finally drove the DSG

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Finally got me and my crutches to the local dealer for a test drive. 2007 4-door GTi, DSG, no other options. Mostly streets, a bit of freeway, some bumper to bumper traffic, about 20 minutes.

At first I hated the car, mostly because it was an automatic. I had the car in auto mode (salesman didn't know about moving the lever over to full manual) and was also shifting with the paddles. Took me awhile to figure out which was up and down, but that's just a practice issue. Car felt like a typical slushbox in auto mode, sport seemed a bit peppier. The car makes decent power, very little turbo lag. When I was able to downshift to about 5500rpm and get on it, the car felt out of breath. I assume that is about the end of the torque curve and probably close to where the hp starts falling off. The meat feels like between about 2500-5K rpm.

Handling is ok. Rather comfy. About the same as my Subie wagon, maybe a tad less body roll. Very little torque steer. Also ver little engine braking when manually downshifting. That surprised me...I expected a bit more resistance. Not sure if the DSG is slipping the clutch a bit or it is is the engine/flywheel combination. Power is good but not breathtaking. Nice solid powerplant.

The DSG is interesting. You can manually downshift as long as the lower gear won't put the engine above about 5500-6K rpm. And shifts are very quick and smooth. I can see why the 0-60 time is faster with the DSG.

I sat in the leather seats in another car and fit fine. Remind me of Porsche sport seats, although they are broader through the shoulders than the old sport seats. Not sure about the material though. Then again, the cloth also felt a bit flimsy, but again a good fit. I think that good seat covers would be in order, as I'm not sure about the long term viability of the cloth seats. From the reports of leather wearing quickly here, that kinda scares me off leather. I prefer it for ease of cleaning, but I end up doing a lot of beach/surf runs with my son, and I'm not sure about leather v. cloth for that. I think I'd want a sunroof too...seems like it opens up the greenhouse a bit.

4-door was soooo much better for rear seat access. Since I've got a 9 year old, I use the back seats alot. 2-door isn't an option. The cabin is quite nice...more upscale than my Subie. When I got dropped off at home, I climbed into the Subie and it felt a lot cheaper. Plus I've never liked frameless doors (Subie).

By the time I got off the freeway, we hit bumper to bumper traffic. At that point I started to appreciated the auto. We literally took about 5 minutes to move 500 feet, and it was totally painless. Then once it cleared I tapped the paddles and was off to the races. Reminds me of the trigger break on my Sigs

So after the drive, I have to say that I'm pretty seriously considering it. The car is very usable for me...hatchback is a must for hauling my bass gear, backseat for the boy, comfortable cabin for my commute, and DSG will allow my leg to heal and make for an easier commute. And if I want total entertainment, I take the 911 out of the garage and row the gears there with 23/31 tbars, revalved Bilsteins, etc.

The salesguy is sending me what their inventory is. Just have to think about whether I can live with DSG for a couple of years, and whether I want to spring for leather. I think I will spring for the sunroof.

gprsh924 · 09-09-2006, 05:45 PM

do cloth and some wet okoles for the beach

otherwise pretty good choice (although i cant believe the fwd, that would seal the deal against it for me, especially here in snowy chicago)

Jim Richards · 09-09-2006, 05:48 PM

Leather for the biker in you, huh?

I have the cloth sport seats in my GLI and I like them. No sliding around unlike leather.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

I'm not a FWD fan but to be honest it was difficult to tell. No real torque steer to speak of.

On the fence about leather v. cloth. I like the look of leather and it is a lot easier to clean. But it also can wear quickly, is hotter, and is another $1800. Plus you can't get plaid leather

HardDrive · 09-09-2006, 07:23 PM

I feel obligated to comment that I had a VW (99) for about 5 years. It was a good car until around 50k, and then started spiraling downhill quickly.

My sister has a 2005 VW beetle convertable. She feels it is a colossal piece of ****, and is simply waiting out her lease.

I drove a GTI with the DSG when I was looking for a new car. I liked it, but I just could not pull the trigger on it. VWs WILL have problems, and the dealers are f*cking criminals.

Ronbo · 09-10-2006, 07:29 AM

Reliability may be a part of where the car was built (South America vs. Germany). My wife's 2001 Passat has almost 90K on it and the only problem has been a bad coil pack, which was the subject of a recall. Or, we might just be lucky.

Dave L · 09-10-2006, 07:35 AM

My 2000 VW GTI was built in Germany. The problem wasnt where it was built but that it was built with crap parts.

makaio · 09-10-2006, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ronbo
Reliability may be a part of where the car was built (South America vs. Germany). My wife's 2001 Passat has almost 90K on it and the only problem has been a bad coil pack, which was the subject of a recall. Or, we might just be lucky.

My 2001 B5 Passat was dead reliable as well. Never a real problem once in the 80,000 miles I had it for. The only thing I had to do outside of routine maintenance was a bad hazard flasher which affected the turn signals. The FW system was better than most, with no noticeable torque steer, and the car was awesome with Blizzaks in the snow.

Steve Carlton · 09-10-2006, 04:32 PM

If the car proves to be fairly unreliable and qualifies for Lemon Law buyback, it could be the cheapest car you ever owned. See if a loaner car is included with the warranty or if there's a warranty product that includes that.

If you lease and you're paying for the car relative to invoice, then leather might be cheaper than you think. You'd only be paying the difference from the invoice cost of the leather to the MSRP of the leather x the residual percentage, plus the "interest." Payment-wise, it might be minimal.

NICKG · 09-11-2006, 07:13 AM

i have a new GTI...great car. DSG "blips" the throttle for downshifts...it is the most awesome tranny going...faster than a stick too..i have a 6 speed manual, but I wish i had got the DSG
I saw your post over on vortex, bring the check and just say this is what i will pay, i will pen the check now...if the don't take it, go elsewhere..there are lots of VW dealers and een ifthey don't have the car, have them swap it in... I got my pk1 6mt for 22300....you should be able to get that car for like mid 25's

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

It turns out I can get an Audi A3 for $1500 under invoice. The local VW dealer wouldn't budge below $1500 *over* invoice. That puts them at equal OTD prices, plus 4 years free maintenance on the Audi.