Just want to add that I don't want to be seen to be having a go at people who go for the manual option, but there are going to be people out there wondering between DSG and manual, and I don't want them to plump for the manual as a result of getting the wrong impression about what the DSG can and cannot do.
In manual mode, as far as I can tell, the car is precisely the same as a manual except:
a) You can't skip gears in a single movement (e.g. to go from 5th to 2nd takes a three presses on the paddle. The only situation I can think of where this may be less than perfect in principle is if, for example, you are decelerating from a fast straight into a tight 2nd gear corner. What I'd do in manual is to brake with the car still in 5th, then either heel and toe blip and change straight to 2nd once the speed is much reduced, or stop braking, blip and change then turn in, power on. If your heel and toe goes wrong (and mine are rarely perfect), then you waste time and composure before the turn. With DSG, you simply blip your way through the gears whilst concentrating primarily on braking and line, the box delivering you smoothly into 2nd safely in time for the start of the corner, when you can apply power to drive through. For the perfect driver, I can imagine them managing to do the 5th->2nd heel/toe/brake/turn more fluidly than if the gearbox is having to ratchet down the gears, but perhaps this is something limited to racing drivers. I enjoyed having a go in a manual at this sort of stuff, but 99% of the time I'd fluff it in one way or another.
b) It won't let you bounce the engine off the rev limiter. I really can't see the downside to this. If you're bouncing off the limiter, it's because you want power but you've run out of revs. The way to fix the problem in a manual is to change up and apply power again (or to back off from the overtake :-) ). The DSG does the right thing, only faster, so you have less time exposed on the wrong side of the road, the engine giving no power but making a funny sound :-)
d) There is far less loss of thrust when changing gears. I don't think a human can out perform the gearchanges, so when you're accelerating, the engine in a DSG car is spending less time waiting for you to sort your pedal and stick out, and more time actually applying power to the road.
In short, I think the DSG is a compelling driver's tool, not something that people who enjoy driving should automatically discount because it's "an automatic".
I like driving, and I think DSG adds something to the experience, not takes it away.
Just my views
