Have a Polo GT on order, decided against DSG initially as its a pricey option, having since sat in showroom car again I’m slightly concerned about lack of space between clutch pedal and footrest/footwell – plus I have to be honest and admit that I like driving an auto.

So, tempted to just shell out and switch my order.
Have read one review that the DSG can be tricky to balance against the bluemotion cylinder shut off – but not sure its enough of a concern to be a deal breaker.

Any experiences?

I’ve only got it because the model of VW I have doesn’t come without DSG.

But having lived with it for a year, I love it. I would choose it again. Great on the open road, even better around town.

I’ve never found DSG clashes with Auto-Stop (I think it’s a smoother integration than with a manual box, really), but I do usually turn Auto-Stop off, just because I don’t like it.

I love mine. Unfortunately I don’t have flap paddles – which are cool even though I’d rarely use them.

If you are hitting traffic then you get the benefit, if not,then you need to weigh up cost vs reward.

Personally, I wouldn’t swap back. We have two vwg cars, the other is manual and it’s fine but I miss the DSG when in it for long periods.

I didn’t get DSG when I got my Skoda and I wish I had now. Have driven a few DSG cars and would get it next time without any doubt.

I hate auto’s as a general rule…

If I was buying a new VAG car right now, wouldn’t hesitate to spec the DSG gearbox. It’s an expensive option yes, but one that will retain its value too come resale time. More than that though, it’s way more involving than a normal auto whilst being as convenient as one.

Got it in the van; very good and cant see me going back to a manual now. I used to feel the same as mboy, but this has changed that…

A recommended tick from me.

Got the 7 DSG on my Yeti. It’s nice and smooth, plenty of economy too. (40MPG Overall)

Only thing I don’t like is at rest at some junctions there is a bit of a lag pulling off in the name of smoothness, which can be compounded by the Stop/Start.

But yeah all in all it’s a great system.

Mrs Inbred has the Fabia 110 dsg. She loves it so easy to drive. Has normal drive mode for pootling and sport mode for nipping about. Very smooth and easy to drive. Great in traffic stop start works really well. My next car will be Dsg.

I have a bias, possibly unjustifed, that autos are better in larger cars. Had a friend with a dsg golf and once he got used to it was a big fan and misses it now he has manual a3. I doubt you’ll get the money back pro-rata when you sell it so it depends on your driving – lots of town driving and more concerned about getting there than the driving experience then go dsg. My last 3 cars have been autos and although I ocassionally miss the spirited driving side I do at least have the “paddles”

I had a DSG gearbox in my old Golf GTD, it was a fantastic gearbox. I have a manual Mondeo now, would have gone auto if the gearbox was anywhere near as nice as the DSG.

Hmm, that’s pretty unanimous then. I’ve asked dealer to quote me for price to switch over – I reckon I’ll be going for it. I do like a nice auto box so DSG should be a step above that in use

Thanks

Well received by the boy racers too on the GT type models.

DSG is seriously impressive, you won’t be disappointed, do it.

Just make sure it’s got 3 doors!! 😆

(That was you with the door order mix-up, wasn’t it?) 🙂

Haha, yes, it was me and they’ve assured me it will arrive with 3 doors this time.
I am currently in a courtesty car until new order arrives – its a VW Up!, and my patience is already wearing thin with it.

Figures are back from dealer, its going to cost me £36.41 PCM more over 42 months to go DSG. That kind of stings a bit as it really stretches my budget – but I suppose if I actually ride my bikes more over the next 3 years instead of buying shiny new bits for them then I could manage it. Just.

Final payment has come down by £100 too. I thought a DSG equipped car would be worth more than £100 extra after 3.5 years but there you go.

Final payment has come down by £100 too. I thought a DSG equipped car would be worth more than £100 extra after 3.5 years but there you go.

Don’t think (rightly or wrongly) that autos are as popular in smaller cars and people won’t pay the extra for them so their value doesn’t hold as well as a manual.

Worth the extra £1500 over the period of the loan?

I’ve done 40000 miles in a new transporter diesel in just over 6 months and I specced the 7 speed dsg. My experience of it is lag on initial acceleration from junctions and often it get confused on long downhills and holds a lower gear which is a bit loud. It does its job as in its easier for the miles but for a small hatch like a polo I wouldn’t have it.

plus I have to be honest and admit that I like driving an auto.

So who GAS what anyone else thinks?

For me, the only reason people drive manuals is because they’ve never driven a decent auto.

I’m about to go for a Passat dsg (thanks all who posted on my other thread) (unless I flounce and buy the power shift Mondeo I’m also watching, which is a very similar kind of gearbox)

I’ve been driving a few auto/dsg things lately and frankly if they are indicative of how good they are then manual boxes can go boil their own bottoms especially in a big lump of a car that gets used in a mix of heavy traffic and long distance work.

In a petrol small car probably less relevant but why not when they’ve got good.

Sorry to poop on the DSG love-in.
I have driven a wide variety of cars many miles over the years with DSG gearboxes-Audis, VW’s Skodas. I wouldn’t buy one if I could avoid it ( some models are DSG only 👿 ) particularly if the car had a diesel engine.

For me, the only reason people drive manuals is because they’ve never driven a decent auto.

8spd ZF auto in a BMW M135i? That’s a decent auto, right?

There’s no doubt that the auto is objectively better. It’s faster shifting, and it’s easier around town. 0-60 can be done 2/10ths faster (if you wish) and you can be super lazy. But I’d rather have a manual – and indeed I do now.

If I was mainly driving in traffic, I’d probably have an auto out of choice. For everything else, I’ll have the Spanish version please.

I’d go for a bigger car with dog that size.

I’m impressed with the auto box in my wifes 1 series BMW. OK it’s not a DSG and i’m sure they’d be better. At first you think there is some hesitation when you’re starting from standstill or other areas, but when you analyse your own driving in a manual you realise that the perceived hesitation is no worse that the time it takes for you you raise the revs and lift the clutch and slip it until you get moving in a manual car – manual cars certainly do not have instant pick up – unless you’re dropping the clutch…then you’re just sad. People think they can change gear better than an auto. They can’t. Auto boxes are in the right gear more of the time than a manual car, and if they do find themselves in the wrong gear they’ll instantly change unlike a human who might panic and start waggling the gearstick wildly like they’re stirring porridge. Auto boxes can be tricked and confused sometimes, but no more so than in a manual car where you sometimes might miss a gear, change into the wrong gear, crunch the gearbox, or try to set off in 2nd or 3rd. And with an auto box once you’re used to any unusual activity with it you learn to anticipate it and can influence it with the throttle – a little lift off here, a little dab there often sorts that out.

The wifes car is a 135bhp 1.6 turbo petrol – the same engine that’s in a Mini Cooper S. I too thought an auto box would be pants in a small engine, but its fine. I’m converted.

Go for the DSG. Once you’re used to the change you’ll like it, and you’ll definitely prefer it in heavy stop start traffic.

Not sure why you’d not prefer an auto box in a diesel. I would have thought that they’d be even more useful in a diesel with their narrower power bands meaning you need to work the gearbox more than in a petrol engined car to keep them in the most efficient part of the rev range.

And on the use of the parking brake with an auto box in Park – i’m for it. You wouldn’t park a manual car in 1st gear and not use the parking brake would you (I hope you wouldn’t). I’ve never read a car manual in my life, but i’d be very surprised if the manual did not specifically say that when parked you should use the handbrake in conjunction with the box in Park.

particularly if the car had a diesel engine.

Ok I’ll bite.. why?

To me diesel engines cars are the ones that most benefit from not being manual. Heavier clutches and gearbox action.

Double post sorry.

Not sure why you’d not prefer an auto box in a diesel.

If it is a DSG auto box then it is not generally as well suited to the diesel as a petrol engine. The Diesels are often the 6 speed ‘box which , in my experience, a bit clunkier, less refined and doesn’t respond as quickly as the 7 speed ‘boxes on the petrol models.

I’ll be honest, if someone else was buying the car for me, or if I was going to sell it before the warrany runs out I might consider one a bit more. But They don’t and I keep cars for longer than 3 years…. So not for me

Edit:
My 170 Tdi has no heavier a cluch action than my partners 1.2 petrol Polo, and is just as smooth to change if not more so, possibly because of the DMF

DSG in my 2.0 TSI Scirocco GT complete with flappy paddles and gearstick shift whatsit which is also good fun.

10/10 Would recommend.

Actually I had one rare instance where I was trying to gauge whether I could boot it out of this roundabout and was doing some strange braking/accelerating/shifting into sport dance and it confused the box so it went into neutral as a safety measure. That was odd – but only done it once. And it was my fault for driving a bit silly.

Current Skoda DSG diesels are on 7 speed boxes. Ours is great, much better than the 6spd version we had before.

Also have the 1.2 110psi DSG in the Fabia, easy to spin the front wheels pulling out of junctions.

Two Skoda’s – Yeti and Fabia. Both petrol. Both DSG. I do a lot of driving in traffic (the joy of having the M42 in my weekly travel plans..) and I wouldn’t go back. It’s a bit snatchy at junctions sometimes and agree it’ll hold a higher gear that it needs on steep downs (but I just flick it into manual and notch it up a couple of gears). Sports mode does make a noticeable difference.

My Yeti doesn’t have start-stop, my wife’s fabia does. I though it’d be rubbish with the DSG but it’s not.

I’d not go back to manual.

For posterity, I’ll point out (I’m sure I’ve done this before anyway) to the DSG owners and prospective owners a bit of a strange thing that VW seem to have done. The gearbox is controlled by a load of hydraulic valves, which are all housed in a unit along with the electronics called the mechatronics unit. It’s a great bit of design – a piece of metal that can be removed from the front of the box whole with all the valves bolted on it. So you can remove it, change the valves and put it back. In fact, the valves are all bolted to the front, so you can even do it without removing the unit, just removing the cover (although it’s a bit of a thrutch).

Despite this easily servicable design, for some reason VW have told their dealers NOT to fix them, but replace them if there’s a problem – at a cost of £1500! The units can be refurbished by specialists for £450 or so (I was quoted) and you can even buy the valves on their own from the internet for about £60.

Funny, that.

My 170 Tdi has no heavier a cluch action than my partners 1.2 petrol Polo, and is just as smooth to change if not more so, possibly because of the DMF

That surprises me. We have two Mondeos of similar vintage, one petrol, one tdci. The clutch loadings and weight in the gear shift is noticeably weightier in the tdci. The Tdci is not quite on a par with my dad’s caravelle which is even lumpier. I only really notice the extra weight when having a cruddy journey with lots of speed variation but that’s when I really don’t need the extra physical effort.

We have a Superb and although I think a DSG would really suit it, the 6 speed manual is very good too.
I didn’t spec it as it would have bumped up the lease considerably and being a lease residuals are not a factor for me.

For £36 a month over 4 years, I’d take the manual.

We’ve got 3 auto. Two standard auto (a 6speed and a 7speed) and a DSG. The standard auto works well with the diesel (smoother and very good at slow speeds) but for some higher revs and faster shifting and stop/start I prefer the DSG.

I just ordered a new octavia and didn’t even consider the DSG as for me it has no benefits. The car has slower acceleration, uses more fuel and has higher CO2 than the manual 6sp.

I had a hire car Passat with a DSG box and auto off. Turned the latter of straight away as I thought it was dangerous when driving in town – when you need a quick getaway at a roundabout for instance.

The DSG box was ok, but was not convinced by it though (guess I just prefer manuals). I spoke to my mate at the local garage about it and he advised to avoid them as when the go wrong (and they do) = ££££££££

Just noticed I can buy a fully specced beetle Cabrio with same engine as the Polo (GT) for less(!) money than the Polo!

They must be struggling to shift them.

as when the go wrong (and they do) = ££££££££

See my post.

And newer ones are better.

And newer ones are better.

Is that right? I got the impression the 7-speed one has dry clutches and is considerably less reliable than the older 6-speed wet clutch version (which I think is still fitted to the more powerful engines).

My Mrs golf mechatronics went last month actually.

VW quoted £1800 + labour to repair.

Then they offered (in the same phonecall after giving the above quote) that VW would pay 100% parts value and she would only pay 80% of the labour. Came to £300 ish I think?

Not sure why they did that. I think maybe there was a recall on her DSG age but whatever. Very happy with that.

They cleaned it too, which saved me a job.

EDIT: It’s an older 2009 plate golf with an earlier DSG design. 59 plate onwards we’re designed correctly.