Mrs Shrub has a new VW UP ASG and loves it. She owned a Smart Fortwo before that though and was used to the slower gear change with this sort of gearbox. I think that if I was driving it in the hills a lot I would make use of the manual change because it wants to shift up all of the time, especially if you drive on a light throttle.

I am waiting my Elegance 75 ASG ordered early Nov. without ever driving semi-auto/automated manual in my life. I had manual and automatic but the best something in between for my needs. I like the luxury of auto with the manual override. I believe there is two things to keep in mind. a.) How it feels it's definitely up to how we drive, b.) about gear shifting time its can be slower then manual but not as slow as many might think or feel. Compare to manual shifting keep in mind we're not that busy --no clutch and gear stick work-- obviously feels slower when we are maybe silly to say but i would ask someone to time it, then we can have better understanding what is the differences. I won't have that problem as i'll accept it is what it is. Delivery due in February and let the forum know how it goes in real life.

you can always drive it in manual mode if you are in a hurry and then the gear changes are quick. If you are doing a leisurely drive and talking, leave it in auto.

An interesting thread indeed. I love Automatics but have never owned one that was mated to anything less than a 2 Ltr. Nevertheless as I have already posted in another thread I did own one that had this 'delay' when planting the foot from a standstill. It's okay in straight line traffic but very dangerous when pulling out of junctions as if a car was bearing down and the Auto box was still 'thinking about it' ....scary. My response to the Fabia comment above regarding poor residuals as dealers can't sell them, I would say it sounds as though there must be some cracking used buys out there on what is one of the best small cars on the market! Get in there!! :love: