Cars With Semi-Auto Transmissions (DSG ect)

Altreab

Hello All
Has anyone driven cars with semi-auto transmissions? If yes what are the pros and cons?
I am particularily interested in diesel cars and under 2 Litre engine size.

Cerbera

I actually drove one of the first R-34 Skylines in the country a few years back with one of those gearboxes in it.

Absolutely brilliant.

In town or on boring motorway journeys you just left it as a full auto but when you wanted to drive it ...... then it came into it's own.

It worked like a sequential shift and it is so fast to go up or down through the gears compared to a standard manual.

I would have no fear of one at all.

As for the fuel economy, I was getting about the same as other owners on the UK fourm with manual boxes.

whippet

I have ordered a DSG box with my Golf Gti (7 weeks(ish) and counting) .. I test drove both the Manual and the DSG, obviously I didn't get to guage mpg but after driving the DSG I would never have ordered the manual. The changes are almost instant and as smooth as you can imagine, plus you have the comfort in the full auto for plodding across the M50 in the mornings.

Biro

You should be warned though, that the above two posters gave an example of more performance oriented cars, so the box in them would be different.
If you're talking about semi-auto like tiptronic in Audi's and beemers, then there is a delay in the up or downshift in manual mode in these that can be frustrating. Apparently in the Audi's the multitronic is a lot quicker than the tiptronic box.

galwaytt

Biro - no. I did 14k in an 06 Golf Plus which is a 105bhp Diesel.

Absolute stonking gearbox - manual's are destined for the scrapheap. And this replaced my 05 Passat 130bhp Tiptronic. The Golf pulled better and harder - it wasn't the engine, it was the gearbox.

Buy one - you won't regret it - and if you do, there'll be a list a mile long waiting to buy it from you........

Passat averaged 38mpg , and Golf 46mpg.

see here, too http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055023535&referrerid=&highlight=tiptronic

RobAMerc

I drove a fiat seicento with a clutchless gearbox recently, just out of interest.
What a cracking little car (while it worked) this would be fantastic for all city cars.
Plan to drive a TT or Golf DSG over the next few weeks too.

Having also recently test driven a CVT A4 conv, although this gear box is really not for the enthusiast, I have to agree the manuals days are numbered,
Although people here always tell me they hate autos but no one seems to know why or for what good reason???

Cerbera

RobAMerc wrote:

Although people here always tell me they hate autos but no one seems to know why or for what good reason???

The downside of a full-auto is, for "spirited" driving you can't "hold" a gear.

There are times you'll want to hold coming to a corner, etc but the box will change when you didn't want it to.

With the semi-auto this doesn't happen.

RobAMerc

CERBERA wrote:

The downside of a full-auto is, for "spirited" driving you can't "hold" a gear.
There are times you'll want to hold coming to a corner, etc but the box will change when you didn't want it to.
With the semi-auto this doesn't happen.

I know why I wouldn't want one in a sports car but I dont see why most people in Ireland dont want one when all alot do is sit in traffic all day building left leg muscles.

Cerbera

The semi-auto in my R-34 was brilliant.

I couldn't fault it.

testicle

Do these have flappy paddles behind the steering wheel or what?

Cerbera

testicle wrote:

Do these have flappy paddles behind the steering wheel or what?

The R-34 has buttons on the wheel (which I hardly ever use) and a gearstick which you use sequential-style and that's the good bit.

Esel

Cerbera wrote:

The downside of a full-auto is, for "spirited" driving you can't "hold" a gear.

There are times you'll want to hold coming to a corner, etc but the box will change when you didn't want it to.

With the semi-auto this doesn't happen.

WTF? Just use the lever to hold it in a lower gear (or drop a gear)! In all my auto driving, which is a fair bit, I have very very rarely used the kickdown.

Mahatma coat

I've started drivin an auto again, 4L 4spd falcon wagon, and yes they do that drop a gear in the middle of a fkn corner, well mine does, did it twice today, very annoyin, that said I drove a mates carrera a few months ago, no gearstick at all, just paddleshift, andI haveto say it was brilliant, but the one thing against it would be that I generaly drive with one arm out the winda, which dosent gel with paddleshift

Anan1

Mahatma coat wrote:

but the one thing against it would be that I generaly drive with one arm out the winda, which dosent gel with paddleshift

Or, presumably, the steering wheel.

Mahatma coat

well its sort of elbow on the edge fingers on the wheel, but where i normaly hold the wheel is a bit far from the buttiny thingy

whippet

The DSG box in the GTi has paddle shifts aswell as with the stick .. but trying to use the paddles when you are turning the wheel can be a bit of a pain unless you are holding the wheel with a proper sports grip and not doing anymore than a quarter turn!!

galwaytt

Cerbera wrote:

The downside of a full-auto is, for "spirited" driving you can't "hold" a gear.

There are times you'll want to hold coming to a corner, etc but the box will change when you didn't want it to.

With the semi-auto this doesn't happen.

all auto's can be over-ridden to hold a gear, so I don't know what/how you were driving ............

craichoe

galwaytt wrote:

all auto's can be over-ridden to hold a gear, so I don't know what/how you were driving ............

Depends really,

Auto's are much less effort to drive and get better fuel economy, grand if you have a bigger engine, but for smaller ones an auto can be a pain in the ass.

Driving in ICY conditions in an automatic is a nightmare ! Especially when you just want it to stay in third gear !!!!

Garda cars are never automatics as the rev limiter is removed and they rarely use 4th or 5th.
3rd gear at 80mph - 90mph seems to be their favorite.