Golf mk7 gtd dsg or manual?

[rajb]

Maybe you can keep an actual golf ball in your cup holder and play with it with your redundant hand if you go DSG?!?!

 

[monkeyhanger]

At 25kmiles pa, most of those will be motorway miles, which is no hardship with a manual box. A manual GTD driven intelligently is a good 10% more frugal than a DSG variant driven the same way. Since the 7 speed DSG came in for the GTI and R, that taller 7th gear redresses the balance, but not for a GTD. Someone on here mentioned weak manual clutches - the GTD clutch is hard as nails, the GTI and R manual clutch is weak. No one that I know of here has had a slipped clutch with a stock or modified GTD. put a box or a remap on a GTI or R manual and clutch slip is inevitable within 10k miles. Have no fear about the robustness of a manual clutch on a GTD.

That being said, my Dad has had a string of DSG TDI Golfs , usually keeping them to 140k to 160k miles without a bother before getting something newer. His MK7 GTD is currently at about 114k miles. If DSGs fail, it's usually well within the warranty period.

DSGs are often described as no brainer - I'd agree with that, you really don't need to allocate much of your brain to driving when you have a DSG and use ACC with it. 

Makes for a very dull and lazy drive IMO. If you're buying a car to rack up the miles with, I'd be more worried about having to sort out a full DPF. My Dad's needs doing - he does about 20k miles pa currently.

Would I pay £2k more for getting a DSG? No way!

Manual is probably less risky for transmission failure - and will be considerably cheaper to put right if it does.

[dean5125]

DSGs are often described as no brainer - I'd agree with that, you really don't need to allocate much of your brain to driving when you have a DSG and use ACC with it. 

Well said but lets be honest here, anyone that's been driving for a few years drives a manual without even thinking about it anyway, you'll soon be doing it subconsciously and besides the huge disadvantage in traffic is that really any different than driving a DSG???

It's amusing that everyone is arguing for what they actually drive..... go DSG forever!!!!

[fredgroves]

It's amusing that everyone is arguing for what they actually drive..... go DSG forever!!!!

I'm not neccessarily!

My next car will be an auto - mainly because that's the way the car industry is going....

[Jim_mk7.5]

DSGs are often described as no brainer - I'd agree with that, you really don't need to allocate much of your brain to driving when you have a DSG and use ACC with it. 

Well said but lets be honest here, anyone that's been driving for a few years drives a manual without even thinking about it anyway, you'll soon be doing it subconsciously and besides the huge disadvantage in traffic is that really any different than driving a DSG???

It's amusing that everyone is arguing for what they actually drive..... go DSG forever!!!!

For daily, I'd get a DSG/auto. For a weekend fun car I'd get a manual. If you only have one car, then a GTI with DSG works very well which why most of us buy them.

But I wouldn't buy a GTD to have fun in as its a 4 pot diesel. So I wouldn't get a manual GTD. But everyone has different wants and needs.

[Thedude74]

DSG feels way more special and is worth the extra money. Most of the time you will more likely be stuck in traffic or feeling tired or not really bothered about ‘driving’ the car like you are on a track day

[Guzzle]

Just have a go in both and see which you prefer.

I've got a manual, which i'm more than happy with. It never occurred to me to get a dsg. Next time though I may have no choice, VW doesn't seem to offer much with a manual gearbox anymore.   

[aksimmo]

I tried both and specifically sought out a manual in the end as I find DSG a bit too hesitant on uptake as it had changed up a gear- just too keen to change up - I prefer to hold on to the revs and still get 40mpg.

I know the pedal box makes a difference on DSG as I have this on my DSG Van and its much more responsive now but as many say its personal preference.

Good luck finding what you enjoy driving.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Before I bought my Golf GTI with DSG I had a Mk6 Golf TDI, and a Honda S2000, which is generally regarded as having one of the finest manual gearboxes ever made, coupled to a truly great engine.

I've previously only owned cars with manual gearboxes, which over the years included several Golf GTI's, and a Caterham 7.  As an aside, I've done dozens of laps around Goodwood, Cadwell Park, Snetterton and Donington, all in either GTi's or a Formula Vee.  I can heel-and-toe with the best of them.

The DSG was, once I became used to it, a revelation, and coupled with Auto-Hold has really made everyday driving so much easier.  You want to change your own gears, and fulfil those F1 driver fantasies?  Put the car into "Sport" mode, push the lever over to the left, and flick those paddles like Sebastian Vettel!  Or, as I spend most of my time in traffic, just leave it in "Normal", put the lever into "D", and let the gearbox do what it does best.  In everyday traffic, you don't need to do anything else (apart from move the lever back a notch into "S" for a quick overtake).

Once you're used to a DSG, changing gears manually seems so archaic. 

[Jim_mk7.5]

Before I bought my Golf GTI with DSG I had a Mk6 Golf TDI, and a Honda S2000, which is generally regarded as having one of the finest manual gearboxes ever made, coupled to a truly great engine.

I've previously only owned cars with manual gearboxes, which over the years included several Golf GTI's, and a Caterham 7.  As an aside, I've done dozens of laps around Goodwood, Cadwell Park, Snetterton and Donington, all in either GTi's or a Formula Vee.  I can heel-and-toe with the best of them.

The DSG was, once I became used to it, a revelation, and coupled with Auto-Hold has really made everyday driving so much easier.  You want to change your own gears, and fulfil those F1 driver fantasies?  Put the car into "Sport" mode, push the lever over to the left, and flick those paddles like Sebastian Vettel!  Or, as I spend most of my time in traffic, just leave it in "Normal", put the lever into "D", and let the gearbox do what it does best.  In everyday traffic, you don't need to do anything else (apart from move the lever back a notch into "S" for a quick overtake).

Once you're used to a DSG, changing gears manually seems so archaic.

I had an S2000 - what a car, what an engine, what a gearbox! Which is why I said depends what car it is and what it's been used. But you wouldn't have that car with any other box, not that you could get it with any other box!

I tried both and specifically sought out a manual in the end as I find DSG a bit too hesitant on uptake as it had changed up a gear- just too keen to change up - I prefer to hold on to the revs and still get 40mpg.

I know the pedal box makes a difference on DSG as I have this on my DSG Van and its much more responsive now but as many say its personal preference.

Good luck finding what you enjoy driving.

Remember though, a GTD isn't a GTI and it won't same fun whipping through the gears with a manual box with a small powerband and diesel engine as it will in your manual GTI.