My thoughts on the DSG and the driver profiles

[EmiLiuZ]

Hi there.

I just wanted to share my experiences with the DSG gear box and driving profiles.

I really like this gearbox. It is fast and with little to no "lag".
It does have a few issues though:

When you start the car up it seems random which driving profile it chooses. Sometimes it starts up in sport and sometimes in normal, individual or eco. Even in normal mode the gearbox can be on sport when you start up the car.
I'm not sure if I am doing anything wrong?

When entering sport mode while driving in cities the RPM meter will stay at 3000 RPM @ 60 km/h without switching gears and you must be changing gear manually in order to do so. So when using the paddle shifter to change gear, it will do so, but only for 15 seconds and then it choose to change it back and then you're suddenly at 3000 RPM again. This makes it pretty tough to drive in cities in sport mode that is.
It would make sense that if you stay at a relatively high RPM in a gear for a while that it would switch to a more suitable gear even in sport.

[antz81]

Sounds like there may be a problem if the gearbox is doing as you describe.

[EmiLiuZ]

Sounds like there may be a problem if the gearbox is doing as you describe.

Perhaps there is. Not too sure. Hopefully one of the owner of the GTI can share their experiences.
As it is for now I'm forced to stay in Normal mode, otherwise fuel will disapear like a Gin and Tonic in Ibiza

[Andy Beats]

Not sure about current DSG, but I'm sure this is how sport mode worked in my 2005 Audi A3.
Sport mode would hold the car in a gear at higher revs, other modes would change up a gear.
It makes sense as you've told it you want to be sporty and dragging along at low revs/high gear isn't sporty.....
I found sport mode too revvy and fussy for town driving.

[EmiLiuZ]

Not sure about current DSG, but I'm sure this is how sport mode worked in my 2005 Audi A3.
Sport mode would hold the car in a gear at higher revs, other modes would change up a gear.
It makes sense as you've told it you want to be sporty and dragging along at low revs/high gear isn't sporty.....
I found sport mode too revvy and fussy for town driving.

That is exactly my experiences so far as well

[Andy Beats]

That is exactly my experiences so far as well

Well, unless Polo GTi owners can advise otherwise, it looks like sport mode is behaving correctly.
So don't use sport mode in town.

[fletch555]

I have a Fabia vRS with DSG and it does exactly as you describe. Sport mode is all but useless for driving on roads...and on track too tbh as you would want to be using the paddles. The only time I use Sport is when decelerating coming up to a sharp turn/lights as it does a nicer job of the downchanges than doing it in manual mode.

[monkeyhanger]

To get the throttle response of Sport, without the "S" gear change thresholds which hold high revs, I put my GTI+ into Sport mode and then pull back on the gear lever against the spring, which puts the gear change thresholds back to normal, denoting "D" e.g. D1, D2, D3 etc. instead of S1, S2, S3. If you want to be back in S mode then pull back on the gear lever again (but I wouldn't).

Your car should remember you're in Sport mode next time you turn it on, but should be keeping the change thresholds in "D", unless you change your driving mode out of and back into Sport during the journey - then the gearbox will revert to "S" changes.

Similarly, if you've been using the paddles in manual mode, and want to revert back to D from M quicker than the car will (it seems to be a 20 second wait), you can pull back on the gear lever again.

[Andy Beats]

Is 'manual mode' still a bit of a misnomer with DSG?
Does it still change up for you if you get a bit naughty with the revs?

[monkeyhanger]

Is 'manual mode' still a bit of a misnomer with DSG?
Does it still change up for you if you get a bit naughty with the revs?

It will always protect itself if you try to do something daft like stick it on 2nd at 70mph, by not allowing it to happen.

If you have the gear stick slotted over to the left in true manual mode, it will respect your wishes to floor it in 3rd at 50mph. If you're in normal D or S auto modes and use the paddles to floor it in 3rd, it will stick you in 2nd until you reach the red line (revs) and then change up. It's too daft to realise that its a waste of time to change down to 2nd and be doing 5800 revs to then almost instantly require 3rd. In that scenario it spends more time going to 2nd for all of 1/2 a seconds use then 3rd than is worth it vs only dropping to 3rd for better acceleration.

Using the paddles in auto mode, it will still try and override your wishes ratger than leaving the decision on gear changes with you and your paddle selections.

[Andy Beats]

It will always protect itself if you try to do something daft like stick it on 2nd at 70mph, by not allowing it to happen.

If you have the gear stick slotted over to the left in true manual mode, it will respect your wishes to floor it in 3rd at 50mph. If you're in normal D or S auto modes and use the paddles to floor it in 3rd, it will stick you in 2nd until you reach the red line (revs) and then change up. It's too daft to realise that its a waste of time to change down to 2nd and be doing 5800 revs to then almost instantly require 3rd. In that scenario it spends more time going to 2nd for all of 1/2 a seconds use then 3rd than is worth it vs only dropping to 3rd for better acceleration.

Using the paddles in auto mode, it will still try and override your wishes ratger than leaving the decision on gear changes with you and your paddle selections.

But a proper manual driver could, if he wanted, stick it into 2nd at 70mph....
It's always truck me as weird that VAG think DSG owners can't be trusted, but manual drivers can.
When I drove the proper manual version of my car, I was amazed how much more revs I had at the top end.
It was maybe only a couple of hundred revs, but it made the car feel so much more flexible and I could, if I wanted, hold a gear between corners.
I was hoping DSG had maybe moved on since I had the fledgling version in 2005.

[monkeyhanger]

It will always protect itself if you try to do something daft like stick it on 2nd at 70mph, by not allowing it to happen.

If you have the gear stick slotted over to the left in true manual mode, it will respect your wishes to floor it in 3rd at 50mph. If you're in normal D or S auto modes and use the paddles to floor it in 3rd, it will stick you in 2nd until you reach the red line (revs) and then change up. It's too daft to realise that its a waste of time to change down to 2nd and be doing 5800 revs to then almost instantly require 3rd. In that scenario it spends more time going to 2nd for all of 1/2 a seconds use then 3rd than is worth it vs only dropping to 3rd for better acceleration.

Using the paddles in auto mode, it will still try and override your wishes ratger than leaving the decision on gear changes with you and your paddle selections.

But a proper manual driver could, if he wanted, stick it into 2nd at 70mph....
It's always truck me as weird that VAG think DSG owners can't be trusted, but manual drivers can.
When I drove the proper manual version of my car, I was amazed how much more revs I had at the top end.
It was maybe only a couple of hundred revs, but it made the car feel so much more flexible.
I was hoping DSG had maybe moved on since I had the fledgling version in 2005.

If they could stop manual drivers doing something daft, they would - they live with the fact that they can't, as they have no choice but to trust the driver. They can police the correct use of DSG due to the way the technology works - So they do. It's a preventative action. With any process you should be looking to minimise or eliminate human error if possible if you want to make it reliable. The engineering out of human error has been going on for ages - the Japanese call it Poke Yoke. How hard is it to lock your car keys in your car these days due to using blippers or keyless tech that require you to have your key on you to lock it? That's an example of Poke Yoke.

My only complaint with it is not switching over to full manual mode while using the paddles. If you drop a few cogs with the paddles and then floor it in 3rd you've selected, I don't expect the car to think " actually, I think you wanted 2nd, right at the top of the rev range" - No, I didn't!!! Oh and deciding to cut in the stop-start before you come to a complete stop.

[Andy Beats]

It was the lack of top-end rev control that meant I turned my back on DSG.
I often found myself shouting "do as you're told!" to the car
I would also have preferred if they'd made the +/- the other way around, I would have liked up-changes to be back on the stick and down changes to be forward.
I preferred using the stick to the paddles, I could never get used to my left hand being on the wheel after years of driving manuals and my left hand never being near it.

[monkeyhanger]

It was the lack of top-end rev control that meant I turned my back on DSG.
I often found myself shouting "do as you're told!" to the car
I would also have preferred if they'd made the +/- the other way around, I would have liked up-changes to be back on the stick and down changes to be forward.
I preferred using the stick to the paddles, I could never get used to my left hand being on the wheel after years of driving manuals and my left hand never being near it.

I also would prefer to pull back to go up and push away to go down. Seems counter-intuitive to do it the way it is set up. Trouble is, once you get used to having DSG, you get lazy and live with the foibles rather than doing it all yourself.

Back in my manual Golf R at weekends seems a chore for gear changes, except those sat at 50mph, road ahead opens up and you drop 6th to 3rd and floor it. Can't do that directly in the DSG, and as you have to go 6>5>4>3, and each change feathers in rather than a hard bite, 6th to 3rd feels very slow in a DSG.

The Polo GTI hasn't got much towards the red line - not worth holding a gear past 5500rpm (same story with the Golf GTI variants under 250ps that don't share the R configured engine). My R comes alive at 4000rpm and pulls strongly all the way to 6800 revs.

[Andy Beats]

I would also have preferred if they'd made the +/- the other way around, I would have liked up-changes to be back on the stick and down changes to be forward.

We've both been watching too many rally videos with sequential boxes...