DSG in the snow?

snakefart

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2006
Location
South Park, Colorado
TDI
2011 JSW 6MT ------ 2013 Jetta 6MT (went away)
I have been off this forum for awhile, my TDI (2013 Jetta) went away with the buy back bs. I miss the fuel mileage with my 200 mile daily commute. With the buy back cars hitting the market at good prices, I am considering another TDI. I am looking at 14' and 15' Passat's with a DSG. My former TDI and current commuter (5 series awd BMW) were/are manual transmission cars. I am a little concerned about the DSG on snowy and icy roads. The majority of my commute is in the mountains, lots of snow and ice. What is your general experience with a DSG on winter roads? I always run dedicated snow tires, a new set each season, I am competent winter driver, just a little unsure of the DSG. Oh, I do not want another MT commuter, I am getting old and too lazy to shift, at least in my commuter :)
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
its ok, nothing beats a ultra smooth torque converter on a slick take off. I have driven in some crazy slick stuff (4" thick of water topped frozen rain) and the dsg loves the break them loose right as you let off the brake- its not graceful on takeoff, once rolling its ok, just think of it as a novice driving a clutch on ice.
* I should note, that this car is a million times better than the wife's Highlander Hybrid as Toyota tunes those to pull back ALL the power at the slightest hint of wheelspin, so you just sit there stomped to the floor at idle going nowhere
 

snakefart

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2006
Location
South Park, Colorado
TDI
2011 JSW 6MT ------ 2013 Jetta 6MT (went away)
its ok, nothing beats a ultra smooth torque converter on a slick take off. I have driven in some crazy slick stuff (4" thick of water topped frozen rain) and the dsg loves the break them loose right as you let off the brake- its not graceful on takeoff, once rolling its ok, just think of it as a novice driving a clutch on ice.
* I should note, that this car is a million times better than the wife's Highlander Hybrid as Toyota tunes those to pull back ALL the power at the slightest hint of wheelspin, so you just sit there stomped to the floor at idle going nowhere
Thanks for the reply.

Curious if you are running snow tires and still seeing the slippage on take off?
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
We had both a manual TDI and DSG TDI in the snow with snow tires, while the manual gave you better feel of the traction, by no means is the DSG useless in the snow or had excessive slip, heck we have a DSG in our Alltrack to boot.

IMO driving any DSG takes some getting used in dry conditions as well. Big thing I do is just let off the break let the DSG do its thing for a second then apply the go pedal, if you try and man handle it she'll get squirrly. Snow tires are dirt cheap insurance we will never go without (even on our Alltrack) that and the 18" on the Passats are like pontoons on snow 16" wheels are where its at.

That being said the only down side of the NMS Passat is no TCS button to allow the wheels to spin and bite for traction. our '12 cut power ridiculously low and made it not the best, our '15 seems to have way more free spin to claw its way up our driveway.

You can add TCS button to the NMS with coding you can light up the tires all day long if you want.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=342176&page=3&highlight=TCS
 

roni024

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Location
Syracuse, NY
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL DSG
That being said the only down side of the NMS Passat is no TCS button to allow the wheels to spin and bite for traction. our '12 cut power ridiculously low and made it not the best, our '15 seems to have way more free spin to claw its way up our driveway.

You can add TCS button to the NMS with coding you can light up the tires all day long if you want.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=342176&page=3&highlight=TCS
This cannot be stressed enough. If you lose speed on an icy hill, or start slipping, it will be a nightmare to get rolling again if you are unable to disable the TCS. If you can somewhat maintain speed going into the (icy) hill, you'll be fine.
 

jck66

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
TDI
12 Passat SE / 14 BMW 535d
In addition to the comments about the too-intrusive traction control, I would add that I often drive the DSG in "S" in the snow as it seems to give me better control by holding gears a little (lot?) longer. Maybe I get a little engine braking - or maybe I just imagine it's better...
 

Skimax

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2001
Location
White mts, NH
TDI
97 B4 variant(retired at 330K), 2000 B5 1.8T passat retired, 2013 SE (buyback5/17) 2015 SEL, 2015 E-Golf SEL sold March 2019, 2018 Volt LT and a 2007 PRHT MX5 for fun
I have been off this forum for awhile, my TDI (2013 Jetta) went away with the buy back bs. I miss the fuel mileage with my 200 mile daily commute. With the buy back cars hitting the market at good prices, I am considering another TDI. I am looking at 14' and 15' Passat's with a DSG. My former TDI and current commuter (5 series awd BMW) were/are manual transmission cars. I am a little concerned about the DSG on snowy and icy roads. The majority of my commute is in the mountains, lots of snow and ice. What is your general experience with a DSG on winter roads? I always run dedicated snow tires, a new set each season, I am competent winter driver, just a little unsure of the DSG. Oh, I do not want another MT commuter, I am getting old and too lazy to shift, at least in my commuter :)

We had a 13 SE with DSG and General Altimax Arctic studded winters tire on steel rims. It did great here in the White Mts of NH. We also have a set of Arctics on our EGolf it's a 1 speed tranny;)



Sold it back and got a NOS 15 SEL. Used the same winter tires, it was the 3rd season last winter but we only put on 6-7K miles/winter. Same results, we always had manuals but love the DSG, getting old and lazy I guess but our 07 MX5 PRHT is a stick. It's never driven in the winter however.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
This cannot be stressed enough. If you lose speed on an icy hill, or start slipping, it will be a nightmare to get rolling again if you are unable to disable the TCS. If you can somewhat maintain speed going into the (icy) hill, you'll be fine.

Our '12 without TCS deactivated it seemed to allow zero slipping at 5mph or 15mph or 20mph, so even with a head of steam it kept bogging down until all stop.

Where as the '15 allows a decent amount of slipping at about 10mph to allow the clawing action to continue to search for traction up our driveway. Where as our old '10 Jetta with TCS off I could hit the bottom of our driveway in second keep the revs at 3K and saw the wheel back and forth with one tire of fire all the way up, it was murder on our driveways seal coating but heck I got the car in the garage.

This was the wife's journey into the garage last winter about 2" of sloppy snow with a crust on top, the pic doesn't give justice to the steepness of the driveway, but its about 10-15% grade at the steepist. I honestly don't think our '12 would have made it up in the same conditions with the same nokan haka8 studded tires.

 
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TheGrove

TDIClub Enthusiast, Veteran Member
Joined
May 17, 2006
Location
S Central PA (Breezewood)
TDI
2012 Passat SEL Premium Opera Red - Dieselgate Fix, KermaTDI Tune, 2004 Passat GLS Northern Green-RIP
In addition to the comments about the too-intrusive traction control, I would add that I often drive the DSG in "S" in the snow as it seems to give me better control by holding gears a little (lot?) longer. Maybe I get a little engine braking - or maybe I just imagine it's better...

I found I like to drive mine in Tip/Manual mode. You can up/down shift as needed to pick the gear you want. I found mine worked very well this way.
 

Nebelwerfer

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2012
Location
Canuckistan
TDI
2012 Passat TDI
Got a 2012 DSG. Living in Canuckistan we get a bit of snow and I've never had an issue at all. It plows though it relatively easily and no issue with grip.

If it starts to spin, I just up shift to the next gear. Even made it out of parking lots that 4x4 trucks and jeeps were stuck in...just drove right on by.

Running Michilen X Ice.

Regards
 

snakefart

Well-known member
Joined
May 6, 2006
Location
South Park, Colorado
TDI
2011 JSW 6MT ------ 2013 Jetta 6MT (went away)
Thanks for all of the replies.

I test drove a 14' SEL last night, 44k miles. I liked the car, though it is tough coming out of a BMW. The interior noise in the Passat is noticeably higher then my well aged 5 series BMW, seats are not as comfy, stereo sounds cheap to me, overall feel of the Passat is just okay. But, maintenance and fuel costs have been very high for the almost two years 100k miles I have had the BMW, at 200k miles I need to dump a bunch of money into it. I really miss the TDI fuel mileage and it sucks to fuel up every other day in the BMW. I am considering a 2015 diesel AWD 5 series, but the cost of entry is 10k+ more then the VW, high maintenance costs again. After you guys setting me at ease with the DSG in the snow, I am really leaning towards the Passat.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
I run 16" general altimax artic tires- and they are much quieter than the stock 19's not 5 series quiet but a lot better- to the extent my wife made me run the winter tires year around after running the 19's for just one day
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
FYI I don't think NMS ever came with 19" from Tenn, so not quite stock.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
my bad, 18" our new highlander has 19's :D
 
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jck66

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 4, 2001
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
TDI
12 Passat SE / 14 BMW 535d
@snakefart, I have both a Passat and a 535d. It's not fair to compare them comfort and build quality-wise. However, for your commute (200 miles - ouch!) I'd lean in the direction of the Passat. It's still a good car (and you get a spare tire). You'll probably get 700-800 miles from a Passat tank vs. 600 from the BMW, so less filling up as well. I find the maintenance cost to be similar but I no longer do much DIY so I pay for that. Good luck either way you decide.
 

bobgolf2004

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2005
Location
Madison, Wisconsin USA
TDI
2018 Camry Hybrid LE
My experience with driving a DSG in the snow is similar to driving a manual. Afterall, a DSG is simply an automated manual gearbox. You can shift a DSG up and down "manually" if you want. The DSG stays in gear all the time while moving, so you would have to shift it to neutral to "coast " (which I never did) where you would depress the clutch pedal in a manual to decouple the engine from the transmission. Also, the DSG shifts sequentially up or down (e.g., 3 to 4 or 4 to 3) whereas with a manual you can skip gears (3 to 5 or 4 to 2), so you would need to do 2 shifts to accomplish what you can do in 1 shift with a manual.


Overall, I found the DSG to be just as predictable as a manual in snow.
 
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740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
The DSG stays in gear all the time while moving,

except in when starting off in first, it's slipping quite a bit, but prob fully engaged at 5mph, and the '15 I think has the tallest gear set of any DSG.
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
it also slips 2nd on rolling threw a stop sign- as it wont (and shouldn't) engage 1st until below 3mph. On a cold day you can here it jam 1st when I stop at the bottom of my driveway- good thing DSG oil is thin
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
The '15s down shift into 1st much more than the 12-14's, the gearing is much taller all across the band of the '15. Our '12 would slip the clutch or really struggle in 2nd almost ever time the wife came in the driveway, in the '15 its always in first when she attacks the driveway at 2-5mph.

Now our Alltrack is frustrating AF, in "California stops" rolling at less than 1mph, it still wants to take off in 2nd, sooo frustrating. In typical easy driving, 1st is only good until 2-4mph before it grabs 2nd.
 
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