So I have made the move from a Scala to a mk3.5 Octavia and it has a 7speed dsg in it. Now I know that dry clutch has a bit of a bad rap and there is no service for the oil.

I am thinking if getting the oil changed after some time. It’s 2019 and has 63km on it so low enough milage so hoping between 80-100 to get it done.

My next thing is getting used to driving dsg. I have driven manual for yearsss and have my own habits like rolling upto lights in neutral or if coming upto a junction I know how to take it.

With dsg things are feeling a bit different.

Even taking off, I’m not sure how long after I let my foot off the brake to start accelerating. (Probably a silly question but I’d rather not slip clutch)

Is there any tips for getting used to it?

Simples really. You do not use the left foot on the brake unless maybe like me and you have no right foot. 1 foot, 2 pedals. So foot from brake to accelerator, takes no time. While foot on brake the drive is disengaged. The car holds a couple of seconds, brake to accelerator, and then you still have a Parking / Hand brake. If you have Hillhold assist then read up on that, or watch a youtube video. Does your car have 'Coasting' mode which can be enabled? There are 2 oils to change if you really want that done. Best leave well alone if all is good with the DQ200 DSG.

Edited 6 January6 Jan by Evolution13

7 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Simples really. You do not use the left foot on the brake unless maybe like me and you have no right foot. 1 foot, 2 pedals. So foot from brake to accelerator, takes no time. While foot on brake the drive is disengaged. The car holds a couple of seconds, brake to accelerator, and then you still have a Parking / Hand brake. If you have Hillhold assist then read up on that, or watch a youtube video. Does your car have 'Coasting' mode which can be enabled? There are 2 oils to change if you really want that done. Best leave well alone if all is good with the DQ200 DSG.

Not sure if it has a coasting mode but it definitely has hill hold assist so have been able to use that. Just trying to get my head around my driving style with the dsg and the amount of pressure on the pedals vs manual with clutch I could control. I do love the ease of gear changes and how smooth they are.

In terms of oil change, I think as it’s going fine I’ll leave it be

You'll get used to it. I regularly drive two different VW DSG's, a DCT, CVT and a manual.

You will want to change the MCU and box oils at some point, but I would wait until you cross 100k, at least.

I have the same 7 speed DGS and you just drive it like an automatic. Brake to stop, gas to go. Don't over think it. Even without hill/hold assist the car will wait a little bit after taking foot off the brake and being stationary before it starts rolling forward on it's own.

25 minutes ago, nick6262 said:

I have the same 7 speed DGS and you just drive it like an automatic. Brake to stop, gas to go. Don't over think it. Even without hill/hold assist the car will wait a little bit after taking foot off the brake and being stationary before it starts rolling forward on its own.

Same here but with a 1.8TSI, just leave your left foot on the foot rest and use only your right foot on brake and accelerator. I live in an area where I have to do lots of hill starts and find the few seconds while the car holds the brakes on for me is plenty enough to not need to either select N (with stop/start the engine turns off so there's no concerns about clutch slip) or use the handbrake. I only use the handbrake (along with P on the selector) when parked on a slope.

Very occasionally, mainly for smiles, I tap the selector back to D/S which switches the DSG to Sport mode that holds lower gears and increases the rpm point for upshifts. Then just tap the selector back to return the DSG to Drive mode.

I use S often. Other than for hills, spirited driving. Briliant in town, on snow and ice. Drop back to S, no accelerator, or touching the brake. You drop a gear and slow down. Even stop. I have only 1 foot and have driven only 2 pedal cars for 50 years. All sorts. I like DQ200 with a manual parking brake or an e-brake.

On 07/01/2026 at 05:01, Upsidedown90 said:

Not sure if it has a coasting mode but it definitely has hill hold assist so have been able to use that. Just trying to get my head around my driving style with the dsg and the amount of pressure on the pedals vs manual with clutch I could control. I do love the ease of gear changes and how smooth they are.

In terms of oil change, I think as it’s going fine I’ll leave it be

If you select eco mode, this will give you the coasting function.

8 hours ago, ords said:

If you select eco mode, this will give you the coasting function.

I used to use Eco mode a lot but found that when coasting the lack of engine braking meant I was using the brakes quite often, so I've gone back to D mode to get engine braking back.

Edited 17 January17 Jan by PetrolDave

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

I used to use Eco mode a lot but found that when coasting the lack of engine braking meant I was using the brakes quite often, so I've gone back to D mode to get engine braking back.

I've done exactly the same thing

Not that it really applies in this instance, but just be aware of having fun near the limit in S mode, rather than M.

I almost had an incident when I was new to vRS ownership - going around a bend, hard, the car decided to change up. I’m still not sure why as my throttle position hasn’t changed, but the front lost all grip mid corner which it was quite interesting.

Aside from fun driving, I also use manual mode for going down steep hills (when I want to gain speed rather than be in second gear), as well as helping it upshift in cold weather. I find that my car wants to hold gears for longer on a cold start - probably to help warm things up - so I usually like to help it into third or fourth.

Apples and pears really with a 2.0 TSI with a DQ381 7 speed wet clutch DSG and a 1.0 TSI with a DQ200 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG.

14 hours ago, Evolution13 said:

Apples and pears really with a 2.0 TSI with a DQ381 7 speed wet clutch DSG and a 1.0 TSI with a DQ200 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG.

That's why I said 'not that it really applies, BUT' - it's the same principle. I appreciate OP is unlikely to be trail braking and using the diff to load one corner of the car, but maybe he'll be suprised when the car upshifts by itself when next in snowy conditions.

Having spent today driving around in the Ibiza (1.0 DQ200), I found it far more unpredictable than my car. The Octavia has the power to downshift one gear, or maybe two if I floor it - the Ibiza would happily go from 5th to 2nd when I applied the heavy foot and seemed far less certain of which gear it wanted going up steep hills.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that no matter the gearbox, they can sometimes be too clever for their own good and do something that you don't want!

A double kickdown is good with a DQ200 but there is more oomph with 180 / 180+ ps, even 192 ps with a Polo GTI 2015 or so rather than a 115ps. 'S' can be just the job for those steep up hills, or even down.

Edited 22 January22 Jan by Evolution13

I find that if I drive my car in sport mode normally is is very slightly better on fuel consumption.

I find that so with a petrol / diesel or EV if i then adopt 'coasting' or that style of driving is available, get a move on and up to speed and maintain it. But that does depend on location location location.

1 hour ago, dsgman said:

I find that if I drive my car in sport mode normally is is very slightly better on fuel consumption.

That doesn’t work so well for me, as it only encourages my foot!

Mind you, since reversing the car back to stock (245bhp from 350bhp) I have noticed the MPG decrease slightly. I only check it once every six months as I’m not fussed, but it did surprise me.