Octavia manual v's Octavia RS manual gearbox

[bluefrog]

hey gents, I'm having a hard time trying to locate a manual RS at various dealerships to test drive but of course I've been offered a non-RS manual to take for a spin ... does anyone know if the manual gearboxes are the same on both octavia and octavia RS ??

Thanks in advance.

[DNA Tuning]

Todd, how did you find the non-RS manual? You could just try Dave's out I guess haha if you were interested.

[bluefrog]

Todd, how did you find the non-RS manual? You could just try Dave's out I guess haha if you were interested.

hehe ; )

haven't tried it yet .. I'll be taking the RS DSG out, and (I think) a manual octavia for a spin tomorrow at Richmond ... will let you know how it goes

so yeah I'm curious to find out from someone other than the dealer if the manual gearbox will 'feel' the same in an octavia RS compared to an octavia (being the only model I'll probably be able to test it on). Of course I don't mean gear ratios, but the degree of smoothness etc etc.

[gldgti]

Dont know if they all have the 6 speed now, but the 5 speed will feel a little different from the 6.

Either way, I reckon the VAG group manual gearbox feel is in general excellent.

[K1W1]

I've driven manual Scouts and of course my manual RS. AFAIK the gearboxes are the same in terms of how they change and how the clutches work there is certainly not enough difference in the feel to cause any issues.

[Gti Dave]

The RS manual gearbox is by far the smoothest shift I've experienced. Very fluid, smooth and light. My boss is so convinced with it that she doesn't mind if we bought another octavia even in manual. Hope that helps mate.

BTW, when are you planning on getting the wagon?

P.S. I'm getting bloody jealous of you mate. 4-5 weeks into a new golf r and you're already planning on getting yourself into an RS too? You lucky man. Darnit!!! I've still got another 2.5 years to go until I graduate *sigh*

[bluefrog]

Thanks guys for the replies. If the gearbox is anything like the Golf R's then I think I'll try and resist their heavy push towards DSG (since they've generally got bugger-all manuals in stock).

Yeah Dave after several weeks of pure driving pleasure in the R .. everytime I get in our current family-mobile (holden captiva) it feels like I'm trying to drive some kind of roadworthy hovercraft in comparison. Hence the very strong desire to trade it in for what is essentially a Golf GTI wagon - oooh la la!!

hey btw, are you meeting at chaddy this Friday night??

[K1W1]

Not sure about Golf R's but the RS manual gearbox is nowhere near as smooth as our S3.
Overall I'd only rate the RS manual gearbox as good rather than very good or excellent. There is much more left to right movement than in the Audi and 5-4 and 3-2 down shifts can be vague at times particularly if you are pushing things a bit. I've got the part numbers for the Audi links somewhere and I keep meaning to get some and install them (20 minute job apparently) to reduce the sideways movement in the gear pattern. Briskoda has heaps on info about manual gearbox mods.

[Gti Dave]

hey btw, are you meeting at chaddy this Friday night??

Don't know yet. Depends if there's going to be enough interest. Been lazy recently to organise since not many turn up and theres been weekly events for the past fortnight. We'll see. Just hurt my back and the RS is at the panel shop for respray of the entire front end and change of windscreen (from stone chips a while back from stupid construction truck offloading a heap onto my car down calder) so I'll see if I'm up for it.

[brad]

The linkages on the top of my M6 1.8TSI are different to a golf R32 - found out when my mate bought a Forge short shift & he gave me the R32 linkage for a shorter throw. The partno for the R32 linkage matched the GTI linkage. I'd assume the RS box=GTI box

[woofy]

Yep definitely the GTi entire engine and drivetrain would be the same as the RS. S3 is a different beast, there are more differences there than people realise.

[bluefrog]

so after taking a manual (RS thankfully) out for a spin this morning, I can now confirm with confidence that its gearbox, although very nice, unfortunately doesn't come close to the golf R's gearbox : (( .. hence I've now been converted to DSG (for Octavia RS) at least .. love those paddles! ; )

but wtf is with that wheel spin?!? .. even on stock it's pretty damn noticable - apart from AWD, what would be the best way to (help) overcome what I imaging would be extreme levels of spin once the car is tuned??

[VW Convert]

but wtf is with that wheel spin?!? .. even on stock it's pretty damn noticable - apart from AWD, what would be the best way to (help) overcome what I imaging would be extreme levels of spin once the car is tuned??

A lighter right foot perhaps?

[brad]

I run almost RS levels of power, more torque & have crappier touring tyres & except from a standing start or in the wet (gears 1-3), wheelspin is up to how silly my right foot is.

What tyres were on the test car?

Shock absorbers, springs, ALK, better tyres will all help but nothing will cure the wheelspin (maybe a Quaiffe diff?). The RS is no Golf R & it isn't trying to be one - GTI would be equally bad.

[bluefrog]

yeah I just didn't realise that there was such a massive difference between GTI and R (given the relatively lesser difference in price) ... oh well, looks like I'll have a few mods to procure after getting my hands on an RS ; )