MichaelAC wrote:Hi,
with a sequential gearbox like VAG's DSG or S-tronic the ability to block gear change is removed. The problem here is that having removed your speed prior to a junction (roundabout or otherwise) having just left yourself time to change to the appropriate gear to advance my DSG box can sometimes be in the wrong gear. I may have been in sixth gear and when I've slowed it won't automatically change down quickly enough leaving me to try and click through several gears or if I had it in full auto mode (which I generally don't) it would simply leave me in the wrong gear to move me into the identified gap on a roundabout, for example.
The DSG rev matches and you don't need to remove hands from steering wheel so as long as I have completed my change downs before I make the manouvre, is BGOL actually relevant?
I'd love to hear your views and if you have a DSG and manage to avoid BGOL I'd be interested to know how you do it.
Thanks in advance.
Michael.
I've never driven a car with DSG or similar , but in the distant past I did drive motorbikes which similarly have a sequential gearbox , and on bikes , with proper timing , it was possible to declurch and click down two or three gears in rapid succession .
All my cars for years have been traditional four or five speed automatics and , for me , it is second nature to use the manual selector a lot of the time . Although BGOL is often thought of as a bad thing ( this stems from the old system of car control where the six features were to be separated out and applied in sequence somewhat inflexibly at times ) ; with the 'new' IPSGA system there is a lot more flexibility and potential to overlap the phases - so why not BGOL ? It has been taught at Tulliallan for some years now .
Because I've been driving automatics almost exclusively for the last 40 years , I take the view that I have two feet for two pedals and make the most efficient use of them : that can often mean preselecting the next gear whilst braking on the approach to a hazard , then bringing in a part throttle downshift towards the end of the braking phase by easing smoothly onto the throttle before easing off the brakes and then firming up on throttle - all very wordy , but it is very smooth and it works . Use of the selector isn't always required ; in many cases application of a little throttle before finishing with the brakes will bring in a desired downshift in a very smooth manner and is advantageous to making good progress . Other times the brakes don't come into it , such as selecting a gear for an overtake while following at a steady speed , but use of throttle in conjunction with the selector almost always brings in a smoother change .
To those who hold their hands up in horror and exclaim you shouldn't brake and accelerate in an automatic at the same time , I would reply that is an old fish wives tale : my two current cars are each on about 180K with no gearbox problems ; I have had several up around 300K and the record was my 300TE-24 which was on 430K on the original gearbox when written off by an uninsured driver who hit it whilst parked .
Sometimes conventional wisdom needs to be challenged , so if avoiding BGOL doesn't work with DSG boxes I wouldn't fret .