I'm not so sure about the benefits of DSG after considering and rejecting it for my 06 GTI...
As for the standing starts, I would say that Launch Control emulates what a competent driver could achieve using manual - Volkswagen Driver magazine published by Autometrix tested both DSG and Manual and found manual to be faster. Their manual was 6.2 secs 0-60 while the DSG was 6.3 or 6.4 secs 0-60. They also found manual to be slightly more economical - both in contradiction to the official VW claims. I think in this respect, it is analogous to ESP which provides amazing stablity and enables a crap driver like me to think that I know how to handle a car with this power and drive, when in reality it just flatters me. The more experienced driver can turn off ESP and show what the car is really capable of.
When the warranty runs out, for those of you planning to keep your GTI beyond this period, any repairs to this complicated box will be very expensive
From reading various issues, I have noticed that DSG has its 'quirks' i.e. it anticipates wrong gears occasionaly when driving under certain conditions - can't remember where I read this but it was in more than one article
You lose the interaction with your car that a manual gives
If you want to modify and increase your power i.e. bhp gains, DSG limits what you can achieve. An example is on the morego site where they have some packages not available for DSG.
It costs £1650 more than manual
I am sure there are other reasons not to have DSG that I have overlooked, but the above are the main reasons I chose to stay with manual.... having said all this, I will test drive a DSG GTI before buying my Anniversary Edition, though I very much doubt it will change my mind about DSG - just trying it out for the novelty factorÂÂÂ
