DSG questions

[nc35]

Just found this thread, as I was unsure about shifting to N at the lights / in traffic etc etc.  But it does seem to be the norm.

So far as DSG being the best, I have driven autos for most of my life, but I do love getting into the wifes 207GTi for a true driving experience.

Last car was a Cayenne TT with triptronic (DSG will still not handle the power of a twin turbo V8) and can say that the KN box still feels better than the DSG, much smoother and always in the right gear.  Suppose the power and torque have a lot to do with this.

The porker never crept (backwards or forwards) the triptronic was immediate, but smooth.
DSG in the new Carrera is very similar to its little sister in the Golf but not a great improvement over the triptronic, well not  as much as the sales guys would have you believe.

Well I hope that I grow to love the DSG only been two weeks and a few hundred miles so many months of learning to go.

But at the mo, DSG definitely not the best autobox out there.  I think the fact that there are re-maps for the DSG qualify this.

Just my 2p

[RedRobin]

....

Hi nc35,

Try using the DSG as a Manual and only using the D-mode as you might an automatic when crawling in traffic jams or perhaps around town. I think you may get more enjoyment out of the DSG that way.

[nc35]

Must admit that's how I ran the porker when in the mood.

4th & 5th were the only gears needed really sooooo much low down grunt

in auto the car never used 1st. You always had to manually select it.

Triptrinic was very good. Similar to the golf you had 20 sec or so where you
were in complete control. It only changed up at the rev limiter or down to prevent a stall.

Easily enough time to drop a cog for the twisties or overtaking.

No sports mode at all.

Still the best car I have ever owned, but you can have 3 or 4 good spec Gtis for the same price and just as much fun.

lookng forward to getting "into" the Golf. 1st thing I have noticed not treated like a pric anymore
by strangers and other road users.

And this forum is awesome.

The kind sole that torched the kn may have done me a favour 

feel like a 20 something with a new toy

[edd666999]

If you are looking at an '06 model then you will need the DSG service in one year, which costs between £200-300 depending on where you have it done. At the same time the cambelt will need changing (manual or DSG), which again will cost.

so is this service due every 4years? or is it down to miles?

hi btw 1st post :D

[RedRobin]

^^^^
I think it's years or mileage - Whichever is reached first.

Warm Welcome to the forum, edd

[edd666999]

ahh, im about to buy a 06 dsg and this s handy to know! i will get the service pack so i dont have to fork out for that big service!


sorry to hijack the thread but is there anything else i should be checking on a 06 gti dsg?

[Kinbin]

^^^^
I think it's years or mileage - Whichever is reached first.

Warm Welcome to the forum, edd

Does this apply to an 09 DSG as well? Been driving a 6-speed DSG Gti for 5 weeks. 

Using N and handbrakes at traffic lights, driving on 'D' but using the paddle shifts to initiate manual gear down for passing cars. 

*hic* my second post* 

[RedRobin]

Does this apply to an 09 DSG as well? Been driving a 6-speed DSG Gti for 5 weeks.  

Using N and handbrakes at traffic lights, driving on 'D' but using the paddle shifts to initiate manual gear down for passing cars.  

*hic* my second post*  

....And A Warm Welcome to this forum to you too!

The downside of leaving the DSG in D but overriding with the paddles is that after about 30 seconds the gears will automatically revert back to D mode. That isn't always a problem but can catch you out in some circumstances - I find it much easier to pop the floor stick into M, but the paddles override can also be very helpful in other circumstances.

At first I used to always stay in D and pop in and out of S-mode for overtakes. But now I've been trained to always be in the optimum gear for instant power or braking rather than loll around relying on the engine's torque. The optimum gear will give you the revs to be able to quickly accelerate or for helpful engine braking, although you can also paddleshift more than one gear at a time (something which works particularly well on a remapped DSG box).

Nowadays I only use D for traffic jam crawls or going through 30 limit villages and towns and I'm otherwise constantly in M. I tried using both D and S on the Nurburgring and the fact is that M gives you much more control.

That's the thing about DSG and S-tronic (Audi version) - There are so many different combinations you can use and it's just a matter of experimenting and getting used to them. Some drivers only think of DSG as a latest-state-of-the-art automatic transmission but it's rather more than just that. I've done over 70,000 miles and wouldn't have another car without DSG or its equivalent - Not even a Ferrari!

Experiment - You won't break it.

Hope this helps

P.S. - This applies to both 6-speed Mk5 and 7-speed DSG boxes of tricks.

[Matjazz]

   I really liked it. First thing is that in the city you will never put with manual from one traffic light to another from 1st to 6st gear. DSG does that, so fuell consumption is better than in the manual. Acceleration is better than in manual. The sound from the exaust beetween shifting is avesome  I can do this all day long just listening the BOOOM  boom boooom

     Thing that I don't like (excluding cost of repair when got broken) is that when you let say turning right from main road to another road and slowing down. It is anoying feeling couse car don't know that you will brake and than give power back, in manual you just live it in same gear (3th), here DSG goes in 2nd and than not shifting back immidiatly on 3th and I really don't like this... Still I can switch in manual... Next thing is time which is needed to shift when you put your foot down to the grown. If you had in 6th before car is shifting in 4th, this is the same clutch as it for 6th and this can be slow... Still you can shift to S or manual...

It is great aftherall... I can't wait to try double clutch with S3 or the new Chayman. Someone done that already?

[nc35]

Well advanced driving and motorcraft teaches
       
            "gear for go brake for slow"

Not so much with modern & performance cars, using the engine to brake from a high speed unsettles the car.
So compromising steering, braking & traction.

Personally in most situations I would prefer the brakes to take the wear than an expensive DSG box.

Think I must be getting too old. 

[RedRobin]

Well advanced driving and motorcraft teaches
       
            "gear for go brake for slow"

Not so much with modern & performance cars, using the engine to brake from a high speed unsettles the car.
So compromising steering, braking & traction.

Personally in most situations I would prefer the brakes to take the wear than an expensive DSG box.

Think I must be getting too old. 

....Well, we each have our own driving styles and habits and as I've been driving for over 40 years I do tend to use the gears sometimes for slowing - Try slowing down in something like a 2-ton Rover with drum brakes! I nearly wiped out the population of a small hamlet once!

Though thinking about it more, I tend to shift down the gears after I'm off the throttle rather than while braking. My intention being to always arrive, say at a 30 limit sign, at 30mph and in a lower gear so I have more instant control if needed.

[cmdrfire]

1st slushbox I've ever owned and only the DSG was good enough to sway me.

DSG ain't a slushbox. There's no torque converter.

Technically it's a sequential manual gearbox but calling it a robotised manual is also correct.


@Red - To quote another driver of your vintage, Jackie Stewart - "brakes are for slowing, gears are for going" - i.e., in a road car one should use brakes to slow with preference over engine braking.

[RedRobin]

@Red - To quote another driver of your vintage, Jackie Stewart - "brakes are for slowing, gears are for going" - i.e., in a road car one should use brakes to slow with preference over engine braking.

....I have in fact greatly reduced my 'bad' habit since having my DSG GTI.

What I was trying to get across is that it's good practice to be constantly in the optimum gear rather than use all the torque.

In general driving conditions I look far enough ahead to simply get off the throttle and often not need the brakes because I have anticipated what's going on.

[nc35]

Yep that's how I drive too. 

I did used to try to get from Leeds to London (M1) without touching the brakes 

Think I only ever managed it once.  Always some numpty filling the "safe gap" between you and the car in front.  Or the horror of everyone's brake lights and emergency stops for no obvious reason.

Hate going out, with the wife driving.  Never a constant throttle position, just on off on off, and then touch the brakes, for no reason.
Good job I don't get car sick, 'cos I feel like a nodding dog when sat in the passenger seat 
And never ever try to suggest her driving could be smoother.  Instant castration.

Perhaps a lower performance car for her next time.

Didn't know how old you were RR, but guessing ~ 55 to 60  (don't know if you started driving off road before your license)
In my mind you were at least 2 decades +++ younger 

I know I feel like an old(ish) man in a young mans car.  Everyone else I see in one looks like there are in their 20's

[cmdrfire]

@Red & NC35 - I try to be easy and avoid using the brakes also There's all these stories of the old NASCAR drivers back in the sixties - their chief mechanics would get them to drive from Detroit to Chicago and back without using the brakes once!

And I know how you feel about the SO/other people driving, jeez, I find it terrifying sometimes. Worst was when I was in the US recently and my friends there drove with the American Waver - where they wobble about from one edge of their gigantic lane to the other like a ping-ping ball. I do not make a very good passenger.