I’m very taken with the DSG in the VAG cars. However I test drove a Scirocco last night and on more than one occasion I put my foot flat down on the throttle, watched the rev counter whizz around and…nothing. A good second or so later it finally engaged and to be fair it was quick. Not something I’d want to happen if I’d just pulled out to overtake.

I’ve seen a few threads on other car forums, but wondered what the reliably knowledgeably STW collective had to say on this.

We have a DSG Edition 30 Golf, can’t say there’s a delay with ours at all, it’s most impressive (even with 300 BHP). I’d suggest there was something wrong with the ‘box on the Scirocco you drove for a seconds delay.

No, I don’t notice that.

The computer pre-selects the gear it things you want next, which is good almost all the time, but there can be delays sometimes in shifting if it’s pre-selected the wrong gear. It’s maybe a second or so. This is only an issue in stuff like queues of traffic where you are moving slowly and then have to boot it; or when braking then suddenly going back to accelerating again – that doesn’t often happen in normal driving.

Also if you are driving along gently and suddenly push it to the boards it it will jump down several gears, which takes a second again – sounds like this is what you experienced. However you can get around this easily enough, just use the manual mode to hold a gear til your opportunity comes along.

I love mine, no problems at all as long as you know how it behaves apart from one. My car’s turbo diesel, and if you want to pull out of a junction quickly it won’t let the revs go up high enough to spin the turbo up, so there’s a bit of a delay there again. I haven’t tried flooring it through fear of wheelspin – I thought I didn’t have traction control but I actually do – it just allows some slippage.

However in all of these situations the engine does not race during the delay. Either they’ve let it do that to let the turbo spool or there’s something wrong with that particular one.

Wife had a DSG Touran. Sold it afer a year. 2 reasons – the lag was a complete PITA. Made parking a nightmare – bit more gas, bit more – WHOA too much!! And mainly because it burnt way more diesel than the manual version with exactly the same engine. Now have a manual Passat and would never buy one of the DSG ones again.

Your mileage may vary as they say.

I never found the parking thing to be a problem, got used to it fairly easily.

The fuel though – when I change my Passat I’ll get a manual for that reason. 50mpg vs 60mpg in the tests. Having said that my current older auto Passat does 52mpg per tank typically.

A little drivetrain shunt in traffic queues in a DSG equiped Golf.

Instantaneous power deliver on the open road though. I liked it – but wouldn’t get another. Manual is far more flexible

Ed30 Golf here and defo no delay in manual; as others have said a wee bit less direct in start-stop traffic.

It does seem a bit Marmite. I was impressed by it in a Mk V GTi I drove, but a bit worried by it in the Scirocco. Molgrips you could be right. I was deliberately slowing right down then slamming the accelerator down again to see how it coped. Not very well was the answer. Not a common real world scenario I guess.

Not thought of reversing as an issue but only tried it on the flat. I hate my wife’s auto for reversing on a slope; very difficult to control.

Why’s the fuel consumption so poor? I thought one of the claims for the DSG was that it was *more* efficient than a manual

I was deliberately slowing right down then slamming the accelerator down again to see how it coped

Yeah that’s the worst case. There’s actually a sort of extra notch on the pedal travel which is the kick down. If you activate that it selects the lowest gear possible even if that’s close to the red line. However, on the second shaft it selects the next gear at the same time, so you don’t lose out. I used to not use the kick down because of the delay, preferring to press the pedal about 2/3 down, then I realised that mashing it is the quickest way, you just have to do it a second earlier. Fine once you get used to it.

Re fuel consumption – I think that there are two kinds of DSG, the 6 and 7 speed. The 6 speed has a wet clutch which I guess introduces some drag, which is why it’s less efficient; the dry clutch 7 speed one is the one that’s meant to be more efficient but that’s only on Golfs I think not Passats. Even the 6 speed though is better than trad autos.

The original claim though was that it performed as well as a manual, which it does (and traditional autos don’t) because any extra drag is cancelled out by the speed of shifts.

EDIT only on the 1.4 TSI petrol is the DSG more efficient, on the others it’s very slightly less.

you just have to do it a second earlier

But you’re diesel, yes? One of my reasons for moving away from diesel cars is the turbo lag. I had a 2.2 Civic CDTi which was impressive if/when you found the sweet spot, but otherwise was a bit scary whilst you waited for something to happen. I want instant response now and to be fair the GTi I test drove was more instant than anything I’ve ever driven, including a Tiptronic Boxster (Tiptronic = pants) and an Elise. The NA Elise was faster to 60 (and beyond!) but the GTi gets you in the kidneys more. Couldn’t be more different as sporty cars go

to be fair the GTi I test drove was more instant than anything I’ve ever driven

The DSG eqpd car I had was a Mk5 Golf GTi – and yes very rapid get up and go. Couldn’t believe it – but when I first got the car I was at the lights next to a scooby turbo…. and away far quicker (much to my surprise). Put it down to the lack of turbo lag and ultra-quick gear changes

Ive got a Leon FR DSG (petrol) – i love the box, but there are a few times when it’s not as good as a manual. One particular situation is entering roundabouts on a dual carriageway – If i dont have to actually stop then it won’t always change down until you gas it through the apex, then you get the jerk of the down-change. easily rectified by manually clicking downshifting.

I did have an A3 TDIsport with the same box, but didnt like it all with the diesel engine.

I had an A3 S-Line with DSG paddle shift – no problems with the gear box in fact the opposite i found it amazingly good. The turbo lag on the diesel tho is another matter. Expect some brown pants moment at roundabouts, its quite concerning pulling away with a car coming towards you with your foot flat to the floor & nothing happening and there it goes ripping your head off!

And as mentioned above if you really push it expect to burn Diesel at an eye watering rate ;o)

I find the DSG in my Octavia vRS much better in manual mode when making progress (especially as M6TTF describes). In normal driving auto works very well. The delay thing happens mostly in the transition to first gear at junctions etc. You just learn to drive it differently. Driving a DSG requires a slightly different driving style to a normal Auto as if requires some thought, but IMHO is is way better than a regular auto.

I thought I’d really miss a manual box as a I enjoy driving, but to be honest 99% of the time the DSG is also way better than a manual. So on balance I’d buy another.

The DSG is known for being a little hesitant from step off in 1st but I never noticed anything like the OP in mine.

Love the DSG in my Touran though, don’t see why anyone would want a manual these days.

don’t see why anyone would want a manual these days

I still see the pleasure in a good manual gearbox. There’s so much technology in cars these days but sometimes it’s nice to go back to basics. I had an Elise that was a hoot to drive because you had to be 100% involved with the steering, gear changes etc. Not much else to distract you; I could only get Radio 1 on the stereo and no such luxuries as traction control, air con etc

The DSG is probably the opposite end of the spectrum. In fact if the rep who initially took me out in the Scirocco drove an Elise the way he drove the VW, he would have been off the road several times over. The traction control light was flashing on and off like a police car 😯 We are a bit cossetted by modern technology in cars.

Maybe I’m just getting old, I’ve had so many lovely cars, many with manual gearboxes, I can no longer be bothered with manual gearboxes and I’ll never buy a car with another. I guess I just grew out of ‘proper’ driving, just want ease of use these days, esp when dual clutch manuals are so good.

I recently purchased a 55reg A3 with DSG. I didn’t actually want DSG but I did wanted roofrails so the choice was limited. I had heard about the lag and was worried but in real world driving i’ve only experienced it once or twice.
The delay is because the twin clutch selects the next gear in advance. If you are slowing down in 3rd it will select 2nd in atticipation to slowing down more so if you slam the throttle down again it must drop 2nd and find 4th hence the delay.
Someone said that parking is difficult as it lurches forward but IME unless you want to move fast it is quite the opposite – just live your foot off the brake and it will creep forwards / backwards in a controlled manner.
As said above a bigger problem is the turbo lag which can catch you out.
TBH I dont really use the paddles after the novelty wore off. They are as involving as a manudal box and the gearbox programme does as good a job as I do on 95% of the roads.

Note: The new 7 speed DSG are more efficient than manuals, previously it was slightly less (if you can change at the optimum time yourself)

If you are slowing down in 3rd it will select 2nd in anticipation to slowing down more so if you slam the throttle down again it must drop 2nd and find 4th hence the delay.

Although the logic is sound here, this doesn’t make practical sense to me. If I was driving a manual this way and I floored the throttle, I certainly wouldn’t be upshifting at that point.

Having done some Googling on this, it does seem that I’m not alone in noticing this. Maybe it is odd scenarios that aren’t really real world that the DSG is not programmed to deal with.

But you’re diesel, yes? One of my reasons for moving away from diesel cars is the turbo lag

It’s not turbo lag. You’re in 6th, then there’s a pause and you’re in third – that’s the gearbox! If you pre-select the right gear in manual mode so you’re at 2krpm then there is NO turbo lag at all. Below say 1.2krpm you’re below the spool speed (this is not the same as lag); between 1.2 and say 1.8 there’s a little lag, but above that power is instant.

I had an Elise that was a hoot to drive because you had to be 100% involved with the steering, gear changes etc

Apples and oranges. I’m talking about a diesel Passat, such things are not an issue 🙂 I don’t want to be 100% involved when I’m coming back up the M4 on a Friday night! Not all driving is sporty driving, this seems to be something that petrol heads can’t conceive.

Although the logic is sound here, this doesn’t make practical sense to me

He’s not written that well.

You’ve got two output shafts in this thing. One with 1, 3 and 5 on it, the other with 2, 4 and 6. So if you are in 3rd and accelerating, it pre-selects 4th on the other shaft and at the right time it switches over instantly – it has two clutches so can just switch over. However if you are in say 4th going slowly, it might have third pre-selected.. but if you mash the pedal it assumes you want to go fast and puts you in 2nd which is on the same shaft. Shifting gears on the same shaft takes a second or so, which is why there’s the delay.

It really is not as smooth in traffic and round town as a traditional auto – no question about that. However it is faster, more efficient and MUCH better to drive vigorously. So take your pick.

If I were buying and didn’t care about the small fuel economy penalty, I’d definitely get one but I’d spec the flappy pedals.

Not all driving is sporty driving

Oh I agree. The Elise was the only car that I’ve ever owned that I’ve just “gone for a drive” in. The most mundane journeys were a joy, especially with the roof down, and boy did it put a big grin on my face. But when all is said and done, now that Summer has gone 😯 and the rain has returned, thoughts turn to practicality (in a fun package) hence why I’m looking at GTi. Cruisy relaxed driving on the motorways but fun on tap when I want it. Now where’s the can opener for that roof…

mrs rkk01 has just got herself one of these – even down to the “aircraft primer grey” paint

Not massively quick, reasonably economical – but an absolute HOOOOOT to drive

ETA – Ohh and it’s got one of those gear lever thingies
(although the top model at €32,000 😯 does have flappy paddles)

Haven’t tried to get the bike in it yet though 🙁

I had a test drive of the DSG GTi on some decent roads with little traffic. It was quite boring. Undeniably impressive acceleration and no doubt a bit of a speeding ticket magnet, but terribly un-involving to drive. Not as impressed anymore.

I used to have Audi 3.2 V6 TT and yes, I had the lag, which was, in my opinion, quite dangerous. I complained so often about it that Audi sent a test driver out with me. Together we decided it was necessary to “anticipate’ gear changes and blip the throttle slightly, especially when changing down.

Although that helped a lot, I never really got on with the box. Wouldn’t have another one, that’s for sure.