[Sankar]

The cars we are comparing are passenger cars and not track based. 99% of the owners will use these for their daily drives.

Yes and so.. for me the below doesn't matter.

Originally Posted by harsh.m06

Capable motor with a super slow 4 speed torque convertor will still be slow to respond, very slow indeed in comparison to the lightening fast upshifts of the dsg.

Anyways motorbeam says the Verna 1.6 CRDI AT is only 1 sec slower than the MT. Anyway not one of my main concerns.



But the below does matter to me...

Daily drive cars need to be stress free

When i go for a remap which i definitely would. With DSG i would be super stressed and worried thinking about potential gearbox problems.

and should have minimal lag. VAG's TDI motors are the best in business and 7 ratios of the DSG makes things even better. Verna stands no chance here.

Didn't know VAG TDI were lag proof. My friend got his 1.6 TDI Vento remaped yesterday and one of his main requirements was to minimise the lag. Which was accomplished to an extent. Maybe the 1.5TDi with the DSG combo makes the engine behave lag free? Anyway lag isn't my concern, my current car diesel has lag but its not an issue and i kind of like the transition effect when the motor comes one turbo. I enjoy it.

You have to drive a dsg vehicle to experience the awesomeness of this gearbox.

True. But i will not put my money on a DQ200 TDI car because i would get it remapped anyway and won't take any chances with that GB.
I would not buy a car which doesn't let me do what i like to do on my car. I have owned 5 cars so far and none of them were kept stock, same would be the story for any future purchases.

Anyway this is my opinion on my purchase of any one of the three cars above, not anyone else's. Each have their own reasons. Right now for me Hyundai looks better.

[D4D]

Verna is a clear loser here. Unfortunately so.

Hyundai has the 6 speed TQ box which they use in the Elantra. Maybe they chose not to mate it to the Verna (despite being powered by the same engine and having same power figures) as it might eat into the sales of the Elantra.

Hopefully in the updated Verna, they use a stiffer suspension and also get the 6 speed diesel auto. That would help them boost sales.

If only VAG could provide good ASS and warranty on the DSG, their sales would multiply.

Between the Rapid and the Vento, there's not much to choose. My choice will only depend on:

• Price
• Waiting period
• Dealer experience and review

[Srikanthan]

Voted for VW Vento.

Not just because I own a Vento, but my rides on Vernas and Rapids were not delights!!

It is not just a case of bad driving by the drivers / owners, but me as a driver in those cars also disappointed me. They were not as inspiring as a VW

[msdivy]

DQ200 DSG transmission has had problems across the world. VW claim the new generation of mechatronics has solved the issue and vehicles produced & sold currently are not affected by this problem. Here is the VW Singapore giving out the reason.

SGCM: What is the technical issue behind the recall?
VW: Sulphur in the gear oil and an inorganic heat stabiliser in the plastic parts (iodine) of the mechatronic unit can cause metallic surfaces to be attacked and to suffer from electrolytic corrosion, in connection with high air humidity and high outside temperatures. Conducting particles can then settle between the circuit paths of the control unit and could cause a short circuit.

SGCM: Is it true that only the seven-speed gearbox has been affected?
VW: The subject of the voluntary recall is the DQ200 seven-speed DSG gearbox. Volkswagen also produces the DQ250 six-speed DSG and DQ500 seven-speed DSG which are not affected by this voluntary recall.

SGCM: What will be the scope of work done?
VW: As part of the voluntary recall, Volkswagen Singapore will replace the gearbox mechatronics on affected vehicles at zero cost to the customer. The work will take around three hours per car to complete.

Link: The story behind VW's DQ200 voluntary recall

Are the current batch sold here in India not affected by this issue?

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by msdivy

DQ200 DSG transmission has had problems across the world. VW claim the new generation of mechatronics has solved the issue and vehicles produced & sold currently are not affected by this problem. Here is the VW Singapore giving out the reason.Link: The story behind VW's DQ200 voluntary recall

Are the current batch sold here in India not affected by this issue?

We do have a dedicated discussion thread for this: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...not-india.html

[torque!!]

Well, I would choose none of these. The DSG twins are out of the reckoning due to their well documented failure rate compounded by the high headedness of VW in India. I may have considered them if they came with a longer warranty but still would not have been at peace. Who knows, VW may say that the DSG failure is a result of adulterated fuel or perhaps my fault in driving the car for an extra 5 seconds after the gearbox gave a warning that it would fail.

The Hyundai would have been my choice but I can not stand their 4 speed box. Can not understand why they still offer an completely outdated transmission in India. Try doing that in the US.

[deepfusion]

My vote goes for the Rapid. Just because of the looks, and the handling. Verna seems like a toy. No offence to owners, but true. Driving in the night, all screens emit blue lights, and a lot of them.

Compare it with the Rapid. Cool green, that too, dims as soon as the headlights are switched on. Doesn't intrude into the driving.

[DWind]

Do we have acceleration figures (0-100) for all the three cars possibly from one single tester (OD)? If the difference is not very huge ( say less than 2 seconds) then it might not be too much of deal breaker. On paper VAG twins look clear winners.

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

We do have a dedicated discussion thread for this: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...not-india.html

Thanks so much for sharing that thread. I'm really impressed by the Vento DSG, and was about to convince a friend to buy one. Then I read the above thread again, and decided, "no way am I touching or recommending anything from the VW stable".

The Vento / Rapid may be better cars than the Verna, but they aren't worth the potential trouble down the road.

[DocRock]

I vote Vento for its mature styling and color options. Yes the Rapid's got cruise control and projectors, however these can be added to the Vento as well.
I also like the alloys of the vento better.
The styling of the rapid looks a bit brash but above all there is just one thing that keeps me away from Rapid's styling that is the grill keeps reminding me of Nigel Mansell's moustache with a hint of Hitler.

[vb-saan]

Vento is my choice out of the three. VW in my opinion, have mastered the slow-ageing formula. Even though the Rapid came after the Vento, it somehow looks outdated compared to its cousin (maybe because all other Skoda models sold in India have moved on with the new corporate look).

[a4anurag]

Volkswagen Vento it is all the way!

The Rapid, I never liked and the Verna doesn't appeal much to me. The Vento being the oldest and simplest looking still has that beauty in its design that attracts many.

Just that VW now needs to get its VW A.S.S act together and a complete solution to the reliability issues for the DQ2000.

Anurag.

[vibbs]

For me its a close fight. Between Vento and Rapid.

Despite the after sales horror that Skoda is, I would still pick Rapid, because

1. I like the way it looks. I guess I am the only one here who feels that Rapid looks better than Vento.
2. I feel the Rapid has a better ride and handling balance than Vento.
3. I would never buy a Verna for the way it handles.
4. Volkswagen after sales is not too much better than Skoda anyways.

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Automotive history will remember the DSG gearbox as the Biggest and Longest-Standing Con Jobs in the motoring world ever. It may actually go down in the Guinness Book of Records as the automotive product with the largest number of customers to be fooled by a single company.

It is quite a smart business practice when you sign-off into production a component that has not been through effective R&D and pass it onto customers to complete the R&D program out of their time and money. But it is quite another situation when customers willingly accept to being guinea pigs to do the R&D and the enlightened ones actually have a poll to decide which is better ???

Choosing between the Rapid DSG and the Vento DSG is like deciding whether you’d like to be Guinea Pig #1 or Guinea Pig #2.

And debates (in other threads) on whether DQ 200 is better than the DQ 250 is like arguing whether the devil is better than the deep blue sea.

The 4 speed on the Verna is horribly outdated and not even worth elaborating upon.

To even justify this poll, as someone said, there needs to be an option – (d) None of the above.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Anyways motorbeam says the Verna 1.6 CRDI AT is only 1 sec slower than the MT. Anyway not one of my main concerns.

0-100 is not the point of concern here. I have driven the Verna CRDI AT, Diesel's narrow powerband mated to this outdated 4 speed gearbox is nowhere in comparison any of the modern gearboxes. The Autobox is slow, shiftlogic is not as smart, at times you have to make it upshift/downshift by changing Accelerator input. Then there are not enough ratios for every speed, tall 4 gears all widely spaced to make up for lack of more gears make for a frustrating driving experience(for anyone used to modern ATs). Plus the torque convertor is not as efficient as DSG, saps considerably higher amount of fuel.