FX-RX8

Guys:

I'm not a fan of any VW car's at all, I beleive they are very un-reliable. But I had the opportunity to drive a 2006 GTI with the DSG 6speed Tranny!.....Let me tell you that this has changed the way I used to look and think about tiptronic styled transmission.....This thing is unbelievable it shifts so quick and it still gives you the feeling of a true manual..... I actually drove the 6 sp manual first since I NEVER ever test drive a "Sports car" in auto so after that the sales man told me lets take the DSG out for a spin and I was kindda skeptical about it almost told him it will be a waist of time....NOT....I actually told the sales man that if I was going to buy that car right there an then I would buy it with that DSG!!!!! (I could not believe that I said that, buy and Auto over a 6 sp manual)

For those who dont know what the DSG is.....go to www.vw.com and read on it.
It's basically 2 clutches and one is engaged while you are in a gear so when you shift the other gear is read and they just let off the second clutch...all this happens in 0.2 seconds. I just wonder how much it would cost to fix or change clutch if they go bad!!! $$$$$ get that extended warranty for sure!

As far as the power of the car....yes it lacks.....those 200 HP are not enough but the looks of the little hatchback gets my atention...very sporty....
Handling its pretty impresive for a FWD....but still its a FWD!!!! I cant stand that.


Just my 2 cents.

macnrx8

Interesting read...

http://www.autofieldguide.com/columns/0206euro.html

rickeo

iTrader: (1)

The DSG is a work of art imho. Second only to the Ferrari F1 Gearbox.

RX Renesis

aren't they similar? except that F1 clutches r hand operated or something?

rickeo

iTrader: (1)

Yes they are similar, im just saying there both the best 2 seqential gear boxes in the buisness in my opinion. For road cars at least. 3rd might be BMW's SMG. Not to familiar with it though.

saturn

Everyone says that the DSG is much better than the SMG. I don't know why anyone gives two craps about the Ferarri one -- completely different price class. The DSG uses two clutches while the SMG only uses one. This makes for much, much faster shifting. The upshifts on the DSG happen as quick as .008 seconds (twice as fast as the Ferrari's). Single gear downshifts happen as quick as .6 seconds with 6-2 downshifts happening (with automatic rev-matching) in less than .9 seconds.

As everyone's favorite Ike put it in his thread about the DSG GTI a month ago, "BMW wishes their SMG was this good".

cleoent

A DSG is not an auto, it's not tiptronic. Please dont refer to it as such.

But yes, they are kick ***, they do everything a human can do, but faster and more consistent.

saturn

Can they make sweet passionate love faster and more consistent? Gives a whole new meaning to "efficient German sex".

rickeo

iTrader: (1)

who said auto... just curious..

saturn

The guy in the first post of this thread.

cleoent

soon enough they will, DSG II, SMG IV lol!

cleoent

I've read that ferrari has made an attempt to buy the DSG technology from VW, i dont know what came of it, but that's a pretty big tell tale about the best technology out there.

Another upside to the DSG is the two clutches make an automatic mode that is actually automatic.

I had the oppurtunity to drive a 355 F1 a few months back and it was sick, but as a DD would be uncomfortable for how rough the shifts were. DSG cures that.

saturn

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if DSG pwns all. But some people have complained that the DSG shifts TOO smoothly. It's too much like driving a CVT. People want that throw you back in your seat even on upshifts. However, for all those automatic fans and borderline MT enthusiasts, the DSG would be a very welcome change.

Vote in my RX-8 DSG poll -- I get 4¢ for each vote! https://www.rx8club.com/polls-70/would-you-get-dsg-rx-8-a-82401/

FX-RX8

Sorry that I said AUTO but I wanted to separate it from the 6sp manual....will call it DSG Tranny.....
I think its a work of art!!! Imagine a WRX STi with DSG....ohhhh boy

Well I hope the Technology goes further into other cars.....But i'm worried about maintenance after a few years....will have to keep a close eye on the VW owners to see what they say.

Keep motoring

Ike

No need to apologize, it is an automatic. It automatically shifts for you, hence the term automatic, a very good automatic though.

cleoent

I already have a while back, i voted yes.

cleoent

Well that's my question too. Two clutches, i would imagine that can get expensive when it comes time to replace. I wonder what those costs are.

cleoent

Um, no.

These F1 style transmissions are just as different as a standard manual is from an automatic transmission.

Ike

Um, yeah. If it shifts for you it's automatic, if it makes you feel better to call it a semi-automatic then go for it. If someone were to call it a slushbox it would be wrong.

cleoent

I understand that you are slow, so I'm willing to be forviving up to a certain point.

Read up on this
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automa...ansmission.htm

And then this
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/sequential-gearbox.htm

Now I realize you are just being difficult because you enjoy that, so fine. But in his original thread, for those of us who are literate and have reading comprhension skills of a human not a donkey, the original poster in his original post doesn't use the term automatic/tiptronic because the transmission can shift for you, he's using it to describe what kind of transmission the car has.

It doesn't have an automatic transmission. It has a sequential manual transmission that can be computer controlled to shift for you.

saturn

The term "automatic" turned out to be an unfortunate word to describe transmissions. The average person doesn't care if it's a torque convertor or a computer controlled clutch -- they just know they just don't want a clutch pedal or gear shifter. In this sense, it's an automatic. When DSG/SMG transmissions become more and more popular and start replacing the current "automatics", what are people going to call them? Sequential Manual Gearboxes? Yeah right. People don't even know what the word sequential means.

Hopefully someone will coin a phrase for this technology and we won't end up with the 78 variations of semi-automatic names: tiptronic, sportronic, etc. Slushbox would be the only unacceptable term.

Speaking of slushbox's, Rita's is giving away free water ice since it's the first day of spring today. Hooray!

therm8

actually, that makes it a very good manual

Glyphon

i've got to agree with ike on this one. the dsg is an automatic. it's just a different type of automatic than the traditional planetary automatic setup.

does it shift automatically for you? yes. it does have a manu-matic mode, but that isn't an exclusive feature of the dsg transmission.

the argument that it isn't an automatic because it doesn't use a planetary gearset is completely missing the point...it is summed up in the auto-tranny link from how things work that was supplied...
don't you just hate it when you're own evidence is used to break down your argument?

::edit:: don't confuse "no clutch pedal" with "no clutch"

BlueEyes

It doesn't have a classical 'automatic transmission'. But then, I could argue the Rx8 isn't a sports car. VW even refers to it as an automatic, oddly enough, because it shifts automatically. And, it's not an SMG, it's a DSG. It's a different concept.

cleoent

You've got to be kidding me.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here. The SMG/DSG types of tranny's are manual tranny's that can be set to shift automatically. Sounds like a great combo. When you use the word "Automatic/tiptronic" you're describing a car with a transmission with a torque converter (not a clutch).

SMG/DSG etc is not a manual tranny, but it certainly is not an automatic.