Does a Auto box ruin a hot hatch?

[charv94]

Pretty much as the title suggests, Does it ruin the fun of a hot hatch?

[blueheaduk]

Have never used a DSG but regardless I can't imagine not changing gears manually... I mean you can be a petrol head going on about saving 0.2 seconds to 60 or whatever, but you lose that feeling of making good decisions and having a feel of the car. My gran could get in a DSG and put the foot down and boss a drag race :-P

Just my 2 pennies.

[RedHP]

Pretty much as the title suggests, Does it ruin the fun of a hot hatch?

Yes !
It's like owning a luxury car, Jag/Roller etc and having a stick shift !

Red

[Jimble]

Difficult one to answer as everyone is different, i had DSG in my GTI But i only use my car for general town driving with the occasional weekend away or country blast, i found that the auto box made town driving boring and took a lot away from the driving experience, but when on a blast using the paddles it's a lot of fun! I've got the manual in my R but it takes a lot of stirring round town which can be tiresome at times but also rewarding.
My advice is get an extended test drive in both to make your own mind up.

[MaccaGTD]

An extended test drive definitely

Its just a different experience with DSG, you can have just as much fun with the paddles as a manual. Which is preferable to me in the Sport mode as the car is not likely to change gear mid bend automatically.

If you do the miles DSG is awesome, especially with the adaptive cruise control just set and steer, makes things a lot easier in traffic than on and off the clutch all the time aswell. Point and squirt

[vidman2]

DSG is the best of both worlds, stress free and relaxing when not in a hurry, or stuck in traffic, and a real drivers car when popped into sport or manual mode and using the paddles to full effect.

As suggested if you can get an extended teat drive try one and decide, a short test will not help you overcome any prejudiced you may have against a DSG

[dubber36]

I don't think even an extended test drive will make your mind up if you've had little experience with modern Autos before. It took me at least 2 weeks to learn how to get the best out of driving my Passat DSG.

Personally I think that Auto's, DSGs etc are the future. You hear "drivers cars", "being in control", feeling connected to the driving experience" etc etc banded about all the time, but look at the transmissions of choice in all the top end sports cars we all dream of owning. They nearly all have two pedals.

Obviously my Mk2 is a manual, and that shouldn't be any other way, but in a car that is mostly used for the mundane, 95% of the time it won't be driven like a Mk2 on a Sunday morning. So why not let the excellent technology do the dull stuff for you?

[monkeyhanger]

The DSG takes a long time to get used to and see the best from it, but even then "point and squirt" is not my idea of fun, with and without the paddles. Getting an R soon and the prospect of shaving 0.2s off the 0-62 and getting an extra 1mpg  to go DSG does not appeal.

I've had a few fortnightly stints in my dads DSG Golfs when he's gone on holiday from Nwcastle airport and left his car at mine, I just cannot get away with it. In something with supercar amounts of BHP, auto makes sense as you'd spend more time changing from1st to 2nd than actually being in 1st. For me there's so much control taken from the driver already, why give it the gears too? I'd feel ilke I'm in one of those driverless cars from "minority report" if I gave up anything else to the cars management system. Modern cars are numb enough.

A fair few times ive had the car override my manual paddle choices when out in a DSG (eco taking over?).

Skynet have given up on killing John Connor, they'll wait until we're all in MK10 Golfs with no driver interaction and wipe out the human race by causing us all to have fatal crashes by wire.

[JBirchy]

Very subjective one this one... IMO it all depends on what you use the car for. Personally, I feel it actually 'adds' character and depth of ability to a great car. Yes, a manual is more interactive, my MK5 GTI was a manual and when I owned that I always said I wouldn't have a DSG in a warm/hot hatch but having now owned one for 9 months, I was wrong.

I use my car 80% for commuting, sitting in traffic and motorway driving and for these duties I will never go back to a manual. The rest of my driving is generally B-Road blasts as I'm lucky where I live I'm spoiled with great roads. Even on the B-Road blasts I love the DSG as the noises it makes on upshifts makes me giggle! I've never 'yearned' for the manual in the whole time I've had it.

[Mr Savage]

The DSG box is the future. It's brilliant and in the MK7's it takes nothing away from driving at all. It drives superbly and changes gear when you'd want it to change gear. Let's face it, in England you spend the majority of your time stuck in traffic, and DSG makes life so much easier without having to constantly put the clutch down.  I've been in a manual after driving my DSG for a year and the clutch pedal simply seems unnecessary and irritating.

You can put the car into total manual mode with the paddle shifters and the car's auto gearbox will never take over in this mode, so not sure what you mean Monkeyhanger? The only time the car will change gear automatically in manual mode is if you do something stupid and keep the car in 5th while at 10mph or try and go up to 8,000 RPM in a gear, which will cause the car to shift up to protect the engine.

We need to move forward. Manual is the past and these types of gearboxes are going to be improved constantly and will eventually take over. Usual automatic gearboxes are awful yes but DSG is simply phenomenal and it doesn't ruin any fun in terms of driving.