MY08 Golf GT Sport TSI DSG Review

[fasti06]

My wife has had her MY08 Golf GT TSI for two weeks now. I have driven it a couple of times and today drove it to work and back. I gave it some testing on the freeway and in town. My thoughts are as follows:

Positives: Solid build quality feel when you sit it in. Start up is simple and operating is very easy. Vision out of the car is very good and no blind spots that I could tell. Engine revs nice and free it seems and you can actually here it burble away a bit when you give it some throttle. Steering is relatively light for fwd I thought. Tyres and brakes are better than average and met my expectations. Dials, gauges, controls are simple and convenient to use (only a couple of things I need to research with the help of owners manual. From a dig this little engine produces some very good torque with very little torque steer detected. Looks like she will get 600 km out of the first tank!

Negatives: Face of radio is very poorly lit for day time conditions and because it so high up on the dash gets lots of sun. You really have to look at the right angle to read details, ie what station is it on, volume etc. At night this is no issue but during the day completely useless. Auto tranny is hopefully going to improve but at the moment disappointing to me. Hit the throttle and then wait 1-2 seconds for the tranny to engage properly is not going to cut it for me. Bad hesistation when WOT then whiplash causing gerky feeling is not the way I like to roll.

Overall good choice for the wife but it would not suit me as a daily driver.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=10026

[GermanwithaVdub]

funny you say that about the tranny... imo its the best automatic money can buy (though im still a diehard manual fan, dsg failed to convert me). is it just that you hate autos like myself or is it actually specifically the dsg that you dont like?

[fasti06]

funny you say that about the tranny... imo its the best automatic money can buy (though im still a diehard manual fan, dsg failed to convert me). is it just that you hate autos like myself or is it actually specifically the dsg that you dont like?

Well disclaimer should be noted here: I am a 6 speed manual clutch dumper and always will be. It's actually the dsg I dislike on the GT though. No way I could drive this car on a day to day basis.

[GermanwithaVdub]

Well disclaimer should be noted here: I am a 6 speed manual clutch dumper and always will be.

wooo same! although maybe not on the new car since tyres are 300 a corner

[fasti06]

wooo same! although maybe not on the new car since tyres are 300 a corner

hahaha yep tyres on my Lib are 18" Pirelli Zero Corsa and run over $500 a corner!!

[orsegtsport]

My wife has had her MY08 Golf GT TSI for two weeks

Negatives: Auto tranny is hopefully going to improve but at the moment disappointing to me. Hit the throttle and then wait 1-2 seconds for the tranny to engage properly is not going to cut it for me. Bad hesistation when WOT then whiplash causing gerky feeling is not the way I like to roll.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...ad.php?t=10026

I take it you were driving it in auto mode when this was occurring? Whilst using the paddles (the only way I ever intend to drive the car) during my test drive I never once noticed any hesitation, and in fact, I couldn't believe the speed of the gear changes.

Please tell me that the DSG doesn't suffer from this hesitation problem while driving in 'manual' mode?

[GermanwithaVdub]

I take it you were driving it in auto mode when this was occurring? Whilst using the paddles (the only way I ever intend to drive the car) during my test drive I never once noticed any hesitation, and in fact, I couldn't believe the speed of the gear changes.

Please tell me that the DSG doesn't suffer from this hesitation problem while driving in 'manual' mode?

the dsg has 2 clutches (not meaning to insult your intelligence if you already know) and so each clutch engages a different gear. when you're driving in 1st the second clutch is engaged into 2nd because thats the gear you will shift to; when it comes time to shift the second clutch is simply engaged. however in 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th, theres 2 possibilities with which way you could shift, and the computer tries to guess which one it is. if it gets it wrong, it takes a bit longer to shift while the second clutch engages the right gear and then the car switches clutches.

[orsegtsport]

If it's solely related to the computer "guessing" whether to change or up or down, then I'm guessing that this hesitation problem is only an issue in automatic mode?

Surely in manual mode, this guess work is eliminated by using the paddles, as you are giving the computer direct instructions on what to do by pressing plus or minus, thus eliminating any need for the computer to 'think' about what it needs to do?

[GermanwithaVdub]

If it's solely related to the computer "guessing" whether to change or up or down, then I'm guessing that this hesitation problem is only an issue in automatic mode?

Surely in manual mode, this guess work is eliminated by using the paddles, as you are giving the computer direct instructions on what to do by pressing plus or minus, thus eliminating any need for the computer to 'think' about what it needs to do?

no it still needs to guess, it has no idea what direction you will shift next

for example:

you're accelerating, doing 80km/h in 3rd. since you're accelerating, the computer is ready for you to shift into 4th and has the second clutch in 4th gear but not engaged. near the corner you suddenly decide to shift down, since the computer was expecting 4th it now has to change the second clutch into 2nd before engaging that gear, thus leaving a slight lag.

obviously thats an extreme scenario but just to illustrate what im talking about. did that make sense? if not ill have another go, im not very good at explaining

edit: it has some idea which direction you will shift, but its not always right

[Tim]

aaahh so really they need a triple clutch gearbox. Id like to see them engineer that!

[Transporter]

Wouldn't it be better to leave it in "D" - I mean you would be faster, if the computer takes some time to think which gear to shift in?
I drive in "D" all the time, since I can't shift the gearstick faster than DSG in "D" mode can.

[GermanwithaVdub]

Wouldn't it be better to leave it in "D" - I mean you would be faster, if the computer takes some time to think which gear to shift in?
I drive in "D" all the time, since I can't shift the gearstick faster than DSG in "D" mode can.

the computer has to guess whether you're in auto or manual shift mode.

heres the auto scenario:
you're cruising along at 100 in 6th, therefore the second clutch would be engaged in 5th (since thats the most likely place you'll need to shift) but you suddenly floor it and the car has to shift into 4th instead to get the power it needs, therefore there would be some hesitation.

no auto will ever have the control of a manual, its just impossible

you might not be able to shift faster, but you can shift smarter

[orsegtsport]

no it still needs to guess, it has no idea what direction you will shift next

for example:

you're accelerating, doing 80km/h in 3rd. since you're accelerating, the computer is ready for you to shift into 4th and has the second clutch in 4th gear but not engaged. near the corner you suddenly decide to shift down, since the computer was expecting 4th it now has to change the second clutch into 2nd before engaging that gear, thus leaving a slight lag.

obviously thats an extreme scenario but just to illustrate what im talking about. did that make sense? if not ill have another go, im not very good at explaining

edit: it has some idea which direction you will shift, but its not always right

Makes perfect sense, cheers.

[Transporter]

the computer has to guess whether you're in auto or manual shift mode.

heres the auto scenario:
you're cruising along at 100 in 6th, therefore the second clutch would be engaged in 5th (since thats the most likely place you'll need to shift) but you suddenly floor it and the car has to shift into 4th instead to get the power it needs, therefore there would be some hesitation.

no auto will ever have the control of a manual, its just impossible

you might not be able to shift faster, but you can shift smarter

In most situations DSG does better job for me. Quick take off from traffic lights DSG wins allways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmMNRQ1GJ3o

[LiFers]

heres the auto scenario:
you're cruising along at 100 in 6th, therefore the second clutch would be engaged in 5th (since thats the most likely place you'll need to shift)

No, the computer has preselected 5th because that (other than 3rd) is the only other gear that can be preselected from 6th, you cannot preselect 4th, it needs to select 5th first (or shift through neutral) as each clutch selects Odd or Even gears only.

but you suddenly floor it and the car has to shift into 4th instead to get the power it needs, therefore there would be some hesitation.....you might not be able to shift faster, but you can shift smarter

The only thing you could do was shift to 5th, and then to 4th manually, the time and added acceleration taken to do so doesn't really seem to equate to much of a benefit to me.

Then again, I'm sure it's much more fun.