Is the 6 speed DSG a wet or dry clutch?

[tigger73]

Hi Tigger73,
with al respect to you, but your statement about bulletproof DQ500 is totally wrong and misleading for potential Buyers!, There is not only ''couple DQ500 with problems'' as you noted ! There is ''heaps of affected Tiguan Owners locally'' with failure and problems on dq500 Tiguan ! I would say after my long research and talk with Owners .Only how many ppl contacted me here n Australia asking for help regarding same DQ500 faults on Au Tiguans ,many of this have sold straight cars! It will be more 50% /50% luck factor poker Game with Tiguan DQ500 DSG! All over world Tiguan owners suffer with same transmission problems as find in new Tiguan 132 and 162kw , including Skoda Kodiaq Seat ...
Tiguan AWD 132, 162kw is nice car design, functionally, practicality , no doubt about that, VW Best Seller! However truth is one of the most unreliable car if come with DQ500! To not even count abnormal early water pump fail, mystery coolant lose/ toping issue ,problem with bad design front brakes, loud knocking sound from struts , and some other things falling as early in first 6 months o use.
My advice to all new potential Buyers Tiguan if you are not skilled to diagnose and repair your self big problems and issues , or you have big pockets and big nerves ,don't much care about Dealer bul.... child story's and high service /repair cost , than better not buy DQ500 7speed Tiguan 132/162kw , or you will be pulling your hair as I was!.
That's my honest opinion and this is from someone who really like his Tiguan and own all his life VAG cars

Cameleon, I appreciate you're trying to do a public service by alerting the world to the problems that a number of people have experienced. However I really believe it was a (relatively) small number of vehicles and nothing like the issues that have plagued (say) the DQ200.

I appreciate you've had an issue with your car but you're one of a few. I'm just not seeing a massive flood of DQ500 DSG issues. Across the social media platforms (forums, Facebook Tiguan groups, etc) I have seen literally a handful of people having issues and 90% of them were related to cars built around 2017.

I have seen many more complaining about low coolant levels, blocked sunroof drains and the odd water pump/coolant leak. DSG issues are definitely not that common, although they are of course something that everyone that has a DSG equipped car will want to understand root cause and look to mitigate the issue (i.e. check fluid levels and correct if under-filled).

So although I understand you've had a bad experience, I don't think your experience is necessary typical of every Tiguan owner. No car manufacturer these days builds cars to have zero issues and to run for 1 million km. It's just not economic. They are all built to have an acceptable failure rate and one that does not cost the manufacturer too much or impact the ongoing sales for the company.

Did you ever get the issue with your noisy DSG resolved? I can't remember whether it was just the noises that were an issue for you or if there was actually a fault? I don't know what VW's position is for a clunky car, however I also understand if that it is performing the function for which it was purchased then there really isn't anything to argue about. I guess there's always going to be a difference in opinion as to how much noise is acceptable and it's probably a tricky thing to determine if the car for all intense and purposes is performing its function as a vehicle.

[vdubbed12]

IMHO from expirance dealing with all type of dsg trhu various models on audio and VW ,DQ250 is one of the best smothest and most realible transmision VAG ever made.
It is wet clutch , and as you can see here on forum , there is absolutely no any complain on any Iguan owner 1.4 tsi for this transmision, which is not the case for Dq500 7 speed also wet clutch known as clunky and not so smoth and problematic ( world wide with this dsg type Owners complain and known problem).

We have dq250 in Audi q3 now since 5 years, and is so smooth and realible even in the city where Dsg has weakness . It give you impression is more as standard auto transmision but not DSG dual clutch but still with all benefit of semi fast dual clutch manual transmission , thats how it smooth and pleasant . Higly recommend Q250!

I don’t know about the serious issues with DQ500 7 Speed but since day 1 of ownership I’ve always felt that my 10 year old MK6 GTI feels more fun to drive and just feels more solid, smooth and accurate in changing gears. You can definitely feel it - I drive either MK 6 GTI or Allspace 162 TSI daily so naturally notice the difference in gear changes.

Also, there is just too much clanking noises on downshifting in D as slowing down to stop or corner which I’m told normal because the car is sitting higher so you just hear it more - in GTI I also hear it faintly in the quiet environment when slowing down but just before coming to a stop. It does sound like normal gear changing noise but still sometimes gets on my nerves. Upshifting in the lower gears when taking off is not as smooth or quick as the GTI - could be how it’s set up, don’t know. It’s not like in DQ200 7 Speed but I feel like I want to step on it a bit to go harder at the start and then it feels a bit better.

Plus the gear holds too long driving downhill and feathering it to upshift to get rid if engine braking noise is not easy unless you really give it a push - yes, you can manually change gears in hilly areas but in GTI just a slight touch would upshift. It may be the driving position of the leg in the SUV vs Hatchback or maybe organ-type accelerator pedal vs the short small pedal. Short accelerator pedal is a bit soft and it works my ankle more and my ankle gets sore and tired more easily in Allspace.

If mechanically possible, I’d have liked DQ250 on Allspace.

[tigger73]

I don’t know about the serious issues with DQ500 7 Speed but since day 1 of ownership I’ve always felt that my 10 year old MK6 GTI feels more fun to drive and just feels more solid, smooth and accurate in changing gears. You can definitely feel it - I drive either MK 6 GTI or Allspace 162 TSI daily so naturally notice the difference in gear changes.

Also, there is just too much clanking noises on downshifting in D as slowing down to stop or corner which I’m told normal because the car is sitting higher so you just hear it more - in GTI I also hear it faintly in the quiet environment when slowing down but just before coming to a stop. It does sound like normal gear changing noise but still sometimes gets on my nerves. Upshifting in the lower gears when taking off is not as smooth or quick as the GTI - could be how it’s set up, don’t know. It’s not like in DQ200 7 Speed but I feel like I want to step on it a bit to go harder at the start and then it feels a bit better.

Plus the gear holds too long driving downhill and feathering it to upshift to get rid if engine braking noise is not easy unless you really give it a push - yes, you can manually change gears in hilly areas but in GTI just a slight touch would upshift. It may be the driving position of the leg in the SUV vs Hatchback or maybe organ-type accelerator pedal vs the short small pedal. Short accelerator pedal is a bit soft and it works my ankle more and my ankle gets sore and tired more easily in Allspace.

If mechanically possible, I’d have liked DQ250 on Allspace.

The reason why 2-1 gear change in the DQ500 is clunky is that there's a synchro on 1st gear. You'll hear the gearbox clunk back into first at low speed just before you stop. This is completely normal.

You can get the DQ250. It's available in the 110TSI FWD model.

[vdubbed12]

The reason why 2-1 gear change in the DQ500 is clunky is that there's a synchro on 1st gear. You'll hear the gearbox clunk back into first at low speed just before you stop. This is completely normal.

You can get the DQ250. It's available in the 110TSI FWD model.

Thanks for the information. I’m also noticing it even in higher gears when I slow down but not as pronounced as in 2-1 due to the engine noise. It just sounds like the gears changing but quite obvious, probably due to its minimal sound of blip. Not too interested in the lower powered models.

[vdubbed12]

I’ve just driven home and maybe we are talking about different noises - it’s more like orderly noises of downshifting gear changes - still annoying sometimes. The gear changes are fine, downshifting and upshifting, but I guess the feel of the soft accelerator pedal might be making it “feel” not as crisp on the second thought.