Audi DSG: Best transmission ever

It would be good if my next car had an automatic shifting mode of some kind, but until recently I hadn't driven any that I would give up the stick for. Even the new paddle shifting Lexus IS suffered the same delays and jerks I've come to expect from so called "manumatic" fake manual transmissions. But there's hope...

They say it can out-shift than any human, the Audi/Volkswagen DSG. Better than automatic, better than stick. That's my opinion after driving a new A3, and some far more knowledgeable people agree:

The Truth About Cars
As for the A3's paddles, it's official: you can kiss the three-pedal car goodbye. The DSG system delivers seamless, rapid-fire, idiot-proof changes up or down the gearbox at any engine speed. It's a toy, it's a weapon, it's a wonder. No surprise Stuttgart has suddenly sidled up to Wolfsburg: every Porsche made needs a DSG gearbox mach schnell.

Automobile Magazine
but the car's most intriguing feature is its new six-speed Direct-Shift Gearbox (DSG). Forget BMW's Sequential Manual Gearbox, Maserati's Cambiocorsa transmission, and Ferrari's F1 box. Audi's DSG is the first sequential manual that works well both in manual and in automatic mode.

Edmunds
And let us clarify one minor point right now - the traditional manual transmission is officially obsolete. [...] The optional DSG tranny effectively reduces BMW's SMG, Toyota's SMT and Ferrari's F1-style transmissions to second-tier status.

AudiWorld
Both SMG and F1 transmissions do their jobs well in manual mode, ripping off perfectly executed rev-matched down-shifts and fast, albeit jerky, up-shifts (yes, even when driven civilly and the driver lifts off the gas prior to completing an up-shift). However, they just can't match the seamless transitions (referring to them as mere gear changes is a gross misrepresentation) that Audi's DSG provides in the TT 3.2.

Motoring & Independent Online
I've never been a fan of semi-automatic transmissions but call me a convert. DSG is the best there is and has made all rival efforts basically obsolete.

Jalopnik
The A3 has the world's best gearbox, and it isn't afraid to use it.

AutoWeek
The DSG is so smooth, intuitive, easy to use and efficient that nothing else without a clutch pedal comes close.

More DSG technical and business info: Just-Auto, Audi, Wikipedia, AutoZine transmission school.

Feb 26 Update: I had to add this piece just put online today: DSG: Stick Shift RIP

Shut up flash!

Maybe the most annoying of the (many) problems with flash is the lack of an integrated, universal volume and/or mute control. I hate websites that play music without asking, flash games with annoying sounds, videos I can't adjust the volume of without affecting my whole system volume, etc. Firefox and IE should really have built-in volume/mute controls.

Anyway, I found this great little download for Windows users, FlashMute. It sits in your system tray and gives you a universal volume control for all flash animations. Nice.

Farewell Bluths

The funniest shows on TV right now, in order:

1. Arrested development
2. Family Guy
3. The Office

And I didn't like any of them at the start. With Arrested it was because of the advertisements. I thought it was going to be "here's a rich family that loses their money and has a hard time with day to day problems we take for granted". Maybe I wasn't the only one who got that wrong impression from the horrible job Fox did marketing and supporting this show, because tonight is probably the last episode ever.

Radio Paradise

I listen to Internet radio while I'm at work, and for the last several months there's been only one station for me:

Here they are

2006 Super Bowl Commercials at AOL Sports

Overall pretty lame game commercial-wise. My picks for the best:

1. 2nd quarter: Careerbuilder Monkeys
2. 2nd quarter: Michelobe Tackle
3. 1st quarter: Ameriquest Hospital
4. 2nd quarter: Sprint Locker Room
5. 3rd quarter: Taco Bell Good To Go (because of Adam West)

Negative amortization

2 good articles today about one of the cornerstones of the US credit bubble (nee housing bubble) - the Option ARM. That's a mortgage where the minimum payment doesn't even cover the interest. In other words, you're making your payments but your balance goes up.

• Option-ARMs...FINALLY making the news!
• Exotic Loan Problems 'Inevitable': WSJ

I should also link to another post by the FB author that really spoke to me: MTV Cribs, Bling, and...the housing bubble?!?!?

If the number of people overextending themselves to finance homes, cars, and consumer "lifestyle" items is any indication, I think we will be in for trouble in the long run if we keep extending credit for everything in the world.