Re: left the fiat fold
I have a VW with the same box, so will try to explain it as best I can.. .
The DSG gearbox is a twin clutch gearbox, to explain it basically it has a split input shaft with all the odd gears on one part and all the even gears on the other. This allows it to preselect the next gear and be in 2 gears at once so when it comes to change to the next gear instead of actually moving a fork and engaging a gear it just swaps the clutches over to the other preselected gear (F1 is kinda similar with the fact they seamless shift but they don't do it by using 2 clutches, I think thats banned in their rules and most motorsport championships).
With it being a twin clutch box you don't know its changing gear tbh you just watch the rev drops on the upshift and the gear display on the dash change and thats it, downshift you just feel the rev change and thats it.. . Its weird to start with but I really like it and it makes a cool noise on the upshift
It has 3 modes D, S and manual mode
In D its very smooth and wants to keep the revs low for economy and drives like an Auto
In S it lets it rev hard and downshifts early to get the engine braking, etc.. . Its very aggressive in that mode and only really any good when you want to drive like a hooligan lol,
In either D or S you can over ride the auto gear change at any point by pressing the steering wheel paddles which gives you control of the gear change for a while until you don't touch the paddles for a bit and then it switches back to changing as an auto.
In manual mode it just drives on the steering wheel paddles or by pushing the gear stick back and forth like a sequential gearbox. In this mode it'll allow you to bounce it off the limiter and pretty much do what you like, it won't let you downshift if the revs are too high and It'll still downshift automatically when the revs are too low as it obviously can't let the car stall.. .
Its a pretty complicated bit of kit and very clever when you think about how its working, but once you get used it, it's awesome.. . I don't think id ever go back to a manual gearbox as my everyday car now tbh.. .
