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Will I hate a manual?

CarlosCanizares

Autocross Newbie
Location
Surrey, BC, Canada
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf R
I appreciate this, and dont get me wrong, I loved the DSG in my 15 GTI, but, I feel like I would have much more fun with the manual. I had fun with the DSG, but it never felt truly direct.

I'm using Tapatalk.

You seem like of a similar mindset to me. I’d rather drive a slower car that’s more fun. That said, the Mk7 manual is far from great, as GTI KC said. But I’d rather have it than pulling paddles at this stage of my life.

I’m not a musician but I’ll venture to guess manually playing drums is a ton more fun than pressing buttons on a drum machine. I’m fortunate I don’t drive my R everyday and in traffic, so when I do drive it, it’s always special for me. If circumstances were different, I’d go for the DSG. It IS amazing, just not as fun.

That said, nothing will ever truly feel direct until what you do truly affects something directly. Computers not included.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
Historically manual Volkswagen hold their value better over the long haul, but DSG has come a long way and I don’t think that’s really a factor on mk7.

Bottom line is all cars depreciate so drive both and pick your favorite.

I’ve racked up 81,500 miles on my manual gti and love it. I’ve driven DSG gti and R and to me it’s like a jet ski...fun for 20 minutes then you’re over it (personal option).

The older I get the less I care about launching my car or 1/4 mile times. Track day or mountain roads is much more fun and you can add a RSB and tires to a bone stock car (6MT or DSG) and have a blast doing that in otherwise stock form no problem
 

Luiscalpa

Passed Driver's Ed
I bought southbend stage 2 daily and installed is $2250, as I said Im currently Unitronic stage 2 and wont go any further than that, maybe an I/C in the future. For me the power is just fine as is. Mine is a 2017 R.
 

vj123

Autocross Newbie
Location
The Detroit
Car(s)
19 & 16 GTI - sold
I don't, that's the thing. I don't know if more people prefer one over the other, or if there's less of one type than the other, or there's no difference whatsoever.

Say you are buying a 2 year old vehicle and selling it after 5 years, you are talking about a resale value of a vehicle which is 7 years old. At that point, the difference in numbers between a manual and automatic is not going to be tremendous.

Also i have seen several reports where people drove manuals all their life and bought their first automatic (MK 7 GTI or R with DSG) and are happy about their choice (including me). If anything, this number will only go up in the future.
 

Backtrack2015

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Texas
I had a 2013 328i M-sport with the 8-speed ZF and flappy-paddles. I used the paddles almost all the time just to feel as if I was something more than a director. The ZF can rip through upshifts quite well, and I did enjoy the response, but it was ultimately not that satisfying.

I have also spent considerable time (many hundreds of miles) in a 981S with the PDK and sport-chrono package. The instant shifts are incredible, and it is a fabulous auto. Again, I almost always had it in manual mode and used the flappy-paddles just to participate in the proceedings. Even though the engineering was incredible, it just wasn't that satisfying in normal driving (I extracted little joy from it). The only way to really have fun was to find a space to blast up through the gears (and possibly into jail) to behold those instant shifts.

Based on my lack of long-term enthusiasm for the dual-clutch and automatics, I bought a 6MT 981 for myself and the 6MT R. I love the weight of the clutch and the ease with which it slides between gears 2-3-4-5-6. I enjoy the heck out of shifting it through those gears during normal driving. Nailing the perfect rev-match is endlessly satisfying. I will say, however, that the 1-2 shift in my Golf R is miserable. You have to wait a long beat or two if you want it to just slip into gear nicely, otherwise it feels like you're asking too much of the synchronizer. Thus, I find I wait until I'm in second gear before I give it much throttle (feels stupid to blast forward in 1st just to hang for an eternity before grabbing 2nd). This bothers me a bit, so I thought I'd warn you to look for it (some folks claim their 1-2 syncs are smooth as butter, so it could vary).
 

sjdarcy2000

New member
I live in CT and commute 50+ miles each way to White Plains. 84,684,287 has tons of traffic as you know. Traffic is no big deal.

I love having the manual on 22, saw mill, taconic. It’s a great driving experience.

The dsg will likely sell faster as people who can drive a manual are in short supply these days.

I test drove the dsg. Was not for me


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Ezyrider

Ready to race!
Location
IL
Serious question, have you driven the DSG as yes that was true for the slush boxes of old but modern twin clutch boxes have made manual obsolete.



Yes, I have and the DSG is absolutely amazing!

However you lose the true connection with the car and I found I hated driving slow or daily commutes unless driving all out.

The MT is always satisfying, my .02


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Ezyrider

Ready to race!
Location
IL
Historically manual Volkswagen hold their value better over the long haul, but DSG has come a long way and I don’t think that’s really a factor on mk7.

Bottom line is all cars depreciate so drive both and pick your favorite.

I’ve racked up 81,500 miles on my manual gti and love it. I’ve driven DSG gti and R and to me it’s like a jet ski...fun for 20 minutes then you’re over it (personal option).

The older I get the less I care about launching my car or 1/4 mile times. Track day or mountain roads is much more fun and you can add a RSB and tires to a bone stock car (6MT or DSG) and have a blast doing that in otherwise stock form no problem



Well said


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Backtrack2015

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Texas
I'm just about to get the popcorn ready. Anybody want some?

In an effort to contribute to this thread, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaUCdAdaaj8&t=230s

I'm a manual guy and will always be. The video above sums up what I love about it. I respect and am amazed by the DSG (PDK, DCT, LOL, WTF and all the other abbreviations out there), but it's not my cup of tea. As AJ said, it's subjective. Only you can answer your question as everyone else will have answered theirs.

That’s a great video summary. Thanks for sharing the link.
 

FactoryR

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas
Will you hate it? No. However, DSG is the better option in this car. Better gas mileage, faster, more reliable trans (stock clutch in 6mt is trash), and probably other reasons I'm not naming but these are the obvious ones. I had a 16' 6mt R I put 50k miles on in 3 yrs and now have a 19' DSG R with 10k miles. My only regret was not getting a DSG in my 16'. This is coming from someone who has driven Manuel transmissions in all but one car the last 20 yrs.
 
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MrPEZident

Ready to race!
Location
Ramstein-Miesenbach, GE
Car(s)
NA 2017 GTI SE
I grew up driving manuals. As I got into my late 30's I decided to try some automatics out and so I had a MK7 and a MK7.5 GTI both with DSG. They were really great cars with great transmissions and 0 issues but I ultimately just missed the manual gearbox and thought the DSG's to be boring for my taste so I got a Mk7.5 R with a manual gearbox which I also think is a really great car with a great transmission that I have 0 issues with.

I guess I am trying to say I think it is just personal preference and get whatever you want.
 

CarlosCanizares

Autocross Newbie
Location
Surrey, BC, Canada
Car(s)
Mk7 Golf R
That’s a great video summary. Thanks for sharing the link.

Welcome! And appropos as a Porsche owner yourself :)

I’ve linked that video twice now for 6MT v DSG threads including this one. As mentioned, it describes how I feel about the subject.

As a film editing instructor, I also use it as a great example of the different kinds cuts in film editing lol.
 
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Raguvian

Autocross Champion
Location
Bay Area, CA
Car(s)
2019 GSW 4MO 6MT
The DSG is nice for an auto, but at the end of the day it's still an auto. If you already felt like you didn't like the DSG that much in your GTI I don't know why you'd get another DSG in the R.
 

It's Sam

Go Kart Champion
Location
New York (The cool part)
Car(s)
X3 M40i
The DSG is nice for an auto, but at the end of the day it's still an auto. If you already felt like you didn't like the DSG that much in your GTI I don't know why you'd get another DSG in the R.
Don't get me wrong, I liked it. Its definitely an awesome DCT, but I'm saying that I feel like I would enjoy the car more in a manual.

I'm using Tapatalk.
 
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