I picked up my L & K 2.0 pd DSG Estate today -a pre-facelift model. I spent a deal of time considering the DSG versus the manual having spent the last four years driving a 130 1.9 Elegance tdi hatch.

Fuel consumption . . . O.K, the car's only got 100miles on it but there is a massive chasm between the economy of this car and my 130. I know that driven back from the dealers in the same fashion, my 1.9 would have easily returned 60-65mpg on the trip computer. The DSG managed 44mpg!! Even allowing for a tight engine this is disappointing. I was expecting poorer consumption but the difference is really rather surprising.

Hopefully there will be a way to override the rain-sensing windscreen wipers. What an utter PIA they are!! This is a good example of engineers developing a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. They give a single wipe at the merest hint of moisture and a transparent if not slightly dirty screen is then morphed into a hideous smeary mess. . . . fingers crossed that this can be sorted out.

I've never routinely driven an automatic but don't anyone underestimate the innate desire that remains within your left leg to involuntarily stamp on the brakes when you approach a junction. I did it so violently on one occasion that I stalled the car and nearly had someone run into the back of me. I'm going to have to either sit on my left leg for the next week or so or velcro my shoe to the carpet!!!!

The biggest concern I have about the DSG is something that never even occured to me.

When my house was built, the builders constructed the garage with two single doors instead of a double. Each entrance has a ramp of about 10 inches in depth at an incline of about 30degrees so that the garage floor is about 4 inches or so above the height of the gravel outside. Now then, the door frame is about 2 inches wider than the wing mirrors. With my 130 manual, I could slip the clutch and dribble the car forwards extremely precisely and slowly so as to ensure the car was centred in the doorway and avoid ripping off the mirrors. With the DSG, this is going to be heart-stopping each time I put the car away. Sure, in "drive" the car will creep forwards very slowly on a level surface but the moment the wheels come into contact with the ramp the car stops and requires a little use of the accelarator . . no movement . . . a little more. . . no movement . . . just a wee, wee bit more squidge of accelarator and the car lurches forward 10 - 12 inches suddenly and I stamp on the brake to stop it. This cycle repeats istelf 3 times until I have the wing mirrors through the door and then I just drive in normally!!! Unless I can come up with some way of accurately centering the car when driving into the garage, it is only a matter of time before I rip off the wing mirrors!!:thumbdwn:

This also begs the question about driving up ramps when changing sump oil. I normally do my own servicing and would just drive the 130 straight up a pair of ramps so that I could get to the sump. I have visions with this thing of it sitting at the base of the ramps whilst I gradually apply more and more accelarator in a gentle and progressive fashion only for the wretched car to fly up the ramp and off the end if I'm not quick enough with the brakes. The implications of this are obvious and it is very bad news. In fact, I'm quite certain that attempting to drive up a pair of ramps to change the oil will end in tears. . . . so much so that I doubt I'll even attempt it.

Driving it is actually quite good fun and slipping across into manual mode is quite entertaining. I really can't see any purpose at all for sport mode given that the standard drive programme varies according to driving style and there is always the kickdown function in any of the gate positions.

On balance, the ramp and garage door issue are probably specific to my circumstances but represent enough of a problem so that if I can't develop a more progressive technique, I would have definitely gone for the manual if given the choice again. Otherwise it is a fine piece of kit and the car overall very well made and a nice place to be. Cruise control is fabulous to have and I'm quite convinced will make longer journeys far more relaxing. The brake stamping is extremely alarming but just needs a little brain realignment - hopefully this will happen before I acquire a DSG badge in the form of a reprofiled rear end on the car:D

The car seems more quiet than the 130 and the handling more taught - probably due to nothing more than worn tyres and a 69000 mileage difference!!

Very pleased with Alcantara seats and the general finish.

Black cars!!! - it looked dirty when I picked it up - Still, it does look smart and the silver roof rails set it off nicely.

Only other extrea is tyre pressure monitoring which for just over £80 has to be one of the best safety aids for the money that you can possibly get. I will check all the tyre pressures first thing tomorrow and calibrate the monitoring system.

Only other silly design issue is that if you inadvertently forget that you've gone back to "drive" and think you're in "manual" mode, knocking the gear lever forward expecting to change up a gear will see the rev counter shoot around the dial as the gear lever will move forward into neutral. This is not good since you WILL do it sooner or later. It should at least require the gate lock to be depressed for this to happen but strangely, it doesn't. I know, cos I did this too!!!!

The 130 had hydraulic power steering which I've always felt to be better than electric designs. I had a Civic Type R with the latter and the steering was horrid. The 140 PD has electric power steering and it has plenty of feel and is well weighted. In fact, I could tell no difference between this and the steering on the 130.

O.K folks, that's about it. I'm just going out to the garage to lick my new steed all over and bend my good woman over the bonnet before I retire to the lounge to read all the Caveats in the owners manual

Ciao from Sunny Lincolnshire

I hope you enjoy yourself : "I'm just going out to the garage to lick my new steed all over and bend my good woman over the bonnet before I retire to the lounge to read all the Caveats in the owners manual" !

I'll make no comment about the DSG (I am a control freak, so I prefer manual gearboxes).

When you are reading your owners manual you might notice mention of the possibility of adjusting the sensitivity of the rain sensing wipers - I advise you don't get too excited at the prospect, as the reality may be somewhat less than you hoped for. I run with mine off a lot, and just flick the stalk downwards for a single wipe.

I much prefer the manually adjustable interval wipers on my Transporter to the auto ones on my Octy. Some people think their rain sensing wipers work perfectly OK. I've yet to decide whether that is due to different expectations (ie I'm too fussy) or quantitatively different performance.

DSG is awesome-o 4000 and I defy anyone to deny otherwise (Once they've firstly found out what DSG means, and had a ride in one)

Nice review though.

I never had problems with my left foot.. it's never been used to break before :| I assume you mean you are trying to ride the brake pedal as you would the clutch in a manual?

Soon this will disappear and the real joy of driving will kick in when you realise you might as well chop your left leg off

I can understand how the slope into your garage could be a problem.

I have a slight step at my garage door, so when I reverse in the car tends to stop, but then it realises it's not moving and decides by itself to give it more power (varies the clutch rather than revs the engine) so it starts moving again. Does your car do this if you don't touch the brake or accelerator, or is the slope just too much?

It can be annoying if you need to brake while going up the slope, then when you take your foot off the brake, it rolls back down the slope momentarily before the clutch engages again, unless you use the handbrake (or have hill hold?).

DSG is awesome-o 4000 and I defy anyone to deny otherwise (Once they've firstly found out what DSG means, and had a ride in one)

Nice review though.

I never had problems with my left foot.. it's never been used to break before :| I assume you mean you are trying to ride the brake pedal as you would the clutch in a manual?

Soon this will disappear and the real joy of driving will kick in when you realise you might as well chop your left leg off

No . . . It keeps trying to depress that phantom clutch when I'm coming up to a junction. . . . . finds the brake instead!!!!!

No . . . It keeps trying to depress that phantom clutch when I'm coming up to a junction. . . . . finds the brake instead!!!!!

That's what I said.. lol

DSG is awesome-o 4000 and I defy anyone to deny otherwise (Once they've firstly found out what DSG means, and had a ride in one)

Nice review though.

I never had problems with my left foot.. it's never been used to break before :| I assume you mean you are trying to ride the brake pedal as you would the clutch in a manual?

Soon this will disappear and the real joy of driving will kick in when you realise you might as well chop your left leg off

I'd agree with that. I'd only ever driven a manual before and never used my left foot for braking.

The best thing to do is make use of the footrest to get your left foot as far out of the way as possible, then you're not so tempted to use it.

Re fuel economy. If you look at the book figures for the 1.9 and the 2.0DSG you should have been expecting a shift (57.6 > 47.1. Even if you had gone for the 1.9DSG there would have been a massive difference, but I and many others can attest to the fact that it will get better.

The hill issue is one that you will refine as you get more used to the car. The more patience that you have, the slower it will pull away. I am not saying that in 2 years time that you will have perfect starts on inclines but it will be better. Shame they can't program an electronic 'creep' mode for this and parking situations!

I'm sure you will love it! TD

(left foot went to sleep after 2 weeks!)

Fuel economy will improve dramatically over time. When I got my non DSG 2.0TDI it was doing high 40s mpg at 12K miles, now with 67K miles on its doing low 60s on most runs. With only 100 miles the engine will still be very tight and it needs to loosen up and bed in.

I also think the dsg is very good apart from manouvering into a tight space , facing up a steep hill, then its a nightmare. I felt a novice and i have been driving for a very long time!!.

just a wee, wee bit more squidge of accelarator and the car lurches forward 10 - 12 inches suddenly and I stamp on the brake to stop it. This cycle repeats istelf 3 times until I have the wing mirrors through the door and then I just drive in normally!!! Unless I can come up with some way of accurately centering the car when driving into the garage, it is only a matter of time before I rip off the wing mirrors!!:thumbdwn:

Low speed control is a bit strange at first. Try coming off the brake and feathering it back on- that works for me. Standing on the brakes disengages the clutch too much.

Try this out away from the doors!

I really can't see any purpose at all for sport mode given that the standard drive programme varies according to driving style and there is always the kickdown function in any of the gate positions.

Me neither. There's little point of something that holds on to revs with a diesel. I've found that with time you can modulate your throttle foot to make very quick progress in D.

I'm just going out to the garage to lick my new steed all over and bend my good woman over the bonnet before I retire to the lounge to read all the Caveats in the owners manual

Ciao from Sunny Lincolnshire

Jolly good. Mind the paintwork .

Edited 19 January, 200917 yr by cjb

Ah fuel economy is something I wanted to ask about.

When I started monitoring my fuel consumption (properly, by working it out) I got 48mpg

Second tank full, 41... :| I wasn't particularly driving hard, but certainly as I am getting used to the DSG equipped car day-to-day, I know my driving is getting more confident.

However, the previous owner was an older chap, so I wonder if he took care of it and never really drove the car hard at all.

There is only 22K on the clock too... So obviously I still need to give some more time.

In my last car, 1.9 TDI Ibiza - I was getting around 48-49 after 59K (doing the same journey) and I WAS driving that a bit harder than I probably should.

I've "trained" my left foot to do the braking. Its easy after a very short time and might help with your ramp problem. If your left foot is hovering over the brake pedal, you can hit it a lot quicker than your right one can.

dill

No . . . It keeps trying to depress that phantom clutch when I'm coming up to a junction. . . . . finds the brake instead!!!!!

You're not the only one - I had that problem test driving a Golf GTI with DSG

Thanks for the advice about feathering the brake with my left foot which makes sense but I will practise it away from the garage - I might try it with a couple of bricks up against the front wheels and see what happens. I just assumed that when stationary, if I even touched the footbrake, the clutch would immediately disengage fully??:confused:

I think I'll go for some botox injections in my left leg to stop me pressing the "clutch" !!

The other observation that I would make is a little neutral. The L & K comes with Zenon lights which can be a very expensive option on a lot of cars - standard on the L & K . . . not worth paying for in my opinion despite all the rave comments I've heard. O.K, I've driven cars with projector lights and have a Triumph motorcycle with these fitted and they are garbage so I will have to upgrade it but a standard halogen headlight is pretty good and the improvement of the zenons is minimal if you've previously had these on your car.

The zenons on the L & K are limited to dip beam as I understand it and there is a noticeable difference in colour temperature between dip and main. Sure, the dip beam is very bright and appears to have a much more defined cut off than a standard halogen. The hedgerow on either side of the row is immersed in "daylight" but . . . . that ain't where I'm driving. The view of the road ahead is limited by the cut off just as with a standard dip beam - both allow a pretty good view of the road. The bottom line is that I wouldn't want to drive any faster on dip at night with the zenons than with a standard halogen, so what's the big deal with these things unless you're trading up from projector beam headlights garbage luminous flux output???

Again, thanks for the advice re feathering the brake - my left leg is gonna get really confused now!!!!!!

I'm lucky - My dad's had his car for 4 years, and on occasion has let me drive it.

Practice for the day when I got mine! lol

Thanks for the advice about feathering the brake with my left foot which makes sense but I will practise it away from the garage - I might try it with a couple of bricks up against the front wheels and see what happens. I just assumed that when stationary, if I even touched the footbrake, the clutch would immediately disengage fully??:confused:

[snip]

Again, thanks for the advice re feathering the brake - my left leg is gonna get really confused now!!!!!!

I was more suggesting genlty braking with your right foot. If you hit the brakes hardish the clutch almost totally disengages, brake gently, and it seems to hold better.

I don't have a steep slope, but my drive is gravel (so the car doesn't just roll on it) and very short (about 4" longer than the Leon), and I found for a few weeks I'd kangaroo the last foot or so. With practice it gets easier.

You'll also find that the clutch engeges harder a very short time after letting go of the brake.