What would you do if you had a chance to drive a car that has technology trickled down into it from the Audi TT?
Thats what I did when I got a chance to drive the New VW Jetta DSG!.
After 2 years of falling sales in North America due to a aging model range, VW decided to take action and revamp their product portfolio. And Boy what a job they have done! Well, they have not finished with it, they are still on the job as I write this! First, came in the new Jetta with new engines, then the new Passat, next month we will have the new 06 Beetle, and by march next year the Golf Mark V! ( Can't wait for that one!) Just to brief up. VW have retired 2 engines : the 2.0L 4 cylinder 115bhp ( Thank God! This was easily the worst engine VW had) and 1.8 Turbo 150hp. So you guys in India are driving Skoda's with outdated engines now!
. The base engine is now a 2.5L 5 cylinder 150hp and the higher end engine is the 2.0L Turbo Petrol with 200 hp. This 2.0L Turbo is the base engine in the new Passat and Audi's here. So I had to drive the Jetta 2.0L Turbo with 6 speed DSG Automatic with Tiptronic. BTW, a 6 speed auto is standard in VW's here! Forget the Corolla like looks guys, the Jetta's looks slowly grow on you and the car looks much more majestic in metal then Corolla.
I got in the car fired up the turbo petrol engine adjusted the mirrors and seats and decided to expereince DSG in it's full glory. I put the shift in Tiptronic mode and got going. Even in heavy Toronto traffic the quick DSG shifts were amazing. A click into + and even before I blinked the car was in second. No jerks , no lags, no sluggishness. It all happens faster then the speed at which you blink. Finally got into a open stretch of road. Came onto a STOP sign. For the first time, a STop sign made me smile. There was no traffic or pedastrian ahead. With the car poised at 1, i pressed the gas pedal. The wheels squealed , even though I didn't intend to make them squeal. The car lunged ahead. A click into 2, car is in 2 zooms ahead, turbo whining away, rpm zooming , another push + car is in 3, no lag, no sluggishness, no slowing down of speed, heck it barely allowed the rpm needle to go down! ZOOM the car goes ahead i am going over 80, Turbo whining loudly, exhaust giving a sporty growl, the car lunging ahead like a cheetah, click it goes into 4 before i realise click it's into 5! Every shift happening so fast that it was mind-boggling. In no time i was in 6, zooming ahead, the car powering ahead like a locomotive! The speed at which DSG works, the sporty growl from the exhaust, the turbo's deathly whine, guys i tell you the car for a moment scared me. I actually let off my foot to slow down. I was approaching a intersection. Put my feet on the brakes and ABS, EBD, ASR and what not helped me stop without any wheel lock up. The Shift meanwhile automatically downshifted into 1. Trust me guys, the car was so fast, it acutally had our heads and bodies thorwn back into the head rest and seat. DSG rocks! It was amazing to see, feel and expereince the lightning fast shifts. I was so busy, expereincing DSG that I never noticed what speed i managed or what Rpm i was going at. Every time I kept looking at the gear indicator and trying to notice any sluggishness or jerks as the car shifted. None! none at all and hell here i was driving a measly Jetta! I have always prefered manual to automatics but DSG has made me change my mind!
I can still feel the ultra smooth, fast shifting gears. And it's been over 5 hours since I drove the car! How can there be no lag, how can there be no sluggishness or little jerks. Was that a automatic? It certainly didn't feel like one! "Click" you have upshifted! and all the while you actually keep picking up speed! It was a short drive of about 20 minutes and I can still feel the smooth shifts, I can still hear the turbo whine, I can still hear the tyres squeal and the exhaust growling. Next time I am taking the Jetta DSG on the highway. Hell, how did it happen all so fast?! "click" I was in 2, "click" I was in 3, "click" i was in 4........unbelieveble! Did it acutally happen?! Did I actually drive a car or was I dreaming? Nothing prepares you for DSG folks. You may have read about it, you may know everything behind the technology, you may know what to expect but when you actually drive a car with DSG, it still zaps you with it's technology. Nothing I say here will put down what I expereinced driving the car...nothing.....just drive a car with DSG is all I can say...But yea be prepared to take the rest of the day off though, cuz the whole expereince will leave you dazed. You can do nothing else but think again and again of the whole DSG expereince!