DSG Comments for any who wondered...
 

Commentary on the DSG (08, 2.0 FWD) - Hope it’s helpful.

I was initially targeting a Manual transmission for the control and because shifting is (or soon will be) a lost art. Now I'm very very happy with the DSG.

General
The transmission is fast and smooth. It pre-selects the next gear (yes it’s smarter than us) so it’s halfway there before the shift is initiated.

Drive
For around town, or warm up driving I use D. D is sedate and keeps the RPMs quite low. I suppose this keeps the mileage up. And the first time you drive the car in traffic you'll be very pleased. (But it will still kick if you need it to - see Pleasant Surprises below)

Sport
I use the Sport setting when I want a little extra to maneuver (highway on ramp, twisty road, red lights with twitchy drivers in next lane, just because etc). The car is fine without but its there so why not use it. It’s fast and will take the RPMs a lot higher under acceleration. When you ease up it still keeps the RPMS a bit high so there is plenty of snap if you need it. You'll know you’re in sport it’s an easily noticed difference from D. I usually end up coming back to D once I've completed whatever encouraged me to use S.

Manual
I use Manual when I want to really enjoy the car. I use the paddle shifters rather than the stick - love them. I can use the engine speed to ease back a bit, I can shift up when I don't need immediate power and I can down shift for a bigger boost. Like I said - shifting is a lost art. Note that the engine is quiet until you get the RPMs up there. If you've grown accustomed to working off of the engine sounds you'll need to be sure to use your tachometer when in manual.

Pleasant Surprises
- On the highway in 6th I stepped hard (full pedal) on the gas to get around someone who didn't want to yield the passing lane. The DSG was again smarter than me - it dropped me from 6th to 5th, drove up the RPMs and the turbo kicked in. I was at 85 in a flash. It was excellent and really makes the car a great highway vehicle. Great mileage with passing power on demand.

- The car will delay a downshift you instruct that puts the RPMs too high. The downshift request will be acted upon once the engine speed is such that it is safe to do so. Don't worry its not too conservative, just smarter than us. It will downshift into high RPMs but it won't blow your transmission because you goofed. Also, note that the horsepower/torque profile means that you don't need the RPMs to be too high to get a good boost.

- When in manual the car will downshift to 2 then 1 when you come to a red light.

Shifting
- From D to S is ideally done at a stop but can be done at low speed with the brake touched. Shifting from S to D can be done anytime - just push the stick forward one click.

- From D to Manual or vice versa can be done anytime. Just slide the stick sideways. No brake needed. When shifting from Manual to D the car will then pick the gear it prefers.

Manual re-sale consideration
Only about 10% of the Audis brought to the US are manual.

Suggestion
Pay attention to the RPMs that the engineers set up before you start any real shifting. It’s an indication of what they thought worked best and who knows maybe the engineers knew something about it...

Thanks for a great forum!

JEdward02

Good write up!

Shifting from D to S can be done anytime (at least on my '06). S will not use 6th gear, so this will often result in a downshift to 5th, but you can use the paddles to upshift to 6th in S, but it will not hold 6th after 10 or so seconds, when it reverts to automatic.

You didn't mention that the paddles are ALWAYS active, so in D or S, you can manually select a gear with them at any time. It will behave just like Manual mode as long as you're using the paddles, but reverts to Auto after 10+ seconds. The time to revert seems to depend on the G-loads on the car. If cornering hard, or going down a steep hill, the manually selected gear seems to be held longer.

thanks.
 

thanks for the additions - hadn't noticed some of those features but will watch for them now.

DSG is a work of art - there is no doubt about it. However, personally, I still prefer my manual - even with the knowledge that I'll never be able to shift as fast. At least in my case, there is a distinct state of disconnection between man and machine when I drive anything but standard.

i do agree but having gone over to the "other" side i have to admit i love the fact that when i want to be lazy and just drive lets say around areas where there are too many blues and twos or in a traffic jam/snow storm (cough yesterday :mad: ), its very nice to have, and knowing that allot of control is just a paddle tap away is awesome as well. i think its the future, but i have admit there are times i wish i did have a manual.

See, I've been on the other side. I swore never again. I still get to enjoy DSG in my dad's GTi if I want to borrow it, but even with heavy traffic (and it's getting pretty bad in Vancouver), I don't find myself wishing for anything else than manual.

For all kinds of reasons DSG is the future, not just for Audi, but for lots of manufacturers. And no more validation is needed (IMHO) than the use of the exact same technology by Porsche with their PDK transmission, and raves it's been getting from that community, esp in the Cayman.

FWIW, the Sport mode in the A3 will try to keep the RPMS around 3K - it will go into 6th, but only if it the RPMS would work out , and that's well over 80MPH.

My short wish list is better very low speed clutch slipping - try to parallel park facing downhill and ease into the space - you have to use the handbrake, 'cuz if you touch to footbrake the clutches and throttle disengage (self protection to keep from cooking the clutches). Likewise if you are facing uphill and trying to ease into traffic slowly - do not touch the brake or you'll find yourself with your throttle foot on the floor and the car idling while you roll backwards.

I dont have this issue, maybe they fixed in 09?

Great observations! I have owned mostly MT cars, with the last a Getrag 6-speed equipped Focus SVT. The paddle shifting lured me away to try out the DSG (initially in a '09 GTI), and it was amazing. Once I drove the A3, I was hooked.

I never, NEVER, thought I would enjoy just letting the computer do most of the work, but I'd say 70% of the time I'm not doing anything with the tranny. I jump in there for long descents to gear down, or to get a break in traffic, but otherwise I am cruisin.

The Turbo/DSG combo doesn't seem to like timid starts. There is some hesitation and roughness if you grandma the pedal from a stop. I have an authoritative foot so it doesn't pose an issue, and I'm hoping the ECU will learn to deal with it. Not an issue when in Sport mode or manual shifting.

So another MT convert to the DSG here ... grin inducing whenever you want it, and easy to sip your coffee in traffic.