DSG or Not?

[A3Night]

I have the DSG transmission on my audi. The past two cars I owned were both manuals. I thought I would always stick with manuals until test driving an audi with DSG. After owning this car for about a month there are a few gripes that I have. One, down shifting always takes awhile and its hard to anticipate when the power will come back while in a turn (dangerous). Two, getting sport mode to shift before redline is nearly impossible. Three, no launch control. And a few others... I'm about 50/50 with the decision I made regarding transmissions. I'm a diehard manual fan but I still love the DSG. I guess what it comes down to is if your married to the third pedal or not. I divorced the third pedal for a younger sexier transmission

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[a3_yuppie]

DSG is the way to go. In an ideal world, I would drive a stick. However, I live in Orange County (southern cal), where traffic is often bad. When you are creeping along in traffic, DSG is far more convenient than driving a stick. Once you hit the twisties I feel that DSG is only a bit worse than a stick. So you have to decide the trade off.

Corollary: The DSG transmission in the A3 has gear ratios which are quite low. You could cruise in 6th at 40mph. When you are at OC freeway speeds (80mph), the tach is over 3K, well into turbo range. Does the stick have similar ratios?

[UncleSpud]

Assuming you believe (as I do) that automatics are a drag and manual transmissions are a blast, the DSG splits the difference: not as much fun as a good manual tranny, but much, much better than a slushbox.

I might be more of a DSG fan if Audi pumped-up the 3.2 by about 50 HP (or put the 3.2 on a serious weight reduction plan). It's a resonable compromise though, in a household where the spouse can't drive stick.

[jackmott]

DSG is not just splitting the difference, it is not just the best of both worlds, it is BETTER than both worlds.

If you are stuck in traffic, you leave it in automatic mode, and get all of the ease, but better gas mileage and more power than you would with an automatic.

If you are carving corners, or road racing at a track day you can use the paddles like an F1 driver and have superior control and superior performance than a manual.

I'd love to use this at an autocross where a manual car can't shift down to 1st gear in tight turns because the time to change gears makes it not worth it on the short courses, with DSG you would save a lot of time.

About the only downside is no burnouts or clutch kick drift initiation, but on FWD and AWD cars that kinda stuff is already pointless anyway, and clever software hacking may make that stuff possible anyway.

If you think that pressing a clutch pedal and rowing the H-pattern is actually "Fun" rather than an annoying feature of 100 year old gear change technology, well, I say get over it. Flicking the flappy paddles is fun too =)

[tshoe777]

My A3 is only the second automatic I've ever owned. The DSG is ok, but I have to admit, sometimes I really miss that clutch. Shifting with the paddles just doesn't feel right. Though the car is fun to drive and the DSG is fast, in my personal opinion, driving enthusiasts really prefer a manual shift. I don't regret my purchase, but I will probably go back to a manual for my next vehicle.

[rollyfoster]

i still "prefer" manual, but i didn't like the clutch on the a3 at all. i tested the DSG just for educational purposes and freaking loved it. i also grew up on video games, so the paddle shifters are a blast for me. as far as downshifting, i give it a double tap and it feels great and keeps the revs up going into turns.

[BAMF]

tshoe, if you don't like shifting with the paddles, have you tried the +/- setting on the shifter itself? It's still not the same as driving a manual, but it does feel a bit more natural to be working the shifter with your right hand... [sm=nothatway.gif]

(someone discovered the 'more smileys' button today)

[eddiefury]

wow i'm surprised dsg's beat out manual in this poll...i love my 6 speed manual. i got so used to the A3 clutch that when i drive my golf, it feels COMPLETELY different.

[hesaputz]

I'm the ultimate authority on this subject;I own one of each, and I'm a hardcore manual guy from wayback.

The answer is , I love both; The DSG is better in the urban environment, and uses less gas. The 6MT is more fun for suburban or open road use. I'd be happy owning either by itself. DSG has a learning curve just like MT driving, takes a while to master - but it's a superb advance in tranny technology that is only going to get better with development. Not yet perfect, but lots of fun.
MY only reservation about this debate is that I have several manual Porsches to drive when my left leg gets bored or restless; If I didn't, I might be tempted to own the 6 MT car for a daily driver.
Yuppie - the DSG and MT ratios are very, very close; for all intents, the same.

[ChrisF1]

My $.02:

The A3 DSG is my daily driver. I have a modded EVO for track and sport driving. If the A3 was my only car, hands down it would be a manual. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the DSG but for performance driving it leaves a lot to be desired. The point no one has touched on so far that really irks me is the auto shift at redline. If you're mid turn at the track or on an autox course and come up to redline, you either have to back off the gas or let the car shift and completely upset the car. The fact that Audi put in the autoshift logic leads me to believe that they don't expect a large portion of their A3 market to drive that hard. That's too bad. This really limits how hard you can drive the car in my opinion.

So if you really want the most performance out of the car, no question: manual. If you want most of the performance and the utility of the auto mode, DSG.