Towing downhill with a Passat DGS
I am seriously considering buying a new VW Passat with a DSG gearbox and have seen many testimonials from other contributors that auto boxes are great for towing.
But..please may I ask a stupid question?
With a manual box I simply change down to use engine breaking when going downhill, especially with the van on the back.
How does this work on the auto box where the car is trying to increase speed all by itself (OK, due to gravity!)? Do I need to engage the “manual” box or leave it to sort itself out? The salesman
at the VW dealer didn’t know and when asked the question looked puzzled and simply said “it just does”. Not impressed!
Comments
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A DSG gearbox is an automated manual. You have the option to drive them in full auto mode or you can change gear yourself often via flappy paddle or maybe on the gear selector. You just press the down flappy paddle or the down on the gear selector when you want to maually drop it down a gear. Pretty much as you would do would do with the satndard auto with P N R D 3 2 1, when in D and you want a lower gear for engine braking (unless you want to break it
) you'd just put the selector in 3 and that limits the gearbox to 3rd gear as a max.I'd suspect it would change down a gear by itself though.Though autos are indeed the dog's danglies ... not just for towing, a DSG still has clutch plates to burn out so my option would always be a 'proper' torque convertor auto.
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With the Passat DSG if you brake going downhill the gearbox will if it thinks it necessary change down a gear to give you more engine braking. If you want more or less engine braking you can move the gear level over to the manual mode and push it forward to change up a gear or pull it back to change down a gear. Another function that the Passat DSG has is a coasting function which can be turned on or off - coasting helps with fuel consumption, basically if turned on as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator the gearbox selects neutral and allows you to coast - it is amazing how effective and smooth this is - as soon as you touch either the brake or the accelerator a gear is engaged either for you to accelerate or to give engine braking again this is done incredibly smoothly - if you don't like this feature you can turn it off. I would also point out that as the DSG is an automatic manual you get proper engine braking unlike some "true" automatics. Having driven old school and DSG autos I would say that there is very little difference overall - conventional autos are slightly easily to drive at very slow speeds but when on the move the shifts on a DSG are increadibly smooth and extremely fast.
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Declerate and brake, gearbox will change down as speed reduces, or set cruise control and car will change down gear to maintain speed (only works up to point where braking becomes necessary) or select manual with gear selector and change down and brake just
as you would in a manual.0 -
I have a DSG equipped Passat Alltrack and as birdingbilly says it is great when towing. You will soon get used to its workings and when to tap the accelerator to set the engine braking. It works very well and a big improvement on the first generation DSG
box I had on a previous car. The car also has hill hold which is another boon when towing.0 -
..... but when on the move the shifts on a DSG are ... extremely fast.
as has been mentioned here before, but why would you need or want a gear change in half a nanosecond on a road going car? ...... maybe if you were Jensen Button
because when towing uphill for example it is really helpful that gear changes are made with virtually no loss of drive
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..... but when on the move the shifts on a DSG are ... extremely fast.
as has been mentioned here before, but why would you need or want a gear change in half a nanosecond on a road going car? ...... maybe if you were Jensen Button
because when towing uphill for example it is really helpful that gear changes are made with virtually no loss of drive
I've only ever had torque converter tow cars & have never had a problem with a slow(er) gear change. I'm not a particular fan of automated manuals
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I have a VW Touareg with the DSG gearbox and my advice / experience is exactly the same as birdingbilly's. The gearbox is so smooth and makes towing an absolute pleasure. The only comment I have is that compared with previous Discos, the engine compression ratio doesn't seem as high and consequently the amount of engine braking isn't as great. As an example, coming down hill in a 30mph zone, I have to select 2nd gear to stay within the speed limit and the engine is doing 4000 rpm which is quite high compared with its normal 1500 or thereabouts.
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The DSG gearbox in the Passat has a manual mode so you can just change down as you would normally.
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Cracking gearbox. Our Audi Q3 is fitted with one and when it's due for replacement we will either have the same gearbox again but probably in a Q5 or Q7.
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On the Tiguan we had use the engine braking no different to a manual, as you slow down the gearbox drops and brakes. Was teh best tow car we ever had over all the Freelanders, had the 177ps engine too so would beat many cars away from the lights even towing which rather surprised them....
We have now got a Golf and the first thing on the list was a DSG box, so smooth and easy to drive.
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Thanks for all the comments and advice. My mind is now a bit clearer andit looks like a DSG is back on the cards.
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Yes but the OP wants to know how it performs towing downhill. Not how good the gearbox is compared to my slush box.
Audi fit both types to their cars.
Isn't the other Audi auto a CVT with electrickery to give the impression of a gear change?
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I find that leaving a car in auto mode and using the brakes is just as effective and I personally feel more in control. If you prefer to use the engine braking method this will be fine.
I wonder why they put signs on the motorways etc that 'say use low gear'
Depends how long the hill is, what weight the outfit
is and how much you want to cook your brakes. If I put my auto into cruise, it will use the gearbox to maintain it's speed going down hill.0 -
The Audi CVT was dropped a good few years ago, it wasn't very reliable. The DSG does need servicing every 40k miles and generally only main dealers will do the work. However if you average 12k miles a year that is only once every 3 years or so.
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Yes but the OP wants to know how it performs towing downhill. Not how good the gearbox is compared to my slush box.
Audi fit both types to their cars.
Write your comments here... OK so to be more specific, the DSG gearbox in our Audi is quite excellent uphill and downhill. We just leave it in Auto, don't switch over to Sport or Manual.
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I find that leaving a car in auto mode and using the brakes is just as effective and I personally feel more in control. If you prefer to use the engine braking method this will be fine.
I wonder why they put signs on the motorways etc that 'say use low gear'
Depends how long the hill is, what weight the outfit
is and how much you want to cook your brakes. If I put my auto into cruise, it will use the gearbox to maintain it's speed going down hill.Plus increased wear on the brake pads. When my last Touareg needed new pads, the dealer wanted £750 to do the work.
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I think VW must have been having a laugh. Just bought front pads & sensor for my R Class from MB, they were £80 ...... just need to find the time to fit them.
I thought that too - that's why I went to my local garage - a Bosch service centre and they did the job for less than half that price - and using OEM parts.
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I find that leaving a car in auto mode and using the brakes is just as effective and I personally feel more in control. If you prefer to use the engine braking method this will be fine.
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I find the same, we have a Ford Galaxy auto and not having had an auto before we were not sure how it would react on hills but we needn't have worried. As soon as you ease up on the accelerator the box seems to know what you want and changes down to hold
the vehicle back on the hill, aint electrickery wonderful.0
