Our "own" car reviews

[Matt2000]

My dad had a Skodiaq, and as you know I have a Passat on the same platform. I've also driven a Seat Tarraco with 1.5 TSI which is what I'm guessing this rental had. The Tarraco is another MQB car, same size and shape as a Skodiaq but IMO with a nicer design. Wouldn't mind having one.

Yes 1.5 TSI would make sense, I didn't bother to look at the engine to see. I didn't hear any turbo whistle but I guess that's buried under the soundproofing and I'm just used to the brilliant whistle that the SD4 makes in my dad's Freelander 2.

The Tarraco had a customizable gauge cluster which could show the satnav map too if you wanted along with a few other display modes. My car doesn't have satnav, which means it relies on Carplay, which runs in the center screen only. The gauge cluster is faking a couple of round clocks that leave an area in between them where other kinds of info is shown. This is pretty much exactly like you get on cars without the digital cluster, but as a bonus you get a badly designed fake analog speedometer which has a readabilty rating of -4 on a scale from 1 to 10. They just didn't have enough pixels to put in everything they needed to, I think. This means I'm driving around with the "I'm aging and won't get glasses" setting turned on, showing the speed and gears in large, friendly digital numbers. The "analog" speedo clock is just a waste of space.

That'll be it, this car didn't have navigation so just used the centre screen. Seemed daft. I didn't use the analogue speedo at all, just looking at the digital display.

My Insignia had the GM infotainment from the early 2010's, with roots so old it called my iPhone an iPod when plugged in via USB. It's the same old API, after all, but it was funny on a 2014 car nonetheless. But it showed track info and album art in the little color screen in the otherwise analog gauge cluster, which was nice. Not getting that in the far more modern VW was surprising.

It did show track information when using Spotify through CarPlay, it was just extremely tiny.

The gear indicator sometimes showing D and sometimes D4 might have been the gearbox freewheeling? I have freewheel too but only if I turn on the Eco driving mode. When it drops out of gear it does just that, going from D3 or whatever to just D and then seamlessly back to D3 with a revmatch as soon as you touch a pedal.

A DSG clutch robot is dimwitted, at least when VW is making them, and just plain shit compared to a torque converter. There's no way around this fact. My car is the perfect daily driver that's at least 25% ruined by a silly gearbox that should have been put out to pasture by VAG by the time normal automatics became 6 or 8 speed affairs. My father drives a Toyota Proace now and the 8 speed Aisin(?) auto is wonderful in comparison. It makes the car behave like a diesel with an auto should behave. It takes off when you prod the throttle instead of suddenly waking up and trying and (failing) at getting its ducks in a row. Etc.

Some of you will tell me to just get a manual, and my answer to that is that it's not an MX-5 or a 205 GTI so that's not going to happen.

DSG transmissions creep by default, so I think what you found is the Auto Hold button. This makes the car sit stationary with the brakes clamped until you get on the throttle. This is splitting hairs now but if my guess is correct you didn't "turn on creep", you turned off Auto Hold. I'm used to driving automatics and I hate auto hold. I want my car to behave like it has a torque converter. Some people like not having creep so it's nice that they're giving you the option.

I guess it was freewheeling and it did show an Eco icon at some points. The villa was at the top of a hill so the drive down was either coasting or if I was following a car I would knock it into manual. I was disappointed with the clutch robot, things have come a long way in the 20 years since my Smart Roaster but from what I remember that did a better job at pulling away from a standstill. I guess the fact that it weighed nothing helped.

The button would've been Auto Hold, which was already on when I got the car. I was used to that from one pedal driving in my Tesla, but it really felt like I had to fight the car to get it moving with that switched on and definitely not smooth like it would be (should be) in an EV. A hybrid option would probably solve all of these issues.

Nevertheless, automatic is still definitely the right choice for this car. I just wish you could still buy European cars with torque converters. Are there any still sold? Yes they waste fuel and rob power but it's such a simple and reliable solution.

 

[Perc]

Nevertheless, automatic is still definitely the right choice for this car. I just wish you could still buy European cars with torque converters. Are there any still sold? Yes they waste fuel and rob power but it's such a simple and reliable solution.

Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi (some of them) and Stellantis will happily sell you a torque converter. Even a Peugeot 208 or something will have a modern 8 speed.

And I wouldn’t say they waste fuel, haven’t for a long time. Even the mid 00’s 6 speed Aisin in my Insignia kept the converter locked in gears 2-6, also at full throttle acceleration.

 

[narf]

My Z4's got a fine torque converter, is very European, makes plenty power, and isn't that thirsty

 

[Matt2000]

You'll have to forgive my ignorance on that, I'm hardly keeping up with modern cars. Good to know that they haven't all been replaced with DSG and are still viable.