Team-BHP - please help me choose skoda laura auto or manual ?

guys it has been really helpfull knowing a lot about cars from this forum.now iam really confused,as iam young i love the manual shifts,but at times coz of bad traffic,i think auto is a boon.i even love the gear control thing during high speed braking.i have no idea how powerfull r laura brakes ( auto) i mean. please help me decide wat to get. waiting for your replies.thanx.and please tell me if yourl had to buy which one would it be?

In Bombay, Automatic transmission is easily the best. Traffic everyday at certain hours is just utter crap and I really can't imagine what state I would be in if I was driving a manual 24X7. After that its really on personal choice.

from what ive known about skoda's gearboxes, theyre really good and shifting is supposed to be fun. but yes it can be a pain in mumbai.
it depends on when and where you intend to use the car.

best way is to take it for a test drive in traffic conditions and find out for yourself !!!

by the way, im just curious to know what made you choose the Skoda over the Honda Accord.

I strongly recommend the DSG from what i've read and heard.

Technically, its faster than a manual and also has the convenience of an auto.

The only catch is that its quite a complicated system and Skoda's current service support don't have the tech know-how ,if the transmissions have any faults/problems.

Out of the two ,the DSG is a better choice but you need to keep in mind that you may 've those odd problems with the DSG due to its highl complex nature but having said that, i ve not read/heard any such major problems with the New Octavia(laura) DSG ...
There were some serious/major problems with the Audi's but i ve heard its been solved by the company ..

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeetu4444

please tell me if yourl had to buy which one would it be?

My heart says DSG and the mind says Manual ..

P.s Buddy, i ve no intentions to confuse you and i feel the best thing is go and test drive both the cars and if you feel you can live without that (highly addictive) DSG then go forward and buy the tried and tested Manual Version :)

Well it's not so difficult after all...

Because DSG gives you both fully auto as well as tiptronic (manual like) options.

And regarding your concerns about Skoda A5 (I prefer to call it that way :)) braking, it is amongst the best in class. The electronics by default utilize engine power for increasing braking efficiency, the feature is called MSR - Engine Drag Control...

This is my understanding, please validate them yourself...

hey guys thanx alot for your comments.today i went to the skoda dealer.he had no skoda laura in there. i just asked him which u suggest i go for, to my surprise he said manual,he said tat his one customer got problem with the auto box,while she was driving in auto,suddenly her hand hit the gear and it shifted to manual.and to get new gear box she would have to spend nearly 2laks +.he showed me the superb,and explained how the dsg works.well guys like turboindia and others who own laura dsg can u plz tell in detail about the auto box.thanx coz i dont trust this dealer.i think becoz manual laura booking is not god tats why he is telling me to go for it.if skoda new tat dsg had problems they would have not lauched the dsg version only.plz help.after knowing tat i can drive in auto as well as manual,i want to go for dsg.

i have driven the auto and its the best autos ive ever driven for sure damn smooth. though i must admit i never put it in D i always shift in manual modes for kicks. dont really care about manual cars anymore. im used to autos for now. id say go for the auto all the way worth every since cent on the car. i wish they had a petrol version though.

Obviously the dealer is just trying to fool you.
Because if shifting from Auto to Manual (tiptronic) was the case, there cannot be any issue at all. The grearbox is designed to shift between auto-tiptronic or visa versa while driving. Does the car company expect it's driver to stop and decide whether they want auto or manual before cranking the engine!!! Ridiculous.

Even most of the cars with age old gear box have built in protection mechanisms to prevent extensive gear damage (like the gear would not "by mistake" go into reverse while you are trying to put the car in overdrive (5/6th gear)).

Unlike the conventional manual transmissions, where the gear is physically engaged by movement of gear lever, in case of tiptronic cars (and DSG Auto), the gear change is always controlled by the CPU. Just that in auto mode (D/S) the CPU decides when to shift gear and in Manual (tiptronic mode) you decide when to switch gear (which again the CPU validates before executing)...

My suggestion would be to go for the manual for the following reasons:

1. The DSG deserves a better engine than the sorry 1.9PD engine the Laura comes with in our India.
2. The DSG can be very expensive to set right if things go wrong and we all know even otherwise, Skoda cars aren't cheap to maintain.
3. There have been issues with the DSG globally (from what I've heard... not experienced) and we all know how competent Skoda Service Centres here are.
4. It brings down the Laura's price by around a lakh which still isn't a reasonable price for the car. Imagine, a car that sells mainly because of the goodies offered comes without rear cup holders and power retractable mirrors... Features offered by cars even 6-7 lakhs cheaper.
5. It may also be a wise move when thinking of re-sale value of the Laura.

NOTE! This comes from one of the biggest fans of the DSG - me.

IMO, the ONLY factor which justifies the Laura's price to some extent is the DSG. So if you really must go for the Laura, then goa ll the way and get the DSG version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkothan

In future every car will carry auto transmission, including B segment cars just like power steering.

I totally disagree. More cars will come equiped with things like paddle-shift and DSG but its ridiculous to think that EVERY car will have some kind of auto gearbox.

plz keep the replys coming.today i went to auto bahn,they also did not have the laura there.well today dad came with me,so the sales guy showed dad in a superb how the gear box worked.dad was really happy.i told this sales guy about the previous sales guy and wat he told me.guy from auto bahn said tat the gear box is amazing and no such problem has come .he said to go for auto,but said 3months waiting for dsg and 1 month for manual.well will try more dealers,can max wait for a month.he said laura has got very good response and skoda did not except so much,tats why so much waiting.