Considering first Golf GTI purchase advise please.

HI,

I am new to the forum and considering a Golf GTI purchase. I don't wish to go over board on the performance pack as I wish to get as much as possible from the fuel economy on short trips while keeping the purchase cost down too. It will also be used as the main family car and I am considering a DSG for the first time over a manual but is the 6 speed a wet type like the 7 speed DSG on the PP and are both the newer type and supposed to be more reliable as I would like to keep the car as long as possible. Should I stick to a manual gear box as I only do 8000 miles a year mostly out of town or in off peak traffic?

The other more boring option I was considering is a Audi A3 sportback 1.5 evo black edition manual, supposedly better on fuel economy but obviously slower at only 8.2secs 0.62MPH. It will cost me the same money as a GTI DSG. My 13year old son is the one trying to persuade me to go for the GTI but at 53 I am playing caution to the wind and trying to be sensible and practical. Not much fun though.

Gazza53 said:

HI,

I am new to the forum and considering a Golf GTI purchase. I don't wish to go over board on the performance pack as I wish to get as much as possible from the fuel economy on short trips while keeping the purchase cost down too. It will also be used as the main family car and I am considering a DSG for the first time over a manual but is the 6 speed a wet type like the 7 speed DSG on the PP and are both the newer type and supposed to be more reliable as I would like to keep the car as long as possible. Should I stick to a manual gear box as I only do 8000 miles a year mostly out of town or in off peak traffic?

The other more boring option I was considering is a Audi A3 sportback 1.5 evo black edition manual, supposedly better on fuel economy but obviously slower at only 8.2secs 0.62MPH. It will cost me the same money as a GTI DSG. My 13year old son is the one trying to persuade me to go for the GTI but at 53 I am playing caution to the wind and trying to be sensible and practical. Not much fun though.

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Matey if you are already thinking about fuel economy them maybe a GTD would be better suited. Owning a hothatch is for fun. Next time i change am going for a GTI but that wont be for a long time yet and IMO the GTI is the all rounder. Dont get me wrong the GTD is great but i feel the way things are going with Diesel here in the UK that petrol will be my next choice

Gazza53 said:

HI,

I am new to the forum and considering a Golf GTI purchase. I don't wish to go over board on the performance pack as I wish to get as much as possible from the fuel economy on short trips while keeping the purchase cost down too. It will also be used as the main family car and I am considering a DSG for the first time over a manual but is the 6 speed a wet type like the 7 speed DSG on the PP and are both the newer type and supposed to be more reliable as I would like to keep the car as long as possible. Should I stick to a manual gear box as I only do 8000 miles a year mostly out of town or in off peak traffic?

The other more boring option I was considering is a Audi A3 sportback 1.5 evo black edition manual, supposedly better on fuel economy but obviously slower at only 8.2secs 0.62MPH. It will cost me the same money as a GTI DSG. My 13year old son is the one trying to persuade me to go for the GTI but at 53 I am playing caution to the wind and trying to be sensible and practical. Not much fun though.

Click to expand...

After 35 years of driving Japanese, I pulled the GTI trigger back in December. DSG. Absolutely no regrets.

I am now spoiled by DSG. It had gotten to the point where driving a manual trans during a commute was almost as automatic; it wasn't work, and it wasn't even something I did consciously sometimes. But my wife can no longer clutch, and we got DSG by default.

I had no idea how good it was until I bought the car and started driving it. Now it's my gold standard for an automatic transmission. I don't know if I'd like going back to a planetary gearset; it would depend on the manufacturer and the tuning, I guess, but I'd look at it very very critically before I bought.

Regarding fuel economy: this is a car that seemingly can do everything. Drive it gently during a commute or on the freeway, and you can get 35mpg. Hammer it, and you'll be grinning so hard you won't care what the mileage is. The point is, it's YOUR choice. It's not an either/or. Buy the PP if you want it; your mileage won't suffer.

And for maximum mileage, just leave the DSG in D and let the computer take it up to 6th gear as fast as possible. But when you're at that traffic light and you need to beat the guy next to you in order to get into his lane and avoid the parked cars ahead, just snick it into S. When the light turns green, hit the throttle. You'll catch him by surprise every time.

Then just snick it back into D when you're finished, and enjoy a leisurely ride.

It's truly the best of both worlds. I love DSG.

If you're in the UK I'd still buy a manual, and definitely stick to petrol. DSG are pretty reliable but long term they will have expensive faults, just like the rest of the hugely complex systems they fit on cars these days. One more might not matter? Up to you. It also doesn't match the economy of the manual, quite. (Though it's much, much closer than the old auto boxes used to be.)

I've driven manual all my life and hated every dsg experience I've ever had. Yes I didn't spend the time to get used to it and yes I did continue to attempt to control it and spent half my time, eyes off the road, fighting the thing... I found manual override will very happily completely ignore you when it feels like it, and my experience is that it changes gear after sometimes several seconds delay, if at all. If you do dsg I suggest just letting it drive..


...if it creaks, it's probably made by VAG