hi
i went to look at the honda civic today, especially to look at the i-shift model and wondered if any members have tested the revised civic i-shift, and their opinions on it. the last reviews i read described it as dangerous and unpredictable. i am also considering the leon with the dsg gearbox, which seems to get good reviews. the civic would probably be the 1.8 petrol and the leon the 2.0 diesel.
thanks
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My husband has a 1.8 auto honda civic. I don't know what reviews you are referring to but I can imagine what they mean. I find it rather strange to drive. When the gear changes the car appears to lose power which is very disconcerting. He likens this to a manual gear change but as he does not drive manual cars I don't think he really knows what he's talking about! I have only recently gone back to driving a manual vehicle and although I understand where he's coming from I do not agree - a manual vehicle slows down at gear change whilst the foot is off the accelerator but it does not appear to lose power as if the brake has been nudged. The car also has poor visibility at the side and to the rear. On the plus side it is roomy, goes like a bomb and the dash looks a bit like the star ship enterprise. I'd suggest you try it out.
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Don't even think about that i-shi(f)t box. VW's DSG beats it hands down, really.
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I haven't driven a i-shift but do drive a Smart Brabus and Citroen C4 with EGS 'box, which are essentially similar - i.e. an automated clutch.
The benefit of these new types of 'box are the economy and emission gains over a conventional torque-converter auto (indeed the C4 EGS box has lower emissions than the manual). When set to auto gear change, there is a slight lull in performance, in the same way that a manual car has a slight lull when you lift the throttle and depress the clutch. The Smart was one of the first of these gearboxes and is now considered slow. The C4 is much quicker, and quicker than a manual change start-to-finish. What Car calls it 'brilliant', Autocar is less entusiastic - you pays yer money and takes yer choice!
I wouldn't consider one of these boxes unless it has a paddle-change facility. With this you change manually, but without the hassle of a clutch - a major benefit if like me you do a lot of town driving. You retain the control, but do not have to carry out down-shifts (the car does it for you) although you can downshift if you want to, for example approaching a bend, hill, whatever.
And then there is the CVT option. I have never liked them - whether in a Mk1 Punto or a Merc B-class. The noise they make is just wrong!
The VW DSG is brilliant if pricey (probably the reason why no-one else yet offers it) and does not have the economy/emission advantages of an automated clutch. You should really test before you decide, the final decision will probably depend upon your driving. Certainly for me, in town driving, they are the best option - all gearboxes are of course a compromise to some extent.
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"does not have the economy/emission advantages of an automated clutch" ?????
DSG is an advanced version of the auto clutch systems fitted to smarts, citroens etc in that it uses twin clutches.
Economy and emissions are virtually identical between manual and DSG versions of the same car and they are in the same road tax bands.
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