What's the DSG like to drive?

[pologti18t]

I quite enjoyed the DSG in the 2 polo GTIs I drove. Didn't experience any of the "issues" others seems to have had (starting on a hill, reversing).
Then again I treated it much like an auto and didn't try to confuse it with sudden/dramatic changes in throttle (which confuse normal torque converter autos as well).

Found S mode far too hyper for around town. Held gears far too long before changing up. Probably good for a mountain fang

[RoknRob]

I quite enjoyed the DSG in the 2 polo GTIs I drove. Didn't experience any of the "issues" others seems to have had (starting on a hill, reversing).
Then again I treated it much like an auto and didn't try to confuse it with sudden/dramatic changes in throttle (which confuse normal torque converter autos as well).

Found S mode far too hyper for around town. Held gears far too long before changing up. Probably good for a mountain fang

I agree. For around town D is ideal - and way more economical. Just be wary of that initial lag when taking off.

S is fantastic on windy mountain roads!

[Ralfi]

Seeing as i'm still struggling to score a test drive in the new Polo GTI (will be trying again today), i'd really like to know peoples comparisons between the 9N3 & 6R GTI Polos & whether they think the DSG is as much fun as the full manual? Most media reviews seem to say no, but most of those who have the 6R here seem to be very happy with the DSG, though i'm not sure they've driven the 9N3 for very long or at all, to compare the two properly? Very interested in this..thanks.

[Gambit]

Can't compare to the older gti manual but I regularly swap between my manual Subaru 6 sp manual and the gti dsg, and the dsg is a breath of fresh air when i want to take a relaxing drive in D mode around town. Or Switch to S mode for a late night fang or early morning mountain run, and it's a pleasure, to rev out to redline where it should shift at for an attack style run.

[Frostee]

I've always friven manuals and just came from a 6 speed manual Mini Cooper S. I have to say I love the GTI on so many counts, one of which is the DSG transmission. As Gambit says it is a breath of fresh air. I also agree with the comments re the use of D and S modes. Also, manual gear change in either mode is fun and intuitive. It is really easy to get into the zone with those paddles.

Being a predominately city driver I cannot imagine myself going back to anything but what I have now or similar. Coming from a person who has traditionally said he hates auto's is quite a statement.

[johnw]

My feeling is the DSG prefers to be driven harder... as opposed to pottering along in slow traffic where the shifting in D mode is a little odd at times.

I have to agree. While I don't have a Polo, the DSG in the Passat is either eco mode [D] or full blast [S].

Especially on entering a freeway with a curve, I sometimes want to push on a bit, but in D it shifts up to 4 or 5 and sit at 2000 ish rpm. S on the otherhand is overkill, it'll be on 2 or 3rd and sit at 5-6000rpm when I just need about 3-4K rpm. I just use manual mode in this case.

In S the shifts are smooth and faultless, but I find that if you try to drive hard in D, SOMETIMES it gets confused with a lot of varying throttle input.

DSG is awesome, once you get used to it.

[bnescooter]

My feeling is the DSG prefers to be driven harder... as opposed to pottering along in slow traffic where the shifting in D mode is a little odd at times.

Completely agree

[GTI JOE]

Agree^...The DSG is a little uneasy at low and taking off speeds. D mode for economy does work. I had it on S for a couple of hundred Kms and performance was excellent, but, fuel economy went out the window.

[bnescooter]

Agree^...The DSG is a little uneasy at low and taking off speeds. D mode for economy does work. I had it on S for a couple of hundred Kms and performance was excellent, but, fuel economy went out the window.

It chews the fuel in S all the time. I'm assuming this is the DSG but I do get a bit of a rattle and clunkiness at low speed. Did see another thread talking about that I think.

[GTI JOE]

I haven't noticed a rattle as yet (the one everyone has been talking about), I only had the DSG in D mode in low/high speeds and S mode only high speed. I will check to see if there is a rattle in low speed in S mode today. Touch wood, hopefully I won't get the rattle. Hey bnescooter, how's the APR stage one going? Are you getting better fuel economy? and has it fixed any DSG issues? I'm sure others would be interested to know