Hey guys just had a test drive in one of these and was bowled over by how good the little twincharge engine is with the DSG. The only thing putting me off is exactly that though: supercharger, turbocharger, DSG. Can't see this car doing 150K trouble free miles. What are your thoughts?
Also drove and Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4 170BHP mulitair: just as powerful: lovely (but too quiet ) engine and conventional box. Might be worth saving up a bit more for that. Got a Mark 1 Fabia VRS at moment but with the sort of driving I do a DPF fitted Diesel is not for me.
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There are a couple of Fabia vRSs knocking aroung my way - might be dealer demos.
Smart piece of kit, white roofs, rear privacy glass - looks like they're after some of the Mini Cooper's territory.
I suppose the twin charger engine does sound complicated, but probably not a lot more so than many other engines.
The DSG box seems better in some applications than others.
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The supercharger, turbocharger, DSG box, and FSI injection system are all well proven technologies, so unless VAG have screwed up on the implementation side, I can't see it being a problem when all installed altogether.
That said, it doesn't sound like the kind of engine you'd want to let run so much as a mile overdue for a service.
Last edited by: DP on Tue 3 Aug 10 at 18:01
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>> The only thing putting me off is exactly that though: supercharger, turbocharger, DSG. Can't see this car doing 150K trouble free miles.
Totally agree, i will eat my hat if mine manages that mileage without needing a new turbo.
Who cares though, it's worth it for when it's working. What a peach.
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>>supercharger, turbocharger, DSG box, and FSI injection system are all well proven technologies
well one out of 4 is.
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>> well one out of 4 is.
I don't think there are many nasty surprises left in any of the four to be honest. Given the mileage racked up by FSI and DSG equipped VAG cars in the 5 years or so they've been around, and the last 100 years of both crank and exhaust driven forced induction systems, I don't think there is too much to worry about as regards the individual technologies. The implementation of all of them together is the "unknown".
Last edited by: DP on Tue 3 Aug 10 at 18:55
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Slightly off topic, but why would Skoda put a DSG box in the VRS? I can see good reasons for using a TSI engine, but why didn't they just use a manual gearbox? Surely most hot hatch buyers would be expecting a manual box?
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The 1.4 supercharged/turbo TFSI engine has been in the Golf GT for a few years now, claimed 170bhp in the MkV and 160 bhp in the MkVI, I have not heard of problems.
Also DSG should be fairly well proven by now though it is expensive if it goes wrong.
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>> Also DSG should be fairly well proven by now
Seems to be, theres more than a few starship mileages on Briskoda without trouble. The 7 speeder should be a wee bit cheaper to service than the old 6 speeder too (less of the expensive oil needing changed).
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>> The 1.4 supercharged/turbo TFSI engine has been in the Golf GT for a few years
>> now, claimed 170bhp in the MkV and 160 bhp in the MkVI, I have not
>> heard of problems.
Me neither, although a quick browse on Autotrader doesn't throw up any proper high milers (all 70-something k or less)
The DSG box is quite long lived if it gets its 40k fluid replacement. I know at one time, there was a lot of confusion among dealers about whether this was a standard service item, and it wasn't unknown for it to get skipped. A friend has an A3 2.0TDI DSG on longlife service, and it got missed completely from the service he had at 41,000 miles. It was only because he checked that it even got picked upm and he had to take the car back at a later date to get the fluid change done as a separate item. When he called around various dealers, there was no consistency at all in the responses. Some said they do it automatically based on mileage, some said they only do it when a customer asks for it, and some responded in a manner similar to they might if he'd asked if they knew the secret of perpetual motion?
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>> but why would Skoda put a DSG box in the VRS?
It gives better 0-60 times than a manual and it's better emissions from the 7 speed computer controlled changes too
There's always a cost benefit reason for the mfrs eh :-)
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There are a couple of fleets of Passat taxis in Hamburg. Identical spec. 2.0TDI with DSG gearboxes. Some of them have over 400,000km on the clock. VW seem to have ironed out the early problems with the DSG box pretty effectively and IMHO it's the only automatic gearbox technology that is better than the classic epicyclic gearbox with torque converter.
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>> IMHO it's the only automatic gearbox technology that is better than the classic epicyclic gearbox with torque converter.
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HJ and other journos seem to favour the Ford system, I think they call it Powershift.
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>> HJ and other journos seem to favour the Ford system, I think they call it Powershift.
The principle of the Powershift is the same as DSG. It's a dual clutch automated 7 speed transmission made by Getrag. Most of the opinions I've seen actually rate the VW system higher because there is no performance deficit compared to manual versions which doesn't (yet) seem to be the case with the Ford system.
My comment about the DSG being the only gearbox type that's better than the torque converter type relates more to the superiority of the dual clutch concept compared with CVTs, automated manuals or that dreadful sequential thing BMW inflicted on their cars as an option a few years back.
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Are DSG's still a pain to do slow speed manoeuvres with - I know they were at one point?
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Never had a problem doing slow speed manoeuvres with a DSG equipped car. I have to park in an underground carpark at home which requires tight manoeuvring to get out of the parking space and then a crawl up a steep ramp to get out of the carpark. A CVT equipped Audi didn't like doing all this with a cold engine and slipped the clutch like hell going up the ramp, the DSG equipped cars have had no problems.
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>> HJ and other journos seem to favour the Ford system, I think they call it
>> Powershift.
If terms of long term reliability, I'm not sure journo's are the best people to listen to. They don't usually keep the cars long enough for problems to show themselves.
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Skoda Fabia 2 - New Fabia VRS long term reliability - Iffy
