Ok i have to ask...

MKBoulder said:

Go test drive it... Does Michael Schumacher have a clutch ? I think you find the answer to that is no !

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In the most branches of autoracing there aren't that much cars with a sequential gearbox. To my knowledge shifting with pedals on the steering wheel happens only in the Formule 1 cause in the Formule 3000, they still have to shift with a manual stick. And a few years ago there were rumors in the Formule 1 about going back to manual gearboxes.

see i have a problem with the clutch pedal placement cuz im coming from an 00 Si...and that clutch pedal is a pretty good distance from the brake pedal

I know your feeling Freek, In my 99 Subaru Impreza the clutch pedal is spaced more to the left as well. I actually think the pedal placement in the impreza's are wonderful, at least for me. I havent bought my GTI yet (2 months yet) but I'm not sure which I'll get. When I test drove the manual the clutch did bother me though.

dwl137 said:

I know your feeling Freek, In my 99 Subaru Impreza the clutch pedal is spaced more to the left as well. I actually think the pedal placement in the impreza's are wonderful, at least for me. I havent bought my GTI yet (2 months yet) but I'm not sure which I'll get. When I test drove the manual the clutch did bother me though.

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yes Japanese cars have their pedals spaced at pretty good intervals....german cars on the other hand are very tightly spaced

But before u choose make sure u drive a DSG...i test drove 2 manuals and 3 DSG's before i settled for the DSG...and while i still have my doubts about maybe enjoying the 6MT more....the DSG is the funk and a blast to drive :headbang:

cmdrfire said:

GTT, reason there's no slushbox lag or torque converter lockup is because it's not a slushbox using a torque converter; it's actually two clutches
Sorry if you knew that, just pointing it out again ;-)

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Yes, already knew that. I've researched this car quite extensively.
I was simply pointing out the feel and what it doesn't feel like. :thumbsup:
I call the standard manual a "clutch manual" considering the DSG is also a real manual
trans that is operated "automatically".

T

GTI2007 said:

The clutch pedal placement is almost the same for the MK5 Golf as it was for the MK4 Golf. The first pic are the pedals of the MK4 GTI and the second pic are the pedals of the MK5 GTI. So for people who come or came from an earlier MK Golf will have no problems with the placement of the clutch pedal. It may look weird for you coming from a BMW but to me it looks almost the same as the pedals of my MK4 Golf

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It doesn "look" weird, it simply feels wierd. It doesn't have to do with coming from a BMW at all. I've driven so many manual cars it would take a while to list them.
The GTI clutch pedal is simly placed much closer to the brake, which is already too close to the throttle, as compared to a large number of other manual trans cars.
One reason seems to be the rather LARGE hump on the left where the foot rest sits.

If I had to go with the manual I would certainly have an extension pedal made by a metal shop to move the pedal over to the left (US car). It just feels unnatural as I have to move my leg much too far over to the right to get to the pedal. The clutch feels almost centered below the steering column. As I said, to me, it feels quite awkward when compared to other manuals including the A4 and A3, as a point of reference for Audi/VW.

T

What do you mean as I get older, I have an 83 GTI, since new, It is still a blast to drive, I have a 78 Corvette since new, it too is a blast and now a 2007 GTI, all have MT, I don't feel over fifty when I drive any of these!

im loving my car, only regret is that the American VW tech's no jack shit about working on the car without calling VW tech. *sigh*

alf

i realize this is an old post but here goes:
when i went to the dealership, the stealer asked me which package i wanted and which transmission.

My first response was "Manual plz!" since i was driving an 1991 Volvo 240 which was automatic (my first and only automatic). I didn't even know DSG existed... I guess that shows you that i'm an impulsive buyer, but anyways.

He explained to me how it worked and how it was the newest thing and will probably become the standard "tiptronic" style transmission. Still. I said, "no, gimme MT, i'm not even interested in the automatic, even though it does sound cool."

The guy was really enthusiastic about this DSG transmission so he told me, "I won't let you buy the car until you try them both"

So we took a reflex silver package 0 with MT for a ride...needless to say i was loving it, but it had been like 4-5 years since I hadn't driven a car w/ manual transmission so I was a little rusty. Then he took me for a ride in a Tornado Red package 1 w/ DSG.

I gotta say, that sht was fun as hell to drive. Down-shifting felt awesome and the sound it made when it shifted perfectly every single time was so fun to hear and feel.

I was loving it! I downshifted on I-270 from 4th to 3rd
me (w/a big smile on my face): *laugh* "I feel like I'm driving awesome!"
stealer: "you ARE... it shifts perfectly everytime! and when you hit traffic, boom" as he switches it back to auto mode

When we were about to get back to the dealership I was convinced. I wanted my new baby to have DSG, cuz it's convenient, it's fun to drive (at least from 1 test drive), it's quicker and the guy told me it's better w/ mpg. It was already 6pm so I couldn't just purchase the car right there and then. That gave me 2 days to think about DSG vs Manual.

Honestly it's a really great system, but what made me decide against it was that it's relatively new and pretty complex... I'd bet more than half the mechanic shops in the area have no idea how it works, yet.

Sorry bout the huge post, but I wanted to convey how I felt about it. Sometimes I wish I had DSG, just for the cool factor... but I'm glad I got the MT because the more moving parts and electronic stuff there is involved, the more likely it is to break. I don't know a lot about engines & transmissions, so this is merely speculation based on my background w/ engineering. Granted it's software engineering, but I like to think it's good enough to make a decent assessment.

mer1 said:

Honestly it's a really great system, but what made me decide against it was that it's relatively new and pretty complex... I'd bet more than half the mechanic shops in the area have no idea how it works, yet.

Sorry bout the huge post, but I wanted to convey how I felt about it. Sometimes I wish I had DSG, just for the cool factor... but I'm glad I got the MT because the more moving parts and electronic stuff there is involved, the more likely it is to break. I don't know a lot about engines & transmissions, so this is merely speculation based on my background w/ engineering. Granted it's software engineering, but I like to think it's good enough to make a decent assessment.

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Glad you enjoyed DSG :wink:
Just as a reference - remember, Audi has been using DSG for awhile now, mated to the same 2.0T engine as we've got. So far it's got proven medium-term reliability with our engine, and it's been available on VAGs diesels for ages - so it can handle torque and long-term reliability.

Dubdr said:

Honestly, the only thing I "regret" is not getting the factory sirius radio. I am still trying to find the kit on ebay (fac head unit, antenna, and box). But I figure if that is all I have to complain about, I made a REALLY good choice.

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^^Yeah that's about all I can think up... I thought I WAS getting it, but I didn't ask at the last minute when a car was located for me out of state. I don't miss the sunroof... I began realizing that I didn't use it much in my last car.. but the satellite woulda been nice.

mine came w/ 3 months free XM and unless you can still listen to 96kbps mp3's and not mind, you'd probably never get it.

It sounds really crappy.. is sirius any better? You can really tell that the audio quality sucks when you hear someone talking.. it's really distinguishable when they say the letter 'S'.

'success' sounds a bit like 'shucshesh' :laugh:

I would never pay for such crappy quality. What I did use it for was for listening to World Cup games (they had em in both spanish & english). I just waited to activate my free 3months until the WC2006 started. I just ignored the shitty bitrates the best I could.

I guess if you're really really into sports or some talk show, then you'd want to have it. Personally, I was looking forward to Bob Dylan's session... but the quality!!!:barf:

I still think it sucks though... they need to make it all XM HD or whatever that new stuff is w/ 5.1.


:w00t: 70kbps in AAC format would sound pretty good, but will they do all the channels in HD? I highly doubt it. They only have 6 channels in XMHD and they announced this in 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM_HD_Surround

sirius is 64kbps mp3. or at least this guy says so... at least it seems like they use a constant rate for all the channels
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-402938.html

XM
from: http://www.hear2.com/2005/03/satellite_radio.html


in brief, i was pretty dissapointed with it :thumbdown:

cmdrfire said:

Glad you enjoyed DSG :wink:
Just as a reference - remember, Audi has been using DSG for awhile now, mated to the same 2.0T engine as we've got. So far it's got proven medium-term reliability with our engine, and it's been available on VAGs diesels for ages - so it can handle torque and long-term reliability.

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Just to be clear, I'm not trying to talk shit about DSG at all... I'm sure it's built and designed excellently. I mean, it is the future of "auto" transmissions and like I said, it was lots of fun for me.

but i'll just quote alf

alf said:

im loving my car, only regret is that the American VW tech's no jack shit about working on the car without calling VW tech. *sigh*

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that's the sort of thing I'm talking about, ya know what i mean?
i still have a lot of respect for DSG though, that's for sure :respekt:

:bowvw:

this thread has served its purpose and should be locked. The guy asked if there is any regrets that makes you think if you should have done something different. THIS IS NOT A DSG/^MT conversation. But since you guys will beat the s...t out of this thread, lemme go back to topic:

I could have gotten in Silver

mer1 said:

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to talk shit about DSG at all... I'm sure it's built and designed excellently. I mean, it is the future of "auto" transmissions and like I said, it was lots of fun for me.

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No worries, I gotcha buddy :wink: I mean, I've got 35k miles on my motor... so if there's a reliability bump that's up ahead I'm gonna be the one in pain... but the Audi ones seem to be surviving alright (which is good for me to hear!)

but i'll just quote alf

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Alf is a veritable font of knowledge :biggrin: we all heed his words (well, some of them, anyway :wink: )