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This isn't really an issue, just an observation of sorts...
I never drove automatics until I came to Australia, some 11 years ago. I was offered a company car (Commo-friggin-dore Acclaim auto wagon) and learned to be lazy. I've changed cars a few time since, but somehow stuck to automatics. That type of transmission sort of suited my main kind of driving (Sydney morning and evening stop-and-go).
Now I've got this Golf with DSG. During the first few kilometers it became apparent - this isn't an auto tranny. There is no torque converter to keep you steady while standing at slight climbs. With the DSG, you take your foot off the brake and it rolls backward. Unlike with a manual, where you can keep the car standing with the clutch, there is nothing you can do - apart from the hand brake, or being quick on the accelerator.
I'm usually quick enough in the accelerator, even at the cost of making the wheels squeal every once in a while (something you don't do at my age without great embarrassment), and at steep hills I use the handbrake.
It's just something I didn't anticipate to having to get used to... I wonder whether others have any clever techniques they use?
I've tried the brake + heel on accelerator (as I remembered from my manual years) but the whole thing just locks up, refuses to play ball and requires the handbrake to be pulled and both pedals to be freed before coming to the game again...
Cheers
Steffen.
I never drove automatics until I came to Australia, some 11 years ago. I was offered a company car (Commo-friggin-dore Acclaim auto wagon) and learned to be lazy. I've changed cars a few time since, but somehow stuck to automatics. That type of transmission sort of suited my main kind of driving (Sydney morning and evening stop-and-go).
Now I've got this Golf with DSG. During the first few kilometers it became apparent - this isn't an auto tranny. There is no torque converter to keep you steady while standing at slight climbs. With the DSG, you take your foot off the brake and it rolls backward. Unlike with a manual, where you can keep the car standing with the clutch, there is nothing you can do - apart from the hand brake, or being quick on the accelerator.
I'm usually quick enough in the accelerator, even at the cost of making the wheels squeal every once in a while (something you don't do at my age without great embarrassment), and at steep hills I use the handbrake.
It's just something I didn't anticipate to having to get used to... I wonder whether others have any clever techniques they use?
I've tried the brake + heel on accelerator (as I remembered from my manual years) but the whole thing just locks up, refuses to play ball and requires the handbrake to be pulled and both pedals to be freed before coming to the game again...
Cheers
Steffen.
)
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