5 years ago when I was looking for a new vrs i got told vrs diesel Dsg best combination .. I ended up buying a petrol vrs .. now I'm looking for a 2nd hand vrs .. so can I ask.. vrs D Dsg .. any good .. concerned about dpf and Dsg issues ..

I have a manual VRS CR170 and have had no issues with the dpf, even doing short runs it works fine. I too was worried about the dsg so I opted for a manual. Personally I always prefer a manual gearbox to dsg. But like anything it is luck as to whether you get lots of issues or none when buying a used vehicle. If you are concerned it might be worth purchasing or haggling with the garage to throw in a 2 year after market warranty.

From my personal experience, I found Sport mode is wasted on the diesel DSG, it performs best in D with a heavier right foot. It's a great combination of low down power and smoothness.

It does depend on your driving style though, here in southern most Essex, the stop start traffic can be a drag and so the DSG makes things much more comfortable. On the longer journeys it performs well too, though kick down has some slight lag, but the paddles help with those changes.

As for DPF, I've not had any issues (6 years, 65k) with a mixture of journey types.

Edited 15 December, 20169 yr by GrahamVRS

I have the diesel VRS with DSG. No issues with the DPF and I'm mainly in stop/start traffic and as Graham said the gearbox makes it so much better when you're crawling along. In fact I agree with most of what Graham says expect I'd rather stick it in Sport mode than use the paddles as I find the latter a gimmick. In normal mode the gearbox will change up as soon as it can, going from 1st to 2nd within a few metres but it is programmed fro economy. The gearbox will be caught out occasionally such as roundabout junctions and hills but you can pre-plan for these and knock it into Sports or knock it down a gear, although if you do it too early it will default back to automatic hence why I prefer Sport mode. 

D is about economy, but then that is not always a bad thing with some engines.

As to DSG they are Automated Manuals so there are driver choices, and understanding how the DSG or TCT you have makes a difference.

What suits some might not others, road tests are important.  & remember New Demonstrators & Used cars on forecourts might have been getting short trips and Dynamic Driving 

and need a few miles to drive as you might want or expect.

I have a DSG (non vrs) Diesel PD, and used to have a Saab 9-3 1.9TDi 120 manual. (Wanted the 150 but there weren't any, even at dealers, at the time).

 

Gearbox wise, I definitely find the DSG much easier to drive and get better acceleration out of it due to the quicker changes, just using 'D'.

 

The Saab was nicer generally as a 'common rail' (irrelevant to your question), but it would have been much nicer / easier to drive particularly at slower speeds and stop start traffic, with a DSG.

 

Personally think the DSG mates with a diesel engine perfectly (well almost as I too agree about sport mode being impractical).

 

I'm not sure if there are different DSG options on the MKII though???

 

I do not have the same issues around islands with the diesel DSG that I had with the manual Saab diesel (no pull if still moving and remaining in 2nd gear) although this could be the difference between PD and Common Rail.

The difference in power of your considered VRs compared to the Saab's 120 could help with this though, assuming higher torque figures.

 

My Audi petrol manual can be left in 3rd (and possibly even 4th) around some islands hardly labouring at all due to the similar torque figures of a similar sized diesel engine.

Edited 15 December, 20169 yr by Tilt

I may have put it across badly. When I say it gets caught out on hills and roundabout junctions I mean it is trying to keep in higher gear than I would like so that going up a hill it changes up only to immediately change down again a bit later it will try doing so again. Approaching roundabouts slowly read to accelerate when you have a gap in the traffic and it can be in too higher gear to pull out as briskly as you would like as it has to change down to get the speed up. Putting it in Sport mode just keeps the gearbox holding gears longer which helps in these situations.

The Sport mode doesn't change any other characteristics of the car other than holding the gears unlike it when you engage sport mode on such as a Mini Cooper S when it keeps the turbo spinning so the engine is much more responsive.  

I have owned a 2012 CR vRS DSG for 3-1/2 years and 30K miles.  I think that Sports mode is a waste of time with the diesel except to force a lower gear when travelling down long downhill gradients.

 

I won't have the DSG without the paddles.  The DSG suffers from the same shortcoming as all manuals - it reacts to what is happening now; not to what is about to happen.  For example, I use the paddles to change down before I start an overtake rather than use kick-down - this gives passengers a smoother ride and also yields a faster overtake.

 

I rarely use pure manual mode.  One exception being a long uphill climb with multiple hairpins.  Left in auto the gearbox was continually swapping from 3rd for the bends to a short stretch in 4th between the bends.  In manual and staying in 3rd worked better.

 

My next car will definitely have DSG.

 

Sometimes the car has 2 weeks with no journey over 6 miles but I have never had trouble with the DPF.

I recently bought a FL DSG D and loving the gearbox so far. I came from a Auto F30 3 series 320d BMW and the DSG makes it a day and night experience. Smooth quick changes and fun to drive.
 

I completely agree with @philbes experience. And similarly I can't see myself going back to manual anytime soon. I find the S mode effective during midrange and surely does make a difference. 

 

No DPF issues whatsoever, however it won't be long till I will be going down the Stage 2 route and getting it gutted out.

Edited 15 December, 20169 yr by singh946

As a MK2 FL VRS DSG owner, I agree with CWARD and philbes's comments. I switched from a manual Mk6 Golf GT to the DSG VRS 6 months ago as I changed job to one that involves lot of motorway trips and long commutes.

The DSG was initially a massive revelation during traffic and slow moving motorway journeys, having now spent a lot of time in it I agree that D mode is far too eager to get into the high gears, even at relatively slow speeds. This can be quite frustrating particular at things like roundabouts as others have said. I typically find when I need power it's in 5th or 6th and it needs to change down 2 gears to get me going. S is a little better but at slower speeds in traffic you naturally end up with higher revs and a noisy engine.

I'm booked in next week for the Shark Stage 1 remap and also the DSG remap, which from what I've read on here and discussions with Shark will reign in the keenness to change up in D mode and will hopefully result in a smoother drive, more accessible power when needed and hopefully a minor mpg improvement.

Happy to report back my verdict post visit!

In terms of DPF, no problems yet at approx 76k. No problems on my previous mk6 Golf and that was on 112k. A previous early Mk6 Passat PD170 did give me DPF grief but think it was one of the first VAG cars with them fitted.

Edited 16 December, 20169 yr by mattupnorth