Hi all,

 

I'm looking at buying the new VRS diesel estate and I had always intended on going for the DSG, mainly for driving the M4 during peak travel times (lots of gear changes as some of you will know), however I note from the spec's that the DSG increases weight and therefore emissions goes up, which means that you are a) losing speed, albeit a fraction (hardly worth worrying about) but more importantly the road tax on the manual costs £30 pa and the DSG goes up to £105? And finally c) the overall price of the car is higher.

 

So it seems that the manual gear box may save me a bit of cash, but I was wondering what your views are on this to help me make up my mind? 

 

Thank you.

 

 

Hi all,

 

I'm looking at buying the new VRS diesel estate and I had always intended on going for the DSG, mainly for driving the M4 during peak travel times (lots of gear changes as some of you will know), however I note from the spec's that the DSG increases weight and therefore emissions goes up, which means that you are a) losing speed, albeit a fraction (hardly worth worrying about) but more importantly the road tax on the manual costs £30 pa and the DSG goes up to £105? And finally c) the overall price of the car is higher.

 

So it seems that the manual gear box may save me a bit of cash, but I was wondering what your views are on this to help me make up my mind? 

 

Thank you.

Too much science ,go with your gut!!

Is your current car manual or auto/dsg?  I was very tempted by the dsg as my commute is stop start, 0 to 50, 50 to 10, 10 to 40, 40 to 70, 70 to 0 etc etc - extremely irritating but still far better than the days it doesn't seem to move at all.

 

For me it came down to the extra money was just a bit much for me to be willing to pay and to be honest I've not regretted it majorly as the MK3 Octavia's clutch is about a million times better than on the MK1 Fabia vRS.

 

As vrskeith says - get a test drive of both and go with your gut.

 

[edit]

I've had my TDI vRS Manual for almost 4 weeks and done 1400miles so far.  I usually do about 10,000 miles a year of which 1/2 is commuting through traffic and 1/2 is longer journeys.

Edited 13 December, 201312 yr by gullyg

I went for the DSG as I do about 18k a year and usually end up sat in traffic for at least part of my journey.  I have a manual Passat now and previously had a DSG Passat but I'm looking forward to getting back into a DSG

Welcome to the forum. As far as acceleration is concerned you'd probably find that through the gears e.g. 0 to 60 the dsg will actually be quicker because it changes gear a lot faster because the next gear is already selected.I'll be honest and admit I'm a manual fan myself but given you're going to be doing a lot of stop start motorway work the dsg would be better in that instance. It's a question of which is going to work best for you, so I'd suggest test driving both to see which best suits your needs and also which you prefer to drive overall. Good luck

I have driven a Mk6 GTD with DSG for the last 4 years and I don't think I would ever buy a manual car again. Granted, it would save you a load of cash, however, unless you mainly drive long-distance (motorway), the comfort factor outweighs the savings easily.

In all my years I'd never owned a car with an automatic gearbox. Until I purchased my first vRS tsi with Dsg . Now on my third dsg . A diesel and two petrols . Although I think the dsg performs better with the petrol its still a pleasure to drive in the diesel. No going back for me.

Why change gear yourself when you can have it done for you ;-)

Forget the cash aspect, the DSG Box mixed with VRS performance is fantastic.

 

Some drivers like the mechanical physical aspect of a manual box, but I think the DSG Box delivers convenience, performance and safety. The touch shift levers on the steering column provide fast and effective gear changes (if used) without the need to remove one hand from the wheel. This is a great facility when driving hard through undulating twisting roads.

 

It's an important part of this great car (VRS) and doesn't, in my opinion, detach me from the drive.

 

In heavy traffic, on motorway or twisting undulating rural roads, it offers great flexibility because it adapts to meet the needs of the driver. The combination of fully automatic, tiptronic, touch shift levers, kickdown, eco, normal and sport modes offers a great depth of ability for the driver to call upon regardless of what lies ahead.

 

The VRS is not any less of a car because of the DSG Box.

Too much science ,go with your gut!!

Ha! Yeah my gut is saying DSG! My wallet is saying...manual.

Is your current car manual or auto/dsg?  I was very tempted by the dsg as my commute is stop start, 0 to 50, 50 to 10, 10 to 40, 40 to 70, 70 to 0 etc etc - extremely irritating but still far better than the days it doesn't seem to move at all.

 

For me it came down to the extra money was just a bit much for me to be willing to pay and to be honest I've not regretted it majorly as the MK3 Octavia's clutch is about a million times better than on the MK1 Fabia vRS.

 

As vrskeith says - get a test drive of both and go with your gut.

 

[edit]

I've had my TDI vRS Manual for almost 4 weeks and done 1400miles so far.  I usually do about 10,000 miles a year of which 1/2 is commuting through traffic and 1/2 is longer journeys.

Thanks....yeah I do recall a reviewer talking about the manual clutch being designed to deal with the stop start motion much better in this latest model. Good point.

Forget the cash aspect, the DSG Box mixed with VRS performance is fantastic.

 

Some drivers like the mechanical physical aspect of a manual box, but I think the DSG Box delivers convenience, performance and safety. The touch shift levers on the steering column provide fast and effective gear changes (if used) without the need to remove one hand from the wheel. This is a great facility when driving hard through undulating twisting roads.

 

It's an important part of this great car (VRS) and doesn't, in my opinion, detach me from the drive.

 

In heavy traffic, on motorway or twisting undulating rural roads, it offers great flexibility because it adapts to meet the needs of the driver. The combination of fully automatic, tiptronic, touch shift levers, kickdown, eco, normal and sport modes offers a great depth of ability for the driver to call upon regardless of what lies ahead.

 

The VRS is not any less of a car because of the DSG Box.

Agreed 100%, hence my desire to go down the DSG path, all good points...cheers

Ha! Yeah my gut is saying DSG! My wallet is saying...manual.

Unless your wallet has a full UK driving licence I'd take no notice of it.....

Have you done a test drive yet? if not go and try out both a manual and DSG and see what you think?

I test drove the Petrol and diesel in DSG guise and it worked brilliantly on both, although the Petrol seems to suite it better.

I am on my twelfth car, the first automatic.

Before buying I test drove both petrol and diesel with both manual and DSG boxes.

I'm only a week into ownership, but I love the DSG box. The transitions are really smooth and it's an absolute joy to drive.

For me, I definitely made the right choice.

Prior to my vRS I had a manual VW Passat which had done 250,000 miles. When looking for a new Skoda I looked around a few dealers in South Wales for a manual estate. The dealer with everything I wanted was in Swansea, except for the fact I wanted a manual. It took the salesman about 10 minutes to persuade me on the phone to go and test drive the DSG. My initial reaction was "it's a retirement present to myself, I've waited a long time to buy a new car and I want a manual". I went for a test drive and within a few minutes I was sold on the DSG.

I've had the car 5 weeks and done 3,000 miles (all types of driving).

The DSG box is fantastic, more fun, dare I say, than the manual.

Whichever you chose you'll not be disappointed.

DSG all the way, especially in traffic and the start stop technology is fine as well.

 

Just press harder on the brake pedal when stopped to get it to work, once the engine is warm or press more delicately just to hold the car.

I'm currently in a Blackline DSG. I've ordered a manual vRS now. I drive my car now and whilst the gearbox is awesome, I do feel a bit detached. The DSG option on the new car adds about £30 a month to the payment, more road tax and less mpg. Head says no but heart is starting to think should I change my order,

I wouldn't go back to a manual car now, I enjoy the auto boxes too much now.

 

The only auto box I have really, really detested was on a mates Kia and it was awful, a old fashioned torque converter gearbox that couldn't make up its mind whether to go up or down and it drunk fuel like hell.

 

He was spending £200 pcm of diesel and getting around about 25mpg (if that) and I'm glad he's got rid of it, so I won't have to ever drive it again, he's seen the light and got a Golf.  and is getting around about 35mpg now and very happy indeed.

I have it with my TSI VRS and I love it. Wouldn't go back. 'Nuf said!

With a petrol engine DSG 'box is brilliant. Got a similar double clutch 'box in my sports car and I wouldn't go back to a manual. With diesel I'm not too sure, drove a DSG equipped Audi A3 TDI with the same 184 bhp engine the VRS has and it just felt a bit mismatched to the diesel somehow.

Edited 14 December, 201312 yr by Timoctav

I'm currently in a Blackline DSG. I've ordered a manual vRS now. I drive my car now and whilst the gearbox is awesome, I do feel a bit detached. The DSG option on the new car adds about £30 a month to the payment, more road tax and less mpg. Head says no but heart is starting to think should I change my order,

Very much ,in my view depends on day-day driving environment -stop/start city life then fine but outside the city manual every time!

I agree with your detached /lack of control comment.

That was my experience with the Fabia vRS.

With a petrol engine DSG 'box is brilliant. Got a similar double clutch 'box in my sports car and I wouldn't go back to a manual. With diesel I'm not too sure, drove a DSG equipped Audi A3 TDI with the same 184 bhp engine the VRS has and it just felt a bit mismatched to the diesel somehow.

Did exactly the same yesterday and tried the DSG diesel. The DSG in the petrol feels way different than in the Diesel. It just didn't seem to feel right or know what to do in the Diesel to me? Even to the point it felt like it had the petrol shift points rather than optimised for the diesels power delivery. Just cruising was fine but getting along and doing a lot of changing speeds quickly up and down in town around corners etc it just seemed 'confused'. 

Also as a side point when giving it a bit in constantly changing speed environments the DSG will say drop from 4th to 2nd like coming off a flat road and cornering into to a sudden uphill, and you get a bit of a traction problem too with the kick down where with the manual you can feed it in yourself. This was in the dry too, 27 deg C here yesterday.

Depends how you drive and what you want but definitely try it first.....? I'm getting a manual TDI.

Edited 14 December, 201312 yr by snala

Did exactly the same yesterday and tried the DSG diesel. The DSG in the petrol feels way different than in the Diesel. It just didn't seem to feel right or know what to do in the Diesel to me? Even to the point it felt like it had the petrol shift points rather than optimised for the diesels power delivery. Just cruising was fine but getting along and doing a lot of changing speeds quickly up and down in town around corners etc it just seemed 'confused'. 

Also as a side point when giving it a bit in constantly changing speed environments the DSG will say drop from 4th to 2nd like coming off a flat road and cornering into to a sudden uphill, and you get a bit of a traction problem too with the kick down where with the manual you can feed it in yourself. This was in the dry too, 27 deg C here yesterday.

Depends how you drive and what you want but definitely try it first.....? I'm getting a manual TDI.

Interesting comments.

Enjoy you new motor when it arrives?

Did exactly the same yesterday and tried the DSG diesel. The DSG in the petrol feels way different than in the Diesel. It just didn't seem to feel right or know what to do in the Diesel to me? Even to the point it felt like it had the petrol shift points rather than optimised for the diesels power delivery. Just cruising was fine but getting along and doing a lot of changing speeds quickly up and down in town around corners etc it just seemed 'confused'. 

Also as a side point when giving it a bit in constantly changing speed environments the DSG will say drop from 4th to 2nd like coming off a flat road and cornering into to a sudden uphill, and you get a bit of a traction problem too with the kick down where with the manual you can feed it in yourself. This was in the dry too, 27 deg C here yesterday.

Depends how you drive and what you want but definitely try it first.....? I'm getting a manual TDI.

I never use kick-down - I use the paddles to change down and then I can control the car better with the throttle.  After over 40 years of owning manual gearbox cars (and driving the occasional horrible auto rental car in the States) I have owned a vRS TDi DSG for 6 months and 6K miles and I am totally hooked.  However, I would never purchase a DSG equipped car unless it also had the steering wheel paddles.

I never use kick-down - I use the paddles to change down and then I can control the car better with the throttle.  After over 40 years of owning manual gearbox cars (and driving the occasional horrible auto rental car in the States) I have owned a vRS TDi DSG for 6 months and 6K miles and I am totally hooked.  However, I would never purchase a DSG equipped car unless it also had the steering wheel paddles.

Is that Manual intervention then!!