>> I thought that all new VAG cars today had 7 speed dry boxes at least
>> my 1.5 TSI Golf DSG would have were I to buy a new one before
>> the ghastly MK8 comes out with its all electronic panel and no knobs!
The 7 speed dry clutch one is for transverse engined cars up to about 250Nm torque.
The bigger stuff uses wet-clutch versions.
>> I thought that in traffic the clutches would/will disengage, if stationary in traffic provided you
>> kept your foot firmly of the foot brake
If you mean ON the footbrake then yes, it disengages. If you leave it in D, that is what you must do when stationary. On our Skoda, using the handbrake the clutch will still tug for a few seconds before disengaging.
>>or if Autohold were switched on, this
>> would also disengage the clutches, though I cannot imagine how smoothly it would take off
>> after 'prodding' the accelerator pedal.
It's the brake+being on a slope that sets hill hold. The brakes stay on for 2 seconds after the brake pedal is released or the accelerator is pressed. This is the bit I don't like, because it isn't me controlling the clutch and control is not as fine as with a torque converter. The parking in front of our temporary accommodation slopes up to the house. If I am 18" off the house wall and I want to be 6"-12" off it, I can't actually do that other than by waiting for it to bite, hitting the brake immediately, and hoping I have ended up where I wanted to. I could do that half an inch at a time with a proper auto.
If you never do that sort of manoeuvring they are not too bad provided you are patient when setting off.
>> I never realised how this system should require so much finesse and change in habits
>> to get a decent smooth progress from it.
If you are the sort of driver that wants to be in control and know what it's doing, it can irritate. If you are a heavy footed driver and not mechanically sympathetic, who never attempts precision parking and just wants a stop and go pedal, then you'll probably think it's fine. Plenty do.
As I said, on the basis of one example of each the wet clutch version seemed much better. But I still wouldn't choose it - epicyclics with torque converters are nearly as fast to change now, and much more controllable. Just a bit less efficient.
Mazda has not adopted DCTs. All their autos are torque converters.
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 15 Nov 19 at 14:45
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