Manual or Auto Gearbox (DSG)

[ChrisinSwansea]

Hello everyone,

I am speccing up a new vehicle (a new VW Caravelle, 140 or 180bhp, maybe 4Motion).

My question is, what is considered best for towing? My options are a manual 6 speed box or the new 7 speed DSG auto box.

Any advice gratefully recieved.

Thank you,

Chris

 

[Mikey_74]

HI chris, check out honest john website, I'm not sure but I think it was ther that I read about the DSG gearbox, it sounds fantastic but I wish I could remeber where I'd read about it it had major issues when used for towing, repair bills running into thousands, if I was you I'd do some research

 

[marlot]

The honestjohn website lost many of the knowledgeable contributors (won't go into all the details here, but many of us moved to a different forum).

But ... I'd be very wary of using a DSG for towing.

 

[xtrailman]

will debeast

What site do you now use?

 

[ChrisinSwansea]

Thanks very, very much for that chaps. I'll forget about the DSG.

I have done a little research and they did seem prone to issues - so much so that VW USA issued a 10 year guarantee to get the public to have a little faith after recalling 43,000 of them. I also understand that the service is very expensive. Not sure if the new 7 speed box is any better.

generally, are manual boxes better for towing or is it a personal preference?

 

[otherclive]

I prefer a conventional automatic when towing as there is no clutch to worry about when pitching up on less ideal pitches. Also when in twons or in congestion the auto is easier on the left leg too. A 10% loss in mpg is a small price to pay. Mondeo,C5, V70 all have conventional autos witha good towing capability. Watch the BMWs as some require modifactions to allow them to achieve the rated towing loads and if not factory fit can be expensive. there was a forum discussion a few weeks ago.

 

[marlot]

will debeast

What site do you now use?

Try car4play.com

 

[mark10]

I prefer a conventional automatic when towing as there is no clutch to worry about when pitching up on less ideal pitches. Also when in twons or in congestion the auto is easier on the left leg too. A 10% loss in mpg is a small price to pay. Mondeo,C5, V70 all have conventional autos witha good towing capability. Watch the BMWs as some require modifactions to allow them to achieve the rated towing loads and if not factory fit can be expensive. there was a forum discussion a few weeks ago.

Chris,

We've got a 1.9 deisel turbo Skoda Octavia estate. It's auto with a DSG gearbox.

It's fantastic. First time towing with it was a total revelation to us. I'll never tow with a manual again given the choice, especially with the DSG. It changes in a blink using a two clutch system as in formulae one racing, it doesn't use a torque converter and so avoids the old overheating issues.

The instant gear change doesn't lose any revs at all if changing down on a steep hill. The 6 forward gears give a wider range of gearing choice for hills.

The electronic management system will select the correct gear for any situation much more inteligently than you ever will and so you can relax and focus on your driving and observational skills.

Easing smoothly up to roundabouts and being in the correct and most responsive gear for pulling away is just a dream, so stress free and so so smooth.

Changing lanes and feeding through busy traffic in multi lane junctions at or on roundabouts in towns you're not familiar with whilst you're passenger/navigater is saying'you wanna be in that lane' all requires a bit of concentration and the auto dsg makes it so much easier to respond quickly to brake or accelerate without anything jerky happening.

Just to put things in context: we do a lot of long distance continental touring, South of France at Easter , North East Italy Via Belgium and Germany most summers and generally just a lot of driving. I'm very good in busy traffic and it doesn't bother me to do stuff like the Paris ring road at Friday evening rush hour, I've had a lot of advanced driver training over the years in the fire service and have been quite unfazed at regularly driving a 27 ton hydraulic platform or fire engine through the centre of Birmingham. So driving a caravan round is no particular problem.

So the thing is I'm not just extolling the virtues of this gearbox because I'm not able to cope with the manual or anything, it's just that I was amazed at how easy life is towing with one!

It's the future, I've seen it, as Peter Kay would say.