Do you prefer using -

D - Using drive most of the time

S - Having sport mode engaged

G - Using the gears and paddles

Or a good combination of all 3

I was prompted by another posting where the DSG box wasn't liked at all.

Maybe it was just plonked in drive and driven like an auto ?

I personally tend to use the gears as much as I can now as I feel the car is in too much of a rush to get into 7th.

Love DSG though.

For me the DSG goes into 'D' for driving off and going up the gears,

Really it is never into 'S', even for fast overtakes because i want it up to 7th and not held in 6th..

(have practiced with it quite a bit in all modes, and 'S' does not suit the way i drive, but sometimes i do drop it back to 'S' just to slow it a little with the throttle lifted,

as i would put off the overdrive button on a 3 or 4 speed autobox)

My DSG is used manually mostly on the shifter to get down the gears for deceleration on back roads

and then knocked back across to 'D' again almost immediately.

I tend not to use the paddles when nipping along in a serious way, but i do occasionally use them when playing about on different windy roads and not in a particular hurry, just messing about.

Lack of engine braking in the vRS was a bit of problem at first as normally on an automatic i just switch in and out of Overdrive.

I soon got used to coming down a few gears though and using it like on a Punto Speedgear i once had, which was a gearbox ahead of its time.

A CVT gearbox similar to that on a Toyota iQ or the new Subaru XV would be great on a vRS twin charger in my opinion.

Everyone should try a road test in a iQ VVTi Multdrive, ( 'D', 'S' & 'B') fantastic gearbox on a high revving engine.

The 1.0 3 cylinder is more amazing than the 1.3 4 cylinder.

More like driving a Kart even than the original Mini.

The 3 cylinder VW 'Up! GTi' might be pretty good with a DSG box.

george

Drive, then Paddles when the mood takes me and I want to fire it out of corners.

Although DSG is faster and easier, I still personally prefer manual though.

D most of the time when commuting. Brilliant for that and when you learn how it decides on what gear it wants you can make good progress just by using D, being smooth and letting flow from bend to bend and not forcing it. Never use S and will either kickdown or drop down using paddles. Paddles when making progress.

There's a few things that take getting used to though. 7th gear I always find myself going in when driving a bit harder and when there's a straight I get into 7th fairly quickly but there's no need to use it as 6th will do. Also I find I'm one gear higher going round corners than in any car I've driven. This isn't a problem as such I just need to remember I don't need to drop that one gear more. Some have said it's gutless but I don't think so. If I'm in 5th at 1500rpm it picks up instantly and really goes past 3000rpm. My only problem is wanting to use all 180bhp all the time

In some ways though I do miss a manual although I can scratch that itch with my parents Swift once a week. You can Heel-Toe pretty well in that and you can drive as fast as it can go and it hangs on. It's got buckets of grip even on Uniroyal Rainexperts. Great car

Really interesting replies.

I think that there's a lack of understanding for DSG initially, myself included.

When the salesman goes over the car in the showroom, or even the detailed explanation in the drivers manual, doesn't come anywhere near using it in real life.

D for every day driving/traffic etc

Manual for hills if it suddenly changes up too many going up hill or down too many going donw hill, doesn't do that as often now as my driving style altered for the DSG.

Sport for roundabouts and paddles for cocking about

Edited 2 April, 201214 yr by Ad Lav

Instead of using kick down to overtake I drop it down a few cogs with the paddles and your ready to enter warp mode

Simples

Kickdown works great if you just see a space and go though

D all the time.

D all the time.

Should have got one of these lazy boyz then

Sport for roundabouts and paddles for cocking about

Personally haven't had mine long but - D for motorway and Eco driving. M for overtaking and a little racing :-p. Use S sometimes but not a great fan of over revving, would rather keep it in the power band with M. I for one think it's great, still shocks me how fast it can change. But is it bad practice changing down when coming to junctions manually? Cause mine sometimes clunks into lower gears(as if it was about to do it auto and you've overid that action) , it seams smoother left to down gear itself coming to junctions/roundabouts stopping etc

Edited 2 April, 201214 yr by Wilko251088

The thing is that it does not change down if you are just off the throttle & not 'on' the brakes.

In a morning like this, with 'Snow' or 'ice' you might want to be coming down the gears yourself even when you are already going quite slow,

or similarly when coming into a roundabout were maybe there is spilt diesel etc.

or just in general driving conditions.

My brake pads usually last for ever because i still come down the gears in an automatic and always have with every automatic i have had for 36 years, maybe just switching out of overdrive and hardly ever touching the brakes to decelerate or scrub off some speed,

I am always coming down the gears manually with the DSG to stay off the brakes.

Love the DSG but on a petrol vRS it likes to stay up the gears IME & needs a little help to drop down the gears.

george

Edited 3 April, 201214 yr by sk4gw

D for most driving. S when I know the road is twisty or hilly or when considering an overtaking manoeuvre (crawler in front waiting for space). Manual selection when I want engine braking on steep hills or just approaching some junctions. N when stopped at lights or railway crossings for long periods of time.

Edited 4 April, 201214 yr by hertsnminds

Do you prefer using -

D - Using drive most of the time

S - Having sport mode engaged

G - Using the gears and paddles

Or a good combination of all 3

I was prompted by another posting where the DSG box wasn't liked at all.

Maybe it was just plonked in drive and driven like an auto ?

I personally tend to use the gears as much as I can now as I feel the car is in too much of a rush to get into 7th.

Love DSG though.

And what about Neutral and Park?

Neutral down long hills helps with fuel consumption IMO though the concept is a bit too holistic for many, and how about Park and even ignition off when waiting a lights etc for a long period.

The 7 speed DSG is a great bit of kit, the dry clutches work fine and do nt incur the oil change cost of the 6 and 7 speed wet multiplates DSGs.

Only get short drives in the Fabia 2 VRS but did 55K miles in my 1.8 TSI DSG and about 200K in previous 6 speed diesel Octys/SEATS.

I much prefer the DSGs to the manuals and look forward to when the Skoda finally gets the DQ500 in the Octy TSI VRSs which should help both acceleration and economy!

========================================================================================

In 2009, six years after launching the first DSG® dual clutch gearbox in the world, Volkswagen presented a new member of the extremely successful DSG® family. These gearboxes represent a unique synthesis of comfort, sportiness and fuel efficiency. Building on the experiences afforded by the proven DQ200 and DQ250 gearboxes, the new DQ500 now makes dual clutch technology available to customers with larger and high-performance vehicles. The DQ500 is currently the world’s only seven-speed transverse-mounted gearbox for high torques that is in large-scale series production. The clutch is designed for an engine torque of up to 600 Nm, and yet 8 mm smaller than in the DQ250. It can be used for a range of applications from sporty passenger cars to commercial vehicles.

The transmission world is still dominated by manual transmissions in Europe and conventional automatic transmissions in the USA and Japan. Both concepts have their benefits: Manual gearboxes are robust and feature low prices and a high efficiency. Drivers also value their driving pleasure and sportiness. Conventional automatic transmissions are above all comfortable. Shifting gears without interruption in tractive force offers a unique driving experience. The Volkswagen dual clutch gearbox combines the best of both worlds.

Automatic transmission enthusiasts leave gear selection to the sophisticated driving programs while sporty drivers enjoy the sequential, manual gear shifting. As to fuel consumption, DSG® dual clutch transmissions are as efficient as manual transmissions and, depending on the engine type, fuel consumption may even be lower.

Like the dual clutch installed in the DQ250, the dual clutch of the DQ500 also consists of two concentric, „wet“ individual clutches. Their main task is to transmit engine torque and to shift gears in the sub-transmissions. In addition, they allow for comfortable acceleration from standstill in the first gear (outer clutch) and in reverse gear (inner clutch). Clutch 1 is the outer clutch which shifts the gears 1 – 3 – 5 – 7. Clutch 2 is the inner clutch which shifts the gears 2 – 4 – 6 – R. In contrast to the DQ250, clutch 2 is thus also used to accelerate from standstill in reverse gear. Arranging the gears 1 and R in the separate sub-transmissions allows for quick changes of direction when maneuvering simply by acting on the dual clutch.

enlargeIntricate mechanical and time-related processes set high demands to the entire control system of the DQ500. The software - developed in-house at Volkswagen - plays a decisive role in achieving the precision and comfort of the new gearbox. These complex processes are almost not perceptible by the drivers - even if they manually intervene in gear selection.

While previously existing DSG® gearboxes have been installed in vehicles of the A0, A and B classes, the DQ500 will see its premiere in the new generation of the Transporter and Multivan. The new DSG® gearbox is ideally suited for this vehicle class and offers a unique driving experience within its competitive environment. The 7th gear has been designed as an overdrive, which has a positive effect on consumption especially in customer-oriented longdistance journeys. In combination with the completely new, two-stage turbocharger 2.0 l biturbo TDI engine which has also been optimized with regard to its consumption, the DQ500 allows for fuel economy to be improved by 1.6 l/100 km compared to the predecessor drive configuration.

Its suitability for four-wheel drives, high engine torques and sporty concepts emphasizes that this DSG® will, like the other DSG® gearboxes, play a major role in Volkswagen‘s module system. This gearbox marks the extension of Volkswagen‘s DSG® strategy to include high-performance confi gurations and further strengthens its market position in the fi eld of dual clutch gearboxes. DSG® technology thus contributes to the reduction of fuel consumption and emissions also in higher vehicle classes now.

Edited 3 April, 201214 yr by lol

And what about Neutral and Park?

Neutral down long hills helps with fuel

That's a dangerous practice as you're not in control of the vehicle.

Park ? I think we're discussing the moving forward bit of the gearbox.

Sport for roundabouts and paddles for cocking about

This!

That's a dangerous practice as you're not in control of the vehicle.

Park ? I think we're discussing the moving forward bit of the gearbox.

Wouldn't go anywhere near Neutral in an auto box. Can't be good for it if you've got to switch back to drive quickly for some reason.

I believe the handbook warns against coasting in N, at least for DSG6.

Back on-topic: D most of the time. S coming out of junctions quick, if I feel like a thrash on the twisties or through a set of islands, manual down long hills to hold a lower gear.

Coasting in neutral does NOT save fuel!

The engine is using fuel in neutral to maintain tickover!

Changing to a lower gear and letting go of the throttle will shut the fuel to the engine off and the movement of the car will keep the engine turning.

Watch your instant MPG next time and try both... I can guarantee it will still be reading while in neutral but in gear with your foot off the throttle it will read - - - / 99.9 (i.e. Infinite MPG as no fuel is being used).

Plus as said above you do not have full control of the car and should you need some power quickly you will have none!

phil

Leaving a Fabia 2 vRS in gear and coasting down a long hill which still shows as gear 6 or 7 will actually show it as doing 200mpg !

george

There we go then. On mine the display turns to - - -.

Pretty sure it won't go to 200mpg in neutral!

If only we could drive down hill everywhere we went eh

Coasting in neutral does NOT save fuel!

The engine is using fuel in neutral to maintain tickover!

Changing to a lower gear and letting go of the throttle will shut the fuel to the engine off and the movement of the car will keep the engine turning.

Watch your instant MPG next time and try both... I can guarantee it will still be reading while in neutral but in gear with your foot off the throttle it will read  - - - / 99.9 (i.e. Infinite MPG as no fuel is being used).

Plus as said above you do not have full control of the car and should you need some power quickly you will have none!

phil

2 words, transmission losses

But you are using no fuel so therefore no fuel to be lost through the transmission.

Yes there is more braking from the engine so you may not roll as far before having to accelerate again but you will still use less fuel than putting it in neutral and rolling down the hill.

Phil

But you are using no fuel so therefore no fuel to be lost through the transmission.

Yes there is more braking from the engine so you may not roll as far before having to accelerate again but you will still use less fuel than putting it in neutral and rolling down the hill.

Phil

thst's what i meant, engine braking! long day...

They key here is to know when you are better off coasting in neutral and when you are better off in gear. Personally and it isn't a VAG setup but I am mostly better in neutral than in gear.