Mk5 Golf GTI automatic or manual?

Mk5 Golf GTI automatic or manual?

Author
Discussion

99Chimaera

Original Poster:

324 posts

130 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
Evening All. I don't post on here very often, but following the departure of my beloved TVR Chimaera, I am thinking of selling my very dull VW golf 1.6 petrol for something more involving to drive. Having had a Mk2 golf gti many years ago followed by a Mk4 golf V5 I enjoyed both of them. I was thinking of a Mk5 Golf GTI. I will not be doing many miles approx 8k-9k. I will mainly be using it for commuting to and from work, using dual carriageways, country roads and some stop start city traffic. Which gearbox will be best DSG or manual?

my budget is £7.5k max

Thanks Philip

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
DSG all the way!

Very happy with mine. Its faster 0-60 and more economical than a Manual whilst being much more relaxing to drive. Suits the engine very nicely and when you want to push on theres flappy paddles and Sport mode to make things more interesting.

In terms of maintenance costs the main thing they need is oil changes every 40k miles. Box itself seems quite reliable, mines just hit 98k last week. On a manual with that mileage I'd be expecting a big bill for clutch replacement but not so with the DSG.

Highly recommended thumbup

aka_kerrly

12,416 posts

209 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
It's a case of personal preference over "best"

Both boxes have pros and cons, the good news for DSG is that the cost of repairing faulty boxes is falling so it's closer to twice the price you'd expect to pay for a dual mass flywheel/clutch set up for the manual.

I've tried both and I do really enjoy DSG, flappy paddles are a novelty but even in drive making progress is so easy, the drawback is it can be a bit frustrating sometimes pulling away slowly. The only other issue is that some days my left leg is just dying to get involved and although I may be marginally slower changing than the DSG there is something more rewarding about good upshifts and manually blipping the throttle on down changes.

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Monday 14th July 2014
quotequote all
aka_kerrly said:
the good news for DSG is that the cost of repairing faulty boxes is falling so it's closer to twice the price you'd expect to pay for a dual mass flywheel/clutch set up for the manual.
The thing is though the clutch in a Manual is pretty much guaranteed to need replacing at some point. Its a consumable item and has a finite life time.

The DSG mechatronics unit and clutch packs should last the life of the car and only need replacing if they fail prematurely. Long running thread here worth a look - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

With reference to this quote in particular:

Dr G said:
Can confirm; don't remember a single problem with one behind a 2.0T and have been surrounded by them every day for 7 years.

aka_kerrly

12,416 posts

209 months

Tuesday 15th July 2014
quotequote all
^ Oh don't worry I'm not at all convinced that the DSG is unreliable or problematic and agree there are plenty running close to 200k now.

Stoofa

958 posts

167 months

Tuesday 15th July 2014
quotequote all
I drive a car with a similar engine (Octavia VRS, Petrol). Before purchasing I took both the manual and DSG out for a drive. I'm sure the DSG is fine, but in the test I had I just couldn't see why I want it over a manual.
I guess if 90% of my driving was through town with constant start/stop, but to be fully engaged with the vehicle I'd take the manual any day of the week.
Flappy Paddles I'm sure are a lot of fun - while they are new.

SMB

1,513 posts

265 months

Tuesday 15th July 2014
quotequote all
Stoofa said:
I drive a car with a similar engine (Octavia VRS, Petrol). Before purchasing I took both the manual and DSG out for a drive. I'm sure the DSG is fine, but in the test I had I just couldn't see why I want it over a manual.
I guess if 90% of my driving was through town with constant start/stop, but to be fully engaged with the vehicle I'd take the manual any day of the week.
Flappy Paddles I'm sure are a lot of fun - while they are new.
I went through the same debate but decided to give dsg a try. I was doing mainly rush hour crawls , a road and motorway typical outer london stuff. I'd lived with manuals for all my life,just having had loaner autos. For my average commute I got to and from work less tired and more relaxed in the autos. Added to that behind a2.0t the dsg especially in manual mode stops the drop in turbo spool speed during changes. So the question then becomes can you have fun in a dsg?

I say you can, but you may need to change your driving style a bit. Things like braking in a straight line, changing down before the corner all become more important. There's no room for bad habits of slip engaging the clutch at or after turn in. If not the gearbox will still be engaging as you want to accelerate and you will say the car feels disconnected. You need to be in the right gear at the right time, so in manual change down before the corner. This style change takes time, weeks if not more to accept and you will never adjust from being a long term manual driver in a short test drive. A dsg petrol turbo is ruthlessly efficient at accelerating, much more so than a manual. Joining motorways and dual carriageways from slip roads is easier.

the-photographer

3,479 posts

175 months

Wednesday 16th July 2014
quotequote all
Don't forgot buy on condition, with your budget you'll need to look at more than one.

99Chimaera

Original Poster:

324 posts

130 months

Thursday 17th July 2014
quotequote all
Thank you very much guys for your imput, it seems that DSG is the way to go. I might try both tramissions before making a decision either way. Thanks again.

Stoofa

958 posts

167 months

Thursday 17th July 2014
quotequote all
99Chimaera said:
Thank you very much guys for your imput, it seems that DSG is the way to go. I might try both tramissions before making a decision either way. Thanks again.
I think this point is key. Take both for a good drive and decide which is going to suit you better.
I will personally re-invetigate DSG when I'm looking at the Mk3 vRS later this year.

DarkMatter

1,473 posts

230 months

Friday 18th July 2014
quotequote all
I have an Audi with the 7 speed DSG box. My opinion is that 7 speeds are great when in automatic mode but I think in manual mode 5 speeds would be better as I seem to be forever changing gear with the paddle shift - maybe, as others have suggested, I need to change my driving style to suit a DSG box in manual mode?

KarlMac

4,457 posts

140 months

Friday 18th July 2014
quotequote all
DSG. best of both worlds.

I'm selling mine as I want something a bit quicker, the dsg gearbox is the thing i'm going to miss the most.