Just been reading the Autocar roadtest of the new Golf and this is one of the testers notes:

"Strong 'creep' is hard to counter with the handbrake in traffic, so you're more likely to dazzle drivers behind with the foot brake"

and under "Jobs for the future":

"Give the handbrake more bite to stop the DSG creep in traffic"

Oh dear oh dear.

Indeed, the DSG box wont last very long if you use the handbrake as the clutches will be eaten away in no time. DSG should only be held on the footbrake as this disengages the drive. If the handbrake must be used then the selector should be moved to "N".

Indeed, the DSG box wont last very long if you use the handbrake as the clutches will be eaten away in no time. DSG should only be held on the footbrake as this disengages the drive. If the handbrake must be used then the selector should be moved to "N".

Absolutely. The manual says so. You can feel the clutches engage as you lift off the brake.

Anyway, holding any auto in D with the handbrake is asking for trouble. One slip of the throttle.....

The answer is D + footbrake for short stops, neutral + handbrake for long ones. That's what I was taught, and is, I believe, the recomended thing to do. Autocar seem to need a driving lesson.

That's right. The IAM way.

I thought Autocar road testers would have a bit more sense though?

They don't. On their first Fabia road test in 2000, they mentioned the build quality and illustrated with the fact that on the test car one of the radio buttons fell off. If they had read the manual, it would have told them that the station search button on the radio was also removable as an anti theft measure and once removed a red LED behind it would flash.

If they can't work a simple security device on a radio, how can they be expected to realise that a DSG is not a conventional automatic transmission.

Idiots - scary that a car does what it says. RTFM!! I know this one is about a Skoda, but no doubt they do the same with other cars they don't quite understand either :(

Note to Autocar - DSG is a clutchless manual gearbox, not a slushbox you bunch of .