DSG Paddles; yes or no?

[brownfox]

I drove police high powered traffic cars for over 16yrs both manual+auto. and i think what i am going to say covers it. If you want more car contol get a manual. If you want to be a ordinary layed back driver whos never in a hurry get a dsg every time its far more relaxing and easier to drive day to day especially in heavy traffic which is getting worse by the day i think manuals days are numbered.as cars become more automated.and more controls taken out of the drivers hands. ps auto,s dsg,s can be driven very quickly its a case of being confident with them, and getting used to the way they react to situations.

[Jockdooshbag]

I would agree with some opinions that manuals offer more control. This is true. But i dont need the additional control. The DSG does everything i need and more. If this fine level of control was essential then why do high end cars such as ferrari etc have auto type gearboxes. A manual clutch is slowly becoming outdated. Saying this in a sports car like a boxter or similar i would still prefer a manual plus i do prefer my manual landy when offroading but i do still get trounced by autos on some occasions as the gearbox isnt the main iussue in these situations, tyres and diffs are.

Each to their own but i simply cannot see a situation on the public roads where a DSG box doesnt do everything better than a manual.

[P6uly]

Dsg is great when it works, my last two cars including an Eos and Ibiza FR required endless software updates to operate smoothly and economically . The 7 speed dsg on my SEAT was really noisey at low speed over uneven road surface/ speed bumps ect... Apparently a common issue with dry clutch plates banging together . The 7 speed dsg even improves fuel economy (when running correctly)! As for paddle shifters, pretty pointless! The D mode suites most scenarios.

[Jockdooshbag]

As for paddle shifters, pretty pointless! The D mode suites most scenarios.

D does suit for most situations but paddles are great for certain situations such as country roads. I prefer the padles to leaving it in D when on twisty country roads. The fact that we are given both options is a good thing so hardly pointless. Being offered more is never pointless. D mode will always be a compromise hence why S mode and paddles are offered along with manula overide with the gear lever as well. If you cant find a mode from "D","S", Paddles or manual shift with lever, thats suits the current driving conditions then you must be driving on siome pretty weird roads or are not driving properly. I use the paddles on mine several times a week and would definately not want to loose them so very far from pointless. If you dont use the paddles and D suffices then thats great but others including myself do use them. Simply ignore these additional features and use the one of the 4 alternatives and enjoy. A manual gives you only one option so not really any options at all.

[uncle bulgaria]

I think one of the problems here is that you'll never get a real sense of what the DSG is like if you have only driven a "delivery mileage" car as a test. The engine and box will still be too tight and either the throttle adaptation will not have settled, or it will be set to the last person who drove it. The same applies to the DSG control IIRC.

When i test drove ours it felt entirely different to my previous experience of DSGs with a few miles under their belt. On the test drive, it felt sluggish to change, and when it did kickdown, it wasn't as smooth as you anticipated. It was also a bit troublesome to revere park up our 1:4 hill. However as I'd a family member who had a DSG car from new, he reassured me this was how his was on his for the first few hundred miles or so. So we went for it. Ours had a "few" miles on it by the time we took delivery, as it had been used as a demo, so I reset the throttle adaptation and gave it chance to learn my driving style. 14K later it's smooth, responsive and shifts almost seamlessly.

Some of it's life is spent in stop start traffic on steep hills, so in these instances I tend to use S as it holds on to the gear a bit longer, allowing a nice slow controlled progression, for when you need a little more than the "creep". Over the 18 months we've had her, i've found that if I'm in D I use the paddles when I want to change down to overtake, as it allows that instant choice of gear, but in reality the kick down & drop down for engine breaking, in D is right nearly all the time.

To try and say DSG is better than manual or the other way round is too simple. They both have their place, and in some situations one may be "preferable" to the other. Drive a good DSG, and then decide which is best for you and your needs and then work out if the extra cost of purchase is worth it.

[Barracuda]

DSG..Way to go!!

Ignore the haters...its bloody marvelous

Paddles..Use them every now and again..but they are difficult to use as you turn the wheel

+1

[Barracuda]

I can confirm that it will change from 6th to 4th much faster than anyone could manually. This is either using kickdown function or the paddles. In fact the kick down function i reckon is slightly faster.

+1

[pipsyp]

DSG is very good; id preference this transmission over a manual now but only with paddle shifts.

It has its flaws...can be a bit jerky at low speeds (particularly coming down 3rd through 2nd into 1st) and is a bit dim witted in D. S mode is a bit manic and not really ideal unless driving at maximum attack...again it holds on to the red line in each gear which isnt ideal as both petrol and turbo vRSs go off the boil in the last 1k of revs. Manual mode using the gear lever is pretty horrible.

However when on the paddles its brilliant; takes a while to acclimatise to how to get the best from it but when really moving on its smooth and v v quick in its shifts....also reassuring if you fluff a shift or get it wrong it will change up at the red line...also kickdown still works when in manual mode.

Definitely more going for it than against it; but it does add a fair bit to the cost of the car and you MAY not like it.

Suggest you go drive one to make up your mind.

[pipsyp]

....oh and by the way you can go into manual mode in either D or S by clicking either of the paddles to change up or down; it will eventually revert back to D or S if you leave it alone for a while or begin to slow to a stop. You can go back to auto at any point by holding the shift up paddle for a few seconds.

[Kansalis]

Seeing as this thread got resurrected anyway....

I've had the car for a month or so now and I think I'm a permanent covert to the DSG!

As noted above, it's a bit unsure of itself when changing back down the gears, especially if it's in "manual" mode and you change down yourself. It really does make it pretty uncomfortable. I realised fairly quickly that it will change down automatically even when set to manual, once the car slows/revs go low enough. I presume there's no reason not to do that? I mainly change down to 3rd myself when approaching junctions then let it take over until I come to a standstill.

I tend to set the cruise to a sensible speed while on a run & leave it on standby when going through roundabouts & junctions, then re-engage at whatever speed I'm doing & let the DSG change up as it goes. That's a handy bonus you don't get in a manual.

Where I live there are a lot of steep hills with 30mph limits & I have found the auto mode doesn't do so well on those, especially in traffic. When going downhill it seems to want to either over-gear or engine brake randomly for no apparent reason, so I tend to swap to manual for those & sit in 3rd or 4th. Likewise going uphill it's very eager to change up & down with every tweak of the gas pedal, so I take over then too.

Overall it's taken a bit of getting used to, but I'm definitely enjoying the car so far. I find the driving experience so much more relaxing with general poodling about & wish I'd changed to a DSG much sooner. I used to drive to work into Central London every day & I would have been far more relaxed if I had one less foot to worry about!

I've been pretty disappointed with the MPG though. My first 2 brim to brim measurements have been 34.5 and 32mpg, which seems very low to me. Admittedly the majority of the driving I've done the last month or so has been town driving & school runs, but that still seems on the low side to me. My Fabia vRS got 41-44mpg with the same type of driving. With cruise set to 80mph on a run this weekend I got an average of just under 45mpg which again, seems on the low side.

[Arclight]

I love the paddles , I can pick the gear I want when I want if having a spirited drive the S and D options for auto are bang on as well.

The good thing with Dsg is you have options ..... Either manual or auto your choice Just have fun with it !

[Huskoda]

I got a Scirocco DSG with paddles as a courtesy car once. I was always a die-hard manual fanatic, but I loved it! I didn't have it long, but I did have fun with it, except the first time I had to stop at lights and did the automatic noob trick of my left foot stamping on the brake pedal mistaking it for a clutch.

[pablo68]

I have the DSG box and I wouldn't be without it. Only time I had an issue was after I had the car mapped it became very erratic and would often hold the wrong gear. I took it back to the chaps and it turned out they had used a map for the manual version of the TSi, they remapped it (for free) and made sure the box map was correct and it has been great ever since.

I rarely use the flappy paddles though since if I need to boot it I tend to knock it into S and let the box do it's thang or rarely knock it into manual....generally I actually forget I have the paddles available to use.

[Kansalis]

I find the S setting tends to way over-rev on the diesel, so I never use it. I'd rather change manually if I'm in that much of a hurry... I use the paddles when going in relatively straight lines, or the gearstick when the paddles are out of place when cornering.

[mmafreak]

I have retrofitted a VRS steering wheel with paddles on my 2012 Octavia Elegance. Absolutely love them for quick engine braking, rather than jamming on the brake coming out of high speeds. Note: I live in India where people, and sometimes animals dart across the highway (yes, people cross the highway on foot) so there is no question of looking far down the road and coming to a relaxed stop. 

 

I have had a problem over the last two days where the up shifter paddle doesn't seem to work. I tried to wiggle it around and long press it in but no luck. I could shift down but then suddenly both of them stopped working. Now they started working again this morning. All MFSW buttons on the steering wheel are working. 

 

Can anyone tell me if it could be the control module (slip ring) or the paddles themselves that are causing the problem? Or any other factor? 

 

Mods: couldnt find anything in other threads, so please forgive me if I have erred in posting here. 

[philbes]

To those DSG users who say that the paddles should be attached to the column rather than the steering wheel the answer is to learn to steer probably and to change gear in the correct places.  Plan your driving so that a gear change is not required mid-corner and position your hands on the wheel so that they are at 10 to 2, or even better ¼ to 3, and the paddles are always within reach.  I now wait to be flamed!

 

I have owned a vRS TDi with DSG for 4 months and 4½K miles and I think that the paddles really add to the ease of use.  The DSG suffers from the same 'fault' as all automatic gearboxes - it reacts to what is happening NOW not like a driver who can react to what WILL happen.  So I will use the paddles to change down just before I start an overtake rather than use the kickdown which changes down as I start the overtake.  Similarly I may use the paddles to engage the correct gear before entering a corner and after the braking has been completed.

 

On a recent trip through the Alsace mountains in France the car would select 4th gear for most of the uphill sections and change down to 3rd for the bends.  However, on some of the longer straights it would change up to 5th and a couple of seconds later down to 3rd for the next hairpin.  So I used the manual over-ride and the paddles to take control and eliminate unnecessary gear changes.

 

I have never used the selector stick for up-down manual changes, only to select Manual mode.  I keep both hands on the wheel and use the paddles.

 

In my view the Sports mode is pointless on the diesel vRS as it holds the gears to far too high revs.  The only time I use S is to force the gearbox (in auto mode) to hold lower gears on long down hill descents.

 

Some complaints regarding the DSG seem to centre on using the gears to slow down when in manual mode.  This is not the way to drive on public roads.  Use the brakes to slow down to the required speed and then select the correct gear for that speed.  As the IAM would say - IPSGA - Information, Position, Speed, Gear, Acceleration.  If any of you live within travelling distance of Gloucester/Cheltenham the local IAM group hold free courses to provide an introduction to Advanced Driving (the next is on 2nd November).

 

Much of the above is my personal view and no doubt many of you will disagree.

[k.young]

I find the S setting tends to way over-rev on the diesel, so I never use it. I'd rather change manually if I'm in that much of a hurry... I use the paddles when going in relatively straight lines, or the gearstick when the paddles are out of place when cornering.

I also find "S" absolutely useless on the Diesel . "D" or manual if I want to push on.

[booke23]

I also find "S" absolutely useless on the Diesel . "D" or manual if I want to push on.

 

Yes, sport is not so good on the diesel.....revving to the redline just doesn't produce the best performance in a diesel.

 

However I just think of it as a 'Steep' mode......it's great for engine braking when going down steep hills!

[philbes]

booke23, I like your idea of referring to 'S' as 'Steep' mode as that is also the only time I use 'Sports' mode.  From now on I will refer to 'Steep' mode - that should confuse my friends!

[Joel SHOEMARK]

x3 on S mode being pretty useless on the Diesel.

 

I use S coming into corners and then change to D at the Apex on the way out.

 

Happy Days.