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Other than the above, and Fords Powershift, who else is using them?
Wife looking to get new car soon and this is main criteria.
Mercedes. I've got one in my new B Class. 7 speed. Very pleased with it. More economical than the manual, faster and the same CO2.
Ferrari, Porsche, Bugatti amongst others...
If you're looking for something a little more affordable, then there's always the Nissan GTR! 😉
Porsche, Bugatti
Aren't they VW?
Why on earth would you want one???
Yes but I think the OP was more referring to SEAT, Skoda and Audi though.
On a more affordable note... According to t'internets, Fiat group offer a DCT in some of their small cars including the Alfa Mito, and Renault offer a DCT on some of the Diesel engined Megane's.
this is main criteria.
What about the colour or the price or the number of seats or the luggage space or.....are you taking the piss?
I'd have thought work out which car has DSG (or similar) and work out colour spec etc from there. Both of us hate driving manuals and my current car has DSG. Don't really want a normal auto as they are fuel sapping and don't work too well on smaller diesels. It'll probably end up being a polo or a golf anyway as my Touran hasn't missed a beat in 5 years.
We tested a few (all listed now) and the VW versions won. Weirdly we ended up ditching the idea and getting a Renaultsport! I'd happily go back to the idea in the future - very smooth to drive.
Nobody's mentioned Tame Technician yet over on pistonheads? So there, I just did.
Nobody's mentioned Tame Technician yet over on pistonheads? So there, I just did.
Go in then, I'll ask.
Who/What ?
Well I dont want to bias your view but if you google "Tame Technician dsg" or similar - there is a whole subworld out there.
Anyway, its not a judgement from me, just some extra reading.
Basically he works on them / fixes etc (for Audi I think) and even though he dislikes them to drive and they can maybe cause a scary moment or two most customers like them. There are some occasional big bills, but possibly no worse than a DMF kind of thing and up to about 70k seem to be covered by VAG goodwill if the oil changes have been done.
Personally I'd like one, but not with miles.
BMW have one as well. The 135i with DCT is quite entertaining.
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Have DSG on my Leon FR, petrol. It's brilliant for day to day traffic crawling and entertaining driving when required. Still don't find it as good as a manual when you really want full control though. Definitely will be having another
I'm 39 now, and have had scores of manual 'drivers' cars over the years, no interest whatsoever in buying another manual car, or being 'involved' in driving, just want to stick it in D and go.
Peugeot have a semi auto box. Its not twin clutch but it really suited the 508 I had.
Why on earth would you want one???
Perhaps the OP or his partner has a disability which means they can't use a manual, but doesn't want the crap driving experience of a traditional auto?
I have one, I like it because it's about a million times easier to be stuck in a traffic jam on the M4 when you don't have to be feathering the clutch constantly for 45 mins.
Lots of companies are bringing out dual clutch autos soon. Honda, Fiat, etc... as well as the existing companies.
I must have given up the like of driving having a "crap auto" 😀
Incidentally the latest 7-8spd autos have as good or better mpg figures than the equivalent manuals.
Seriously considering purchasing a Skoda Fabia VRS with DSG this month.
Anybody got one? Good stories? Horror stories??
Rachel
Yeah in VAG land there is a 6 speed and 7 speed version. The 7 speed I think comes on petrols. It's a dry clutch, whereas the 6sp is wet. The wet clutch has a little more drag so it's the one that's slightly less efficient than a manual, but the 7sp has no extra drag so I guess the number of close ratios gives the better economy.
ZF Sachs made them, and VW use them a lot, but not obvious who else uses them
Seriously considering purchasing a Skoda Fabia VRS with DSG this month.
Anybody got one? Good stories? Horror stories??
Rachel
I lost interest in them and the Polo GTI as soon as I head that the box will over rule you even in manual mode.
In what way will it overrule you?
the box will over rule you even in manual mode.
The only times it does that is if you are going to stall it changes down; and if you have your foot still on the boards at the limiter it changes up.
It will let you drive at high revs fine, it's just when you are attempting to accelerate through the limiter. Which, if you are that much of a driving god, you never would of course 🙂
Oh, and it also won't let you wreck the engine ie select 2nd at 80mph. Obviously.
I believe it was the test on topgear.com that mentioned the car changing up when they were wanting to hold it in gear on a switchbacky road. The last thing you want is for the car to change up when you're about to hit the brakes. If I want to hit the limiter then that should be my choice imo
I believe it was the test on topgear.com that mentioned the car changing up when they were wanting to hold it in gear on a switchbacky road
It does that in automatic mode, but not in manual mode. That's exactly why you'd switch to manual mode.
I use manual mode when joining the M3 eastbound at J4. It's a long 180 curve which doens't give you all that much room when it opens out to join the motorway. So I hold it in 4th or whatever as I go round the curve so I can boot it to join traffic. If I am in auto mode it doesn't know I'm going round a curve and will change up, because I am holding constant speed.
You can hit the limiter, it's just if you leave your foot planted to the floor at the limiter it'll assume you want to go faster and change up. If this bothers you then you are bonkers.
It gives you full choice in 100% of actual driving situations.
I'm just repeating what I read. Annoyingly, typing this on my phone so struggling to find the article
Sounds a completely sensible arrangement to me, then. Power tends to drop off before quite reaching the limiter so you need to be changing up anyway (or at least it was that way in my Impreza)
As long as it doesn't go pop, I'll be happy!
Rachel
True, atg - in fact the auto mode actually goes too close to the red line for me so there's a little slowdown as it finds the lmiter before it changes up. I think it's a little quicker to do max sprints in manual mode cos I can change just before the limiter.
The new Jag 8speed has something called "curve detection" or similar to tell if you are cornering so the auto won't change gear mid corner for you "driving on the limiter" gods. It's like have SurfMat back 😀
[i]Perhaps the OP or his partner has a disability which means they can't use a manual, but doesn't want the crap driving experience of a traditional auto?[/i]
They're only crap if the engine they're attached to is crap, ie small/low-powered/crap rev-range. Sub 2-litre auto diesels I've driven do seem mis-matched though...
The one DSG (Passet CC) I've driven had a annoying pause between pressing the accelerator and then setting off, annoying enough to put me off buying it.
The Alfa Giulietta has a similar system to DSG (TCT?)
Used to have DSG in a Golf.
Entertaining novelty for a while...
... but you end up wishing you had the control, rather than the car.
Not sure that I'd want another (at the mo anyway)
What's the reliability like on these? Sounds like another complicated bit of kit to maintain.
Part of my job is to write software for all types of automated transmissions, including DCT's, and whilst I like the way they drive (most of the time), I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole on a car where I would have to pay for repair bills - non company car, car out of warranty etc.
My car has an 8 speed DSG that is fantastic. No disadvantages imo. Would be reluctant to go back to to a manual (or conventional auto) now.
That's what is making me think this is only an option on a brand new one! Plus it's 20% off until end of year...
Rachel
They're only crap if the engine they're attached to is crap, ie small/low-powered/crap rev-range. Sub 2-litre auto diesels I've driven do seem mis-matched though
Hmm, I'd say they're crap if they're crap. By which I mean, crude traditional slushbox autos are generally poor, but they can be made good. I would still have a DSG over a slushbox though, easily.
DSGs are an extra bit of tech to go wrong, that's fair enough. You just have to weigh up if it's worth the risk or not. I complained about being stung for 300€ for a fluid change a while back, but it turns out that a) that's over the odds anyway and b) newer ones don't need the expensive procedure anyway.
They drive very well, especially in spirited driving, as I'm sure you know. I had a lift in a mate's nice Audi the other day but it was manual, and he was pretty clumsy with it so I ended up feeling sick. Much easier to drive autos smoothly, so consider your passengers 🙂
The only downside in driving really is when pulling away. There's not really a delay in pulling off, but if you want to get away really quickly mine won't let the revs climb high enough to get a good start, no matter what I do.
There's lots of stuff on the net about how to pull away fast, but it's mostly on GTI forums, so I'm wondering if it's a feature of the GTI version since it certainly doesn't work for me.
[i]They drive very well, especially in spirited driving, as I'm sure you know. I had a lift in a mate's nice Audi the other day but it was manual, and he was pretty clumsy with it so I ended up feeling sick. Much easier to drive autos smoothly, so consider your passengers [/i]
Agree with that, having gone back to my first manual for years after big autos - but then with +230bhp and a 5000rpm rev range I still drive it like an auto 🙂
In the A3 - you press and hold the DSC button whilst in Sport/Manual mode, foot on brake, revs to 3K and it activates launch control 😛
Volvo do one, but it's only in their low power cars I think.
I have a Citroen Grand Picasso with an electronic gearchange, can be used in auto mode or manual with paddles behind the steering wheel, it's a great system, the full auto is great for crawling round town, the manual excellent for normal/spirited driving.
Until I read this thread I hadn't given a thought as to how it worked, not sure if it's a DSG design, I suspect not but it sounds like it does a similar job. EGS6 the system is called.