Close to buying a 150hp 4x4 Yeti but cant decide on DSG or manual.

Most of the driving will  be either 60-70mph on motorways or good A roads or towing a caravan at 50-60mph including going to Spain over the winter with the caravan.

The brochure I've seen says 61.4 extra urban for manual vs 56.5 for DSG but what's the difference in reality?

Would love to get a DSG but we do drive quite a few miles a year.

Surprised at the difference quoted as behind the electronics etc. the DSG is a manual so no/little additional losses in the system.

 

I had two virtually identical diesel Passat estates, a manual followed by a DSG and found there was very little in it. The DSG was sometimes even more economical as it would change up more often when I would stay in the same gear because of upcoming junctions, islands, hills etc.

 

Used to leave it in Drive most of the time but would use "manual" when towing a trailer along minor roads.

Oil pressure to declamp the DSG clutch/s comes from a powered transmission oil pump which takes a little fuel to power.

The ‘manual’ declamping pressure comes from the diaphragm springs which is overpowered by your left leg and thus saves you a smidge.

Edited 16 August, 20187 yr by Ryeman

Thats not quite correct. The clutch is oil filled so it is dragging even when the clutch is not engaged. Eg when using top gear the oil is dragging the other clutch and rotating the gear shaft which is disengaged for 1st, 3rd and 5th gears. It also drags a little in neutral, when the brake is down or in park.

In the dry clutch dsg there is no drag at all on the second clutch, or either clutch when the brake peadal is depressed, in nuetral or park.

 

However the much reduced wear of a wet clutch is well worth having as there is really no wear at all as the clutches engage. The power transmission is via shear in the oil between the plates as they get close together, and when the plates touch they will be at the same speed in most cases. A dry clutch engages drive by friction between the plates and will wear much the same as a manual clutch car.

 

From the maxidot, on a run mainly on A roads, I would expect to see around 54mpg. This is probably a real 51? On motorways etc, typically around 49 on maxidot so actual will be around 45mpg. Compared to previous Greenline this is a significant hit as that was typically over a real 55mpg and sometimes achieved a real 60, and I have seen 70mpg average on the maxidot on a reasonable trip with a tail wind.

 

When I decided to go for the 150dsg I knew it would probably mean a 4to5mpg reduction in economy and that seems to be the case.

My long term average on the maxidot is 52mpg, and it is noticeably improving as the car does more miles. 17.5k to date in under 14 months!

As on a slightly different thread I started, my manual reads around 50mpg but in reality is only 43-44mpg.

Towing a caravan no matter what the roads I wouldn't expect any more than that.

The maxidot read much higher (8-10%) compared to what you actually get.

As mentioned above there are parasitic losses from the hydraulic pump and the wet clutch. The DSG is also slightly heavier and it’s possible that the DSG gearing is different.

There's a lot of experience to tap on this forum.  I was asking similar questions to yours nearly seven years ago (see https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/230223-towing-with-the-dsg/  for instance). 

 

I used to tow a 1425 Elddis with my previous 140 TDi 4x4 DSG Yeti, having switched from an original-model manual 2.2 diesel 4x4 Nissan X-Trail.  I've never been too fussy about fuel consumption; there are far too many variables - weather, road conditions, terrain, load, driving style and so on - to get over-worried  about claimed and achieved figures. 

 

As far as towing is concerned, moving from a manual to the six/wet DSG was magic.  Towing can be a stressful experience but, in my experience, whether it's a matter of dealing with heavy motorway traffic at night in a storm or nerdling your way round remote hilly lanes in the autumn mists, the DSG can competently take on most of the business of gear shifting and leave the driver clear to concentrate on pathfinding.  The ability to switch to manual (Tiptronic) means that the driver has an instant over-ride to deal with unusual conditions. 

 

If you're not towing, driving the DSG can be either dead lazy, especially in slow traffic, or 'brisk' to choice (it can shift probably faster than you can). 

 

Whatever your choice, you'll enjoy a Yeti