Hi Folks,

Thanks to today's budget in Ireland, from nest June onwards cars will be taxed based on CO2 emissions. Even though my Elegance is only 1 year old, I am thinking of going now sooner than getting an additional carbon hit in 2009.

Anyway, I always like to change something when I get a new motor and I am thinking of a DSG box.

How reliable is DSG? Are there any known issues? How many would recommend a DSG box to a 42 year old fogey who finds he needs comfort more than performance. The days of changing gears hard are gone thanks to penalty points, speed cameras etc.

BTW - Would you recommend leather seating too??? What colour for a black car?

Many thanks

Anthony,

As regards reliability, we have two, one in a VW Golf with 54k miles on it and an Octy 2 with 24k miles on it. Never had a problem with the gearbox on either of them and it can be just as much fun using the manual shift as a conventional car but with the advantage of not having to pump the clutch pedal in traffic

Mine's still stalling. Garage says nothing wrong with it. If I had a clutch perhaps I could control the engine more. Stalling on average once a month and always in traffic queues or at lights ! Seems my experience is unusual though.

My wife's Golf stalled a couple of times, always when cold and invariably as we were turning round on the driveway - asked the dealer to look into it at first service and 'I believe' they flash updated the CPU because it's never done it since and that's what they told us they'd done to it

Get the DSG - it'll meet all your needs.

However.... In France last weekend we were in a queue for the ferry and coming to a stop there was a major clunk which rattled the bottles and the engine stalled. We all thought the white van behind had run in to our rear bumper (it was that violent) but decided not to take issue with the driver. But there was another clunk on pulling away and a couple more on stopping and starting over the next few minutes. After which, nothing.

I assume the first gear clutch was sticking/releasing violently, despite being a wet clutch. Anyone else had this problem with the DSG? Any point in going in to the dealer now the problem seems to have gone? Can it be fixed via software?

Am totally sold on my PD140 DSG, its been 100% reliable and the choice of Normal/Sport or manual makes it very versatile - this is how all gearboxes should be.

if Carlsberg made gearboxes this would probably be the best gearbox in the world

We have it on our Golf, 68k now and no issues yet. Its the best method of self shifting on the market, if you dont miss a clutch..

Great piece of engineering too..

Howya,I have a 2.0tdi Elegance DSG with 125,000kms on it since January 2006 and the DSG hasn't given any trouble! The car is remapped to 400nm of torque and gets driven hard daily,but it is still as smooth as the day I picked it up! I would definitly go for the DSG but maybe wait for the new commonrail Diesels with less Co2 emmissions,possibly out mid 2008??

I'm happy with my DSG box except for the delayed response. If you need to accelerate away quickly from rest (pulling out at a road junction) or suddenly accelerate at any time it can take nearly two seconds to respond. Not good when you really need an instant response. Having said that you simply need to adjust your driving style and wait for longer gaps at road junctions before pulling out and don't put yourself in situations requiring fast responses from the DSG box. You could have a problem where the situation is not of your making and you need to accelerate instantly. I have found that pulling out from road junctions is best done by selecting the 'S' (Sport mode) position and changing back to the 'D' (Normal driving) position as soon after as you can.

Hope this helps.

i think the delay you mention is more from the tdi. it doesnt have a lot of pull until the revs go over 1500. also if you roll to a junction the car stays in 2nd and slips the clutch, meaning accelaration feels even slower as you pull away.

How do tdi manual drivers get on?

i have seen a video where someone is testing a dsg equipped golf and the they have it in D with the left foot on the brake and give it some revs then let their foot off the brake. Anyone tried this? must give the dsg clutch a hard time...

A bit OT, anyway i am at 1 year and 24000mls and not a glitch. definitely smooths out its gear changes after a few thousands miles.

Is it possible to use the acceleator with your left foot on the brake? What I mean by this is that with everything being electronic I thought that putting your foot on the brake cut-out the accelerator function. I recently tried to dry out my brakes after going through a flood by accelerating at the same time as putting my foot on the brake pedal (lightly) and I was sure the accelerator didn't function. It only started to work again when I took my foot off the brake pedal. My son's car is a manual tdi and this accelerates instantly when pressing the accelerator since there are no electronics involved.

There is definitely a time period whilst the DSG box electronics decides what to do. I have heard others mention this too.

You could have a problem where the situation is not of your making and you need to accelerate instantly. I have found that pulling out from road junctions is best done by selecting the 'S' (Sport mode) position and changing back to the 'D' (Normal driving) position as soon after as you can.

Hope this helps.

I agree - if I'm at a junction I know I need a quick getaway I slip it in sport mode and shift back into D when I'm away.

I had a Golf pull out on me the other day and you could see the panic as he realised his car wasn't getting out of my way quicker than he thought, then he shot away rather quicker than he thought he would - classic VW diesel lag I presume. And maybe new pants for him!

I have done just over 10,000 miles in mine ( dsg 2.0tdi ) and a recent trip through central London. I appreciated the DSG then. It is much better than other diesel autos I have tried. Yes there is the lag from standstill but it is minimised if you plant the accelerator more than you would normally expect and ease off as it picks up speed.

I have heard rumours of a 7 speed version - a dsg mark II. So I suspect that would be better. Not sure when that comes around though.

Thanks for all the great replies. It certainly looks like the way to go. I did see that the CO2 emissions from the DSG are way in excess of the non-DSG model and therefore tax in Ireland would be steep.

K Young - When would common rail diesels be arriving in Ireland, what cc and what potential CO2?

Thanks

TI did see that the CO2 emissions from the DSG are way in excess of the non-DSG model and therefore tax in Ireland would be steep.

Slightly OT, but...

I have wondered about those CO2 figures. I think they are a result of how CO2 emissions are measured in the lab. After all, DSG fuel consumption seems to be very close to the fuel consumption of the manual box. If this is true, I cannot see how CO2 emissions in actual traffic would be significantly bigger.

Finnish car taxation is changing to be based on CO2 as well, so this really bugs me. We will get our 1.9 TDI DSG early next year, and this does affect the price...

Is it possible to use the acceleator with your left foot on the brake? What I mean by this is that with everything being electronic I thought that putting your foot on the brake cut-out the accelerator function. I recently tried to dry out my brakes after going through a flood by accelerating at the same time as putting my foot on the brake pedal (lightly) and I was sure the accelerator didn't function. It only started to work again when I took my foot off the brake pedal. My son's car is a manual tdi and this accelerates instantly when pressing the accelerator since there are no electronics involved.

There is definitely a time period whilst the DSG box electronics decides what to do. I have heard others mention this too.

Putting your foot on the brake puts the gearbox into neutral (or disengages the clutch, which is much the same thing). Just try it and see. For half a second or so, nothing. Then it picks up and crawls away with no accelerator input.

Incidentally, anyone else had trouble with a clunking DSG (see above)?

Thanks for all the great replies. It certainly looks like the way to go. I did see that the CO2 emissions from the DSG are way in excess of the non-DSG model and therefore tax in Ireland would be steep.

K Young - When would common rail diesels be arriving in Ireland, what cc and what potential CO2?

Thanks

I've wondered why to CO2 is higher with a DSG compared to manual - bearing in mind that the DSG is effectively an automated manual with no slip compared to a torque converter type box.

I guess that it may be down to the box changing gear almost instantly. In a manual, when changing gear, there are times when the engine is "off throttle". With a DSG and its lightning gear changes the engine is always working hard. This must put out more CO2 per mile and us DSG drivers proceed at a faster rate than manual boxes.

Any other ideas?

JohnMorr - the only clunking (maybe not clunking. more jerking but with a thud) is when I catch the DSG out in heavy traffic. Sometimes when you come off the gas but then plonk your foot back on because you need to whiz out of trouble the gearbox is mid change, or confused which way to go and you get a very poor change.

Some magazines, when reviewing DSG cars, be them VW or Audi etc say they DSG can be a bit tardy around town. I remember one magazine really laying into the DSG and said it was the worst type of auto box they had tried. I wouldn't go that far but it certainly isn't as smooth as my Toyota auto I had before the Octy. But then it wasn't as quick at changes as my Octy DSG is.

In a manual, when changing gear, there are times when the engine is "off throttle". With a DSG and its lightning gear changes the engine is always working hard. This must put out more CO2 per mile and us DSG drivers proceed at a faster rate than manual boxes.

Wouldn't that actually work the other way around? I.e. the manual is burning carbon "for nothing" every now and then, while the DSG is constantly providing actual power to the road.

I think the explanation must be different...

Wouldn't that actually work the other way around? I.e. the manual is burning carbon "for nothing" every now and then, while the DSG is constantly providing actual power to the road.

I think the explanation must be different...

Maybe, but bear in mind that the tests that are performed to gather the MPG and CO2 aren't done on the road and there are anomalies galore. I was coming from the view that in a manual, when changing gear and foot off throttle, you are not putting out CO2 at that time. With a DSG box the engine is never throttle off. The tests may reflect this as a higher CO2 output. A DSG box accelerates faster than a manual so might one expect increased CO2?

There has to be some reason - any other ideas?