Had occasion to drive a friends new A3 with the Quattro 3.2 six. Of course the low end torque was a whole different experience coming out of the S2k but the thing that really caught my attention was the DSG transmission/paddle shifters.

The thing is really smooth as a fully automatic but didn't feel at all slushy. You could leave it in D all day and forget it. It also has Sport mode for the automatic which selects much higher shift points. I didn't get to use this much because I soon got tired of being in first gear at 4000rpm in town. I think the transmission was expecting me to hammer the throttle.

But shift into the manual mode and it turns into a really fun car to drive. Shifts happen exactly when you ask for them and are very crisp and, again, not at all slushy. I don't believe it would force a shift at redline but merely bounce off the rev limiter but I didn't get a chance to try that out. Downshifts are equally crisp and immediate. The only limitation is that it does not allow downshifts that would over rev the engine. I consider this a benefit.

This is the first car I've driven that has an auto capability and yet when driven in manual mode suffers little in the performance department. I think 9 out of 10 people would be faster to 60 with the paddles than they would be with the regular manual.

In general I thought this was a great little car. Handles very nimbly with good grip, has good power plus all the bells and whistles. It's dual personalities would work for a one car family where one person wants a car to have some fun in and the other only cares about getting from A to B. Of course all decked out you are heading for the high $30k area.

 

I hope the DSG tranny will find it's way into many other cars. I read about the DSG it's built and licensed from Borg-Warner. So that tells me other companies can do likewise. I drove one in the GTi and was way impressed. A A3 with every option is $40K which is a lot for a GTi size car

I'd like Lexus or Infiniti to adopt this style of tranny, b/c the reliability of Audi/VW is not the best. One mag did a long term test on the A6 and it was in for 8 un-scheduled dealer visits in 12 months.

I prefer my dealer visits to be few and far between.

 

+1, gimme Audi's DSG in the 3 series !!

 

I also agree, the DSG is a really great piece of engineering. I hope to see it in the next S4.

 

DSG will upshift for you when you get to redline in manual mode.

 

S3 should have it, right?

 

Don't know about an S3 but the one I drove had a S-Line badge on it

 

The DSG transmission will also be available in the 2008 TT