Hi,

I've posted before that I'm not a huge DSG fan as I find it lacks control & is a little clunky when doing a 3 point turn.

Today I've had a bit of a revelation with the 'box' & thought I'd post my findings.

1/ Control.

My main concern was the way the gearbox let you coast up to a roundabout in 5th gear & then hesitated as you wanted to pull onto the roundabout.

I'd been getting round this by using the paddles, but still found the box's delay in shifting down gears rather frustrating as it seems to want to come down sequentially rather than allowing you to skip from 5th to 3rd.

Today I've found the answer. Approaching the roundabout shift the lever back into Sport mode, there seems to be less delay & the 'box' hops down to 3rd (obviously dependent on your speed, but it seems just the gear you need for some engine breaking), if it's a tight roundabout (or you're turning right) the box may do an additional shift down to 2nd, but the good news is that it's ready to go without the nasty delay. As you exit the roundabout and straighten up just push the gearlever forward into D (unless you're going for it! ).

2/ 3 Point turn.

I know that like many I've found doing a 3 point turn with the DSG box slow & lacking fluency.

I read in the manual that you don't need to depress and hold the brake if you're shifting between D & R within 2 seconds. With this in mind I've found that as you're coming to a halt you just push the lever forward to N then R as you move in reverse before you've come to a stop once again move the lever through N & into D...the key difference is that you don't have to come to a dead stop every time you want to shift from D to R and visa versa.

I hope my revelations help others as today I found myself enjoying the 'box' for the first time rather than being frustrated by it.

Hi,

I've posted before that I'm not a huge DSG fan as I find it lacks control & is a little clunky when doing a 3 point turn.

Today I've had a bit of a revelation with the 'box' & thought I'd post my findings.

1/ Control.

My main concern was the way the gearbox let you coast up to a roundabout in 5th gear & then hesitated as you wanted to pull onto the roundabout.

I'd been getting round this by using the paddles, but still found the box's delay in shifting down gears rather frustrating as it seems to want to come down sequentially rather than allowing you to skip from 5th to 3rd.

Today I've found the answer. Approaching the roundabout shift the lever back into Sport mode, there seems to be less delay & the 'box' hops down to 3rd (obviously dependent on your speed, but it seems just the gear you need for some engine breaking), if it's a tight roundabout (or you're turning right) the box may do an additional shift down to 2nd, but the good news is that it's ready to go without the nasty delay. As you exit the roundabout and straighten up just push the gearlever forward into D (unless you're going for it! ).

2/ 3 Point turn.

I know that like many I've found doing a 3 point turn with the DSG box slow & lacking fluency.

I read in the manual that you don't need to depress and hold the brake if you're shifting between D & R within 2 seconds. With this in mind I've found that as you're coming to a halt you just push the lever forward to N then R as you move in reverse before you've come to a stop once again move the lever through N & into D...the key difference is that you don't have to come to a dead stop every time you want to shift from D to R and visa versa.

I hope my revelations help others as today I found myself enjoying the 'box' for the first time rather than being frustrated by it.

Good info this, I will be trying this tomorrow!

Have you also found that if you are manually paddleshifting and want to go back to full auto, a long press on either paddle will send it back into Drive. It took me a while to find this, as ever I should have read the manual.

With 4k miles on mine seems to be learning to change down earlier now when descending gradients which is welcome too.

Thanks for this..I'll give it a go

My wifes DSG is far smoother than mine.

I cant say Ive noticed any problem changing down

Edited 6 December, 201015 yr by ChrisRs

Yeah i've been doing this for about 5 months. The hesitation on roundabouts was my only complaint. Once I figured this out its a joy. Paddles are also good as if you knock it into manual and go into the roundabout in 2nd then need to power out or change up to 3rd use tap the stick forward rather than fumbling for the correct paddle if its all a little fast. A Roundabout is the only time you would need to actually let go of the wheel thus possibly loosing track of the paddles on a spirited drive.

Thanks for the tip about getting it back in auto mode after using the paddles.

Just to clarify, I've not had any problems with it shifting down...it's just the delay & the fact that you can't hit the down paddle twice & expect it to go from 5th to 3rd...it just goes to 4th & then you have to hit the paddle again to get to 3rd. You can adapt to this by just starting your downshifts sooner, but shifting to Sport seems as natural as it would be in a manual car which makes it more fluent & enjoyable.

On another topic...the heated seats. I've been so impressed that I timed them with a friend last night. It was showing 0. degrees & from starting the car we switched on the seats to level 2. Within 30 seconds we both felt the heat coming through & by 2 minutes we both wanted to switch to level 1 to cool off a little!

On the Octavia this morning it took 3.30 to start to feel some heat through the seat (leather seats though, which may not help). :(

Can't say that I bother with the paddles too much, the novelty soon wore off for me in the beginning.

Regarding the delay at roundabouts , are you sure you're not all approaching roundabouts at too fast a speed, I'd think no wonder there's a delay Personally, I find if you approach slowly, then put your foot down hard on the pedal, this 'delay' is much less especially if you have it in sports mode....

Juts a quick example of the fun I'm having in this super car.....Yesterday, a BMW driver in a 330d ( why are all BMW drivers sad and veer all over the place ,trying to own every piece of road??? ) came right up behind me and thought he'd be clever and try overtake me.....well, I had a nice surprise for him, I slipped it into sports mode and he was shell shocked as my little fabia blitzed ahead in super quick time.... yes, inevitably he caught me up but I enjoy very much those little bursts of acceleration which are leaving more cars behind than I though imaginable!! This is where I'm finding the new vRS has a huge advantage over the old. Never before have overtaking, or standing starts been so much bloody fun! If that's not a good reason why you should buy and enjoy the new dsg gearbox ,then you all want your heads testing!

It's bloody brilliant!

Edited 6 December, 201015 yr by bingo765

This is where I'm finding the new vRS has a huge advantage over the old.

Booooo! Leave us Mk1-ers alone!

Mine'll suprise most cars in bursts of acceleration; although they're probably more shocked by the soot than the speed!

I have to agree though the DSG gearbox was the one thing that sood out on my test drive.

Yes it seemed quick.

yes it seemed a step on in terms of build quality

but the gearbox is awesome.

Can't say that I bother with the paddles too much, the novelty soon wore off for me in the beginning.

Regarding the delay at roundabouts , are you sure you're not all approaching roundabouts at too fast a speed, I'd think no wonder there's a delay Personally, I find if you approach slowly, then put your foot down hard on the pedal, this 'delay' is much less especially if you have it in sports mode....

Juts a quick example of the fun I'm having in this super car.....Yesterday, a BMW driver in a 330d ( why are all BMW drivers sad and veer all over the place ,trying to own every piece of road??? ) came right up behind me and thought he'd be clever and try overtake me.....well, I had a nice surprise for him, I slipped it into sports mode and he was shell shocked as my little fabia blitzed ahead in super quick time.... yes, inevitably he caught me up but I enjoy very much those little bursts of acceleration which are leaving more cars behind than I though imaginable!! This is where I'm finding the new vRS has a huge advantage over the old. Never before have overtaking, or standing starts been so much bloody fun! If that's not a good reason why you should buy and enjoy the new dsg gearbox ,then you all want your heads testing!

It's bloody brilliant!

hello there i have had my vrs over a month now got 700 miles on it i have never felt this delay the car does everything i want it to at roundabouts junctions ,its a dream to drive ,after reading this thread i even took her out for a drive didnt feel anything just push throttle down and goes ,must be realy bad for people to put it in sports mode and change gear with paddles i would get the car checked out .enjoying this car so much its a proper giggle going to get it lowered after christmas since skoda say its ok to with the approved springs ,that was the only thing about the car it sat a little to high .

.....Yesterday, a BMW driver in a 330d ( why are all BMW drivers sad and veer all over the place ,trying to own every piece of road??? )

Probably find they're tramlining...........they're notorious for it!

My DSG box seems fine

I must admit, the difference between the 60hp Yaris (old car) and thew new 180hp VRS is incredible.

It is such a smooth engine as well, the DSG box just makes it better imo.

(PS: The flappy paddle novelty is yet to wear off for me, I love them!)

I only use the flappy paddles when i'm having fun on the lanes. Day to day I leave it in D. Sport is completely useless other than the roundabout trick and for blasting off in 1st & 2nd then manaully changing with the power band after that.

Interesting feedback.

I'm glad some others also do this as to me, it is like night and day.

I certainly don't agree that's it's because I'm arriving too quickly at roundabouts, in fact it's even more pronounced when I'm just slowly approaching. I certainly could be accused of not stepping hard enough on the gas as we're just running the car in, but IMHO the box (in D) is just too sleepy in this kind of situation & Sports mode seems to give it a can of Red Bull!

I agree that the car is too high...I'd buy the lowered susp. tomorrow....it's just convincing the wife!

Probably find they're tramlining...........they're notorious for it!

I don't think the car looks too high at all, but I'm not saying it wouldn't look even better if it was an inch or too lower.

How much lower do these ' skoda approved ' springs allow the car to drop by?

Excuse me for my lack of car knowledge, but wouldn't there be a trade off in tyre wear if it's lowered? Also, how much would it cost to fit the new springs??

Edited 6 December, 201015 yr by bingo765

I don't think the car looks too high at all, but I'm not saying it wouldn't look even better if it was an inch or too lower.

How much lower do these ' skoda approved ' springs allow the car to drop by?

Excuse me for my lack of car knowledge, but wouldn't there be a trade off in tyre wear if it's lowered? Also, how much would it cost to fit the new springs??

Aren't new springs classed as a mod as far as insurance goes too?

Hi,

I've posted before that I'm not a huge DSG fan as I find it lacks control & is a little clunky when doing a 3 point turn.

Today I've had a bit of a revelation with the 'box' & thought I'd post my findings.

1/ Control.

My main concern was the way the gearbox let you coast up to a roundabout in 5th gear & then hesitated as you wanted to pull onto the roundabout.

I'd been getting round this by using the paddles, but still found the box's delay in shifting down gears rather frustrating as it seems to want to come down sequentially rather than allowing you to skip from 5th to 3rd.

Today I've found the answer. Approaching the roundabout shift the lever back into Sport mode, there seems to be less delay & the 'box' hops down to 3rd (obviously dependent on your speed, but it seems just the gear you need for some engine breaking), if it's a tight roundabout (or you're turning right) the box may do an additional shift down to 2nd, but the good news is that it's ready to go without the nasty delay. As you exit the roundabout and straighten up just push the gearlever forward into D (unless you're going for it! ).

2/ 3 Point turn.

I know that like many I've found doing a 3 point turn with the DSG box slow & lacking fluency.

I read in the manual that you don't need to depress and hold the brake if you're shifting between D & R within 2 seconds. With this in mind I've found that as you're coming to a halt you just push the lever forward to N then R as you move in reverse before you've come to a stop once again move the lever through N & into D...the key difference is that you don't have to come to a dead stop every time you want to shift from D to R and visa versa.

I hope my revelations help others as today I found myself enjoying the 'box' for the first time rather than being frustrated by it.

Hi Doug,

Glad you are pleased with your new car. Haven't yet had the pleasure of driving the VRS just yet, but having had some brief experience with DSG in a new VW Passat belonging to anogther family member, I noticed a similar slowness to change coming onto roundabouts. I had the car for 3 weeks (lovely car with the 170ps diesel engine) and when I collected it there were just 220 or so miles on the clock. I covered only another 300 miles in it in the time I had it but already there was an improvement in the speed of the box to change. However, the DSG has to learn how you drive. With so few miles on it, it really didn't know what my driving record was so it hesitated, unsure about what gear it thought I would want and when, and falling back on it's basic coding of what to do. My brother in law who owned the car told me he had already noticed the same thing concerning the delayed change, but after me giving it back to him he said he had noticed a considerable improvement. By the time the car had covered 2,000 miles, in Drive it was really nippy and with no hesitation in any situation. It learned good! I suspect yours will be the same.

Aren't new springs classed as a mod as far as insurance goes too?

They most certainly are. If you dont declare them the insurance company wont know and will happily continue taking your premiums. However, when an accident occurs you will find a loss adjuster calls. Her job is to find any reason to deny a claim, and undeclared mods will make her day very pleasant.

A work colleague had a no-fault (they used to call these knock-for-knock) accident which wrote off his pampered Corsa. Loss adjuster found undeclared aftermarket alloys and lowered springs. £4k claim denied, the wreckage returned to him and premium refunded. He was a little upset.

They most certainly are. If you dont declare them the insurance company wont know and will happily continue taking your premiums. However, when an accident occurs you will find a loss adjuster calls. Her job is to find any reason to deny a claim, and undeclared mods will make her day very pleasant.

A work colleague had a no-fault (they used to call these knock-for-knock) accident which wrote off his pampered Corsa. Loss adjuster found undeclared aftermarket alloys and lowered springs. £4k claim denied, the wreckage returned to him and premium refunded. He was a little upset.

Thought so.

Another reason I won't be fitting them then (not that I was going too anyway, they didn't really interest me, handling and ride is fine as it is)

Edited 6 December, 201015 yr by Stu vRS

I don't have the VRS but the 1.2TSI 105bhp with DSG and I agree re sports mode - on some dicey roundabouts I will pop it into sport mode to ensure I don't get caught out by having to come off the gas mid-roundabout because someone edges forward/pulls in front of me - I find coming off the boil then takes a few seconds before the powers picks up again, so sport mode keeps the turbo spooling and the torque is there. Suppose thats the trouble with small turbo cars - when the turbo is singing it's a fantastic car but off-turbo and the 1.2 isn't quick enough.

Thought so.

Another reason I won't be fitting them then (not that I was going too anyway, they didn't really interest me, handling and ride is fine as it is)

Whats the big deal? Decent companies wont charge you any extra. I'm with greenlight. Eibach Coilovers, Revo, Blow Off Valve and rear Antiroll bar all declared on my 1.4TSi... Change in premium.. ZERO. Thats with an 18.5k Value. I'm 25 5years NCD, £520 for the year.

Springs will add minimal cost to the insurance. Also why would they affect tire wear?? They only way that would happen is if an amature cocked up the fitting.

Edited 7 December, 201015 yr by mardon

I find coming off the boil then takes a few seconds before the powers picks up again...

I don't think this is entirely due to the DSG. I have driven a couple of TSIs, and I have consistently found a lag in pick-up of about one second. Stepping on the accelerator at any speed will exhibit a lag. (This is not just due to the turbo because it happens at low revs). For me, it is the only thing that spoils an otherwise terrific engine. My Mk1 2.0i has immediate throttle response - but it costs in petrol.

I often wondered about the peddle lag and if it’s down to the fly by wire throttle technology or the DSG. You do get used to it, at first though you may depress the accelerator a little, nothing happen so press it some more (all within a split second) and next thing your wheel spinning out of the junction looking like a tool

At first the car did not feel as rewarding as my Cupra Tdi due to the manual box. Now I’m used it I love it and you get just as much satisfaction moving up and down the box with the paddles on a twisty country road make use of the far far better handling and power band. Just be careful you don’t think you’re playing on Froza and test physics too much

I've got 2 other cars with manual box's, fly by wire throttle's & one of them is turbo'd....no lag..I' positive it's a DSG issue...I'd be interested if anybody has driven the 1.2 TSI or 1.4 TSI (Non VRS/GTI version in VW group cars) with a manual box as this would narrow down the issue. From using the paddles at low rpm with different levels of throttle input I've found no trace of lag or lumps in the torque curve...it's a lovely engine.

I'd be interested if anybody has driven the 1.2 TSI or 1.4 TSI (Non VRS/GTI version in VW group cars) with a manual box as this would narrow down the issue.

As I said, I have driven two 1.2 tsi, non-dsg Skodas. One was a Yeti and one was a Fabia. Both had a delay of about one second when flooring the accelerator, whatever engine speed or gear they were in. So some of the delay is definitely not due to the dsg box.

I presume there must be some way around this delay on the VRS - otherwise how could they get the 0-60 time? People pay £thousands to shave one second off the 0-60 time

As I said, I have driven two 1.2 tsi, non-dsg Skodas. One was a Yeti and one was a Fabia. Both had a delay of about one second when flooring the accelerator, whatever engine speed or gear they were in. So some of the delay is definitely not due to the dsg box.

I presume there must be some way around this delay on the VRS - otherwise how could they get the 0-60 time? People pay £thousands to shave one second off the 0-60 time

Yeah plant it before the quartermile light goes green, this is what I did and the car would fly off the line just as it turns. Embarrassing if you get wrong though

If you look at my vid’s on youtube (mardon85) you can see I time it wrong against a 260BHP mk3 Ibiza cupra and he gets ahead. Next thing I come and boost and boom, i’m gone