longer than you might always want, but other than that - he really likes it.

I agree with that - DSG is fantastic - but not perfect. In my opinion the one final thing they need to introduce to make it near perfect would be an intermediate setting between 'D' (Drive) and 'S' (Sport). In fact ideally they should re-name the current 'D' setting as 'E' (Ecconomy) and call the new intermediate ratio 'D'. The result would be: E, D and S.

[GTI_for_her!]

Just thought I'd throw in my tuppence worth!

I ran an 2007 Passat R32 DSG for a couple of years as a company car and imo the gearbox killed that car. In town and D if you rolled up to a roundabout say in 2nd gear, too little throttle and it would change up to 4th and leave you with nothing under your foot, too much throttle and it would bang down to 1st and rev its nuts off leaving everyone thinking you were a twit. Putting it in S just made the throttle far to sharp and jerky so it was driven in manual mode most of the time which kinda defeated the purpose.
I reckon a manual gearbox would have much that car brilliant. The engine sounded stunning, it handled great but I just ended up resenting the DSG.
I appreciate that this was the first of the DSG's appearing so the electronics are probably much more advanced now but the car also ate 2 gearboxes and a mechatronics unit, which had you been unlucky enough to buy it out of warranty would have cost ££££s.

Currently my own car is a manual and my company car an automatic and I wouldn't change either. A lot of my day to day driving is in town so the auto is perfect for that and then heading home in the manual suits that type of driving.

My advice to the OP as others have said is to try and get a test drive in both. That will either push you one way or the other.
If your still undecided then think about what the majority of your driving consists of, and finally if your still sitting on the fence there's small matter of the cost of DSG. If your not too fussed is it really worth the outlay.
I think DSG is a kind of marmite option at the end of the day, its just down to what the individual likes!

[monkeyhanger]

The only thing I didn't like, even in manual mode, is that if it thought it knew better it would select another gear e.g. at say 40 in 4th you want to accelerate using the torque of the engine and not change down to third, if the software thought that third was a better gear it would select it..

It should not do that if you have pushed the gearstick across in to the manual gate (unless the revs applid by the accelerater would damage the engine then it will change up to protect the engine). Sounds more like you were in 'manual over-ride' mode where you are still in 'D' but select a different gear using the paddles. The box will hold this gear for about 30 seconds but will revert back the the gear it prefers unless you select another within that time...

The changing of gears automatically even when you are in manual mode happened to me on the extended test drive I had on my dealership's demo car. Later I wondered whether the persistent override happened because I was in ECO mode (which I was on, early on in the test drive) and my choice of gears was considered uneconomical by the car. I was definitely in manual mode,  and I was in no danger of over revving the car in the way I was driving it. Left it in D after getting frustrated by the override.

[MAW73]

Owned two golfs previously... a Mk5 GT DSG and Mk6 GTi DSG and never had any problems. Not driven the Mk7 but I'm sure the boxes will be equally as good if not better.

[corgi]

It should not do that if you have pushed the gearstick across in to the manual gate (unless the revs applid by the accelerater would damage the engine then it will change up to protect the engine). Sounds more like you were in 'manual over-ride' mode where you are still in 'D' but select a different gear using the paddles. The box will hold this gear for about 30 seconds but will revert back the the gear it prefers unless you select another within that time...

You're right it shouldn't from what I had read - and I have more mechanical sympathy than to endanger the engine with my gear selections - but it did and I had shifted the leaver across out of D...

As I said, I liked DSG apart from that... "undocumented feature" and I've never really been a big fan of automatic gearboxes.

The gearbox on my Jag was a conventional auto but with 400hp/400lbft the gearbox was more of a luxury than a necessity  The conventional autos I've driven lately (all in the States) are appalling (Mustang, Camaro and some awful SUV)... DSG is so much better than these; however, no better than the 8-Speed box on my mates Jag XF...

[Mark V GTD]

Reading some other forums and links - it seems interference in Manual is not uncommon... I am ou in min elater so will have a go in Manual and see what it does. Obviously, apart from stopping the engine over-revving its going to change down if you are in sixth and brake to a stop - unless you change before it does!

[2014GTi]

I think both DSG and Manual gearboxes have their place, but more and more cars are going down the Auto/DSG route.
The manual in the GTi is a really great gearbox......  But then so is the DSG, both for different reasons.

[corgi]

The manual in the GTi is a really great gearbox

Compared to what and on what measure?

It is not a patch from a usability and accuracy perspective on the one in the Honda S2000, for example, which was wonderfully precise and relatively short throw, the 6 speed in my Caterham was fantastic on this front too...

[dubber36]

The manual in the GTi is a really great gearbox

Compared to what and on what measure?

It is not a patch from a usability and accuracy perspective on the one in the Honda S2000, for example, which was wonderfully precise and relatively short throw, the 6 speed in my Caterham was fantastic on this front too...

They will feel extremely positive as the stick goes straight into the box. No front wheel drive car will ever match that.

[corgi]

I know that...

I would have thought adequate or reasonable would be more apt, for example, the gearbox in  the Golf GTD I drove probably wasn't as accurate as the ones in my Integra Type Rs but I wouldn't have said it was poor either.

My question wasn't really about the Golf gearbox but the use of the term "great" and the measure that allows it to be referred to as "great"... Its probably a rhetorical question... my apologies