DSG - How Is It?

[JohnMorr]

Had decided that our move from Octy 1 to 2 would be accompanied by a move to 2.0 TDI 140 bhp and DSG. Up in Glasgow for the day yesterday and National (bless them) came up with a SEAT Altea Sport with the same engine/gearbox combination. Also with stiff suspension, which was a literal pain in the backside. But I assume that the drivetrain is the same as the Octy.

Now, as for the DSG. It wasn't as smooth on take-off as I had expected, but adequate. A bit of creep when stationary just like a conventional auto, which I wasn't expecting - presume the clutch disengages fully if hand or foot brake is on, or there's going to be serious wear over time. Changes up and down on the move were slick, but I'd expected them to be near instantaneous - there was a minor pause. The power came in rather abruptly - OK in gentle driving, but a bit of a lunge when the foot went down. Tried kick-down at about 20 mph and got two seconds-worth of scrabbling wheelspin - presumably no traction control on a SEAT Sport!

On balance, I'd still go for the DSG, but I'd like to know whether my experiences with the SEAT were similar to the Octy 2 - or had the DSG been tweaked to be more twitchy to suit that car?

One other thing: the SEAT display showed what gear the DSG was in - from the pictures I've seen the Octy shows only the basic PRND and not the actual gear - is that so?

[bengie]

the gear change isn't instant but very quick, quicker than we could do everytime, i know i can change fbetween certain gears very quickly but from any gear to any gear.

and its obviously going to lunge at times, it is still a manual gear box just automated not like an actual automatic gearbox. if you stuck it into gear quick and booted it would lunge

[jjc]

one of my staff got the Golf 2.0 DSG so I had to have a play before I gave it to him and I found the change to be very smooth. The only thing I found was that you could not get as quick a takeoff as you can with the manual as to get the best from the turbo you need to slip the clutch slightly which you could not do. I have been told though that it can do drag starts if you hold the brake on and then floor the accelerator drop the brake at 3000 and it will fly. (have not been able to get him to test this yet)

John

[JohnMorr]

Thanks, both - I think that was my problem. I felt that the clutch was waiting until it had engaged fully before feeding the power through - whereas in a manual take-off one can vary the clutch/power balance however one wishes.

Any other thoughts on the creep and display issues?

[Royski]

I'm pretty sure the maxidot indicates the actual gear the dsg is in, I remember reading it in a review somewhere. I've ordered an O2 dsg with the 1.9Tdi engine although I've only driven the manual 1.9 & 2.0 Tdi versions, so I hope it lives up to the reviews. I found the 1.9 manual powerful enough for my needs and hope that it feels ok with the dsg box as the performance figures are slightly down, possibly due to the extra weight or different gear ratios.

[Josh_PoloGTi]

I drove a MK5 Golf GTI with DSG on Monday.

The gearchanges were instant, with absolutely no delay when changing up through the gears when accelerating.

I kept my foot planted to the floor and used the flappy paddles to change... It just kept going.

I really, really liked the car... Didn't *feel* as quick as my Fabia (due to the linear power delivery with NO lag!), but it did go pretty quick and with the instant gearchanges, I think the 0-60 will be pretty impressive.

I think if you get the DSG Box, you NEED the Flappy Paddles!

[WW_VRS]

They're meant to go together & then it sure sounds like a very, very nice combination

Should also cope with a bit of a tune-up of the engine without requiring replacement for slippage anywhere near as quickly if I read between the lines?

[machadof]

I also am interested in the DSG gearbox, my concerns are about the smoothness of low speed maneuvers. i.e. parking or pulling away slowly. I heard people complaining about some jolts during these maneuvers, anyone has experienced this?

[JohnMorr]

But as I understand it, the DSG in the new Octy doesn't come with the flappy paddles - can they be fitted?

[StevoWarby]

I also read somewhere that with the 2.0 Tdi, you can't tune it up at all. The DSG gearbox can only take so much torque through it, before it falls apart, and the 2.0 TDi isn't far off that limit as standard.

Stevo

[patnmand]

DSG in Octy II displays the actual gear, whether you have maxidot or not. It is nice to see, but I found it a bit distracting to begin with as I kept looking down to see what gear it was in!

Slow speed manoevring, I did have lurchy reversing to begin with. On hills it's not a problem as you can control the speed with the accelerator like a normal auto. The problem is on the flat! You put it into reverse, take your foot off the brake (starts creeping), but it disengages the drive as soon as you touch the brake - so you touch the brake and stop. Once you're used to it it's OK though - you learn to be very gentle with the brake.

It can be a bit 'lungey' especially if you floor the accelerator, and you can get caught out in a non-turbo hole at low speeds, followed by scrabbling when the turbo kicks in - but this is no different to a manual.

All in all I've had no regrets so far, it takes a little bit of getting used to, but it's a brilliant gearbox.

I suppose the only other downside that still hangs over me it that it's a very complex piece of kit, and I worry about long-term reliability.

[Royski]

Originally Posted by patnmand

DSG in Octy II displays the actual gear, whether you have maxidot or not. It is nice to see, but I found it a bit distracting to begin with as I kept looking down to see what gear it was in!

The maxidot comes as standard on the DSG, doesn't it?

[JohnMorr]

Don't think so - it's shown as a GBP140 extra on DriveTheDeal, which price includes the multi-function steering wheel, while Skoda UK show maxidot as included only in L&K versions.

[WW_VRS]

I reckon it's probably worth spending that 'little' extra if you're spending that kinda cash on a car (unlike the SatNav option which is 2.5k pretty much as option, where you can buy the bit for a lot less than 1k)

[JohnMorr]

Agree about the SatNav - but you can spend a lot less than GBP1000 on a TomTom, from GBP370 (for the basic 300), which can be moved from car to car and sits wherever you want in your line of sight, rather than down in the central console. We've got the earlier TomTom Go, and I can't see why anyone would want to spend the extra money on a built-in Skoda unit.

[Witchfinder]

Originally Posted by JohnMorr

Agree about the SatNav - but you can spend a lot less than GBP1000 on a TomTom, from GBP370 (for the basic 300), which can be moved from car to car and sits wherever you want in your line of sight, rather than down in the central console. We've got the earlier TomTom Go, and I can't see why anyone would want to spend the extra money on a built-in Skoda unit.

On a Skoda, I can see your point, but on any sort of Exec car, people don't want the "pikey" option.

[JohnMorr]

Sad, innit?

[Expatman]

Interesting to see how few "Exec" cars are bought with a SatNav - I checked this out before I ordered an Octy L&K and very few "Execs" seemed to be specced with SatNav - company fleet managers and private buyers both seem to be reluctant to spend that type of money on a system that is likely to be obsolete within a couple of years.

[WW_VRS]

Also - had an interesting convo with two peeps here who have a company car. One has a 1-series, the other has an Audi, think it was the A3 but I forgot to ask (he recently changed it so not seen it myself).

Neither of the two has aircon in it. Now fair enough if you don't travel much in the car, but these people travel at least as much as I do, probably a lot more. I'd not even consider a car without aircon any longer (when buying newish). Older cars is different matter, you want the cheapest reliable motor so then extras can also be potential cost sources.

Was kinda amazed about a 20-odd-k car not having aircon when it's not say an ultra-light sporty thing... Weird right.

As for the GPS - there is a second reason for it, 'even' with Skoda: the cost is insane. The SatNav option is 2.5k (!!) when you can actually purchase the kit for about say 700 quid. This means that even if you throw away the Symphony and put this new one in, it is STILL cheaper, and you could get the dealer to fit it for you probably for an hours worth of labour.

That in my book is bad pricing.

[Atomic Sprout]

I'm fairly sure the non-maxi dot display still shows the gear at the bottom. The car I test drove didn't have Maxi dot and I thought I rememberd seeing the gear indicated at the bottom. An important point about the launch control feature on the DSG. This is NOT available on the Octy. I specifically asked skoda customer care last week. They told me that this feature is not available on the Octy brand. At least this stopped me trying it out on my car

As for gear change speeds, I think that the sports mode is supposed to be quicker for this. Not sure why the normal mode isn't the same? Might be that the changes are a little more harsh?