thewalkingdad
Ready to race!
I've seen and read a number of reviews on the 034 Motorsport dogbone insert. The problem was there wasn't much specificity when it came to how this little mod affected a DSG. There was generally more speculation than experience. I'm not saying the experience isn't out there, but perhaps it isn't codified in a thread.
So needless to say, this is a quick review of the insert from a DSG perspective. Additionally, so you know my mindset, my goal is to keep my car "wife approved," which means quiet and comfortable. So I'm currently in the business of trying to maintain the feel and sound of stock while making upgrades.
A little information about the install. SUPER EASY! Took about ten minutes, and five of those minutes were changing sockets, finding and setting torque specs, etc. It was really only five minutes of actual *work*.
On to the testing...
I've only driven it about 20 miles with the insert. 10 miles without the air conditioning on and another 10 with the air conditioning on.
Launches *seem* a bit better than they were. It could be a placebo effect, or it could be real. Either way, I've spent much more than $40 on mods that probably engaged the placebo effect more than anything.
As far as noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) goes, DSG guys can't feather the clutch like the MT guys can. So the NVH could potentially affect us more. With that being said, there is a slight increase in NVH. And it is only noticeable from about 700-1100 RPMs (first gear obviously). It didn't seem to matter if I was on the pedal or not. If the motor was in that 400 RPM range, I could feel/hear some vibration. I only noticed it if I tried to notice it. And by the end of my *test* I actually forgot that I was testing the insert because I didn't notice the NVH. There were no other rattles or issues associated with this part.
One interesting observation was that the NVH increase actually seemed lessened with the AC on. I anticipated it being worse, but that wasn't the case.
Overall, I like the upgrade and for the money, I think it is worthwhile, even for DSG guys. At the end of the day, I believe this mod is DSG and wife approved.
So needless to say, this is a quick review of the insert from a DSG perspective. Additionally, so you know my mindset, my goal is to keep my car "wife approved," which means quiet and comfortable. So I'm currently in the business of trying to maintain the feel and sound of stock while making upgrades.
A little information about the install. SUPER EASY! Took about ten minutes, and five of those minutes were changing sockets, finding and setting torque specs, etc. It was really only five minutes of actual *work*.
On to the testing...
I've only driven it about 20 miles with the insert. 10 miles without the air conditioning on and another 10 with the air conditioning on.
Launches *seem* a bit better than they were. It could be a placebo effect, or it could be real. Either way, I've spent much more than $40 on mods that probably engaged the placebo effect more than anything.
As far as noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) goes, DSG guys can't feather the clutch like the MT guys can. So the NVH could potentially affect us more. With that being said, there is a slight increase in NVH. And it is only noticeable from about 700-1100 RPMs (first gear obviously). It didn't seem to matter if I was on the pedal or not. If the motor was in that 400 RPM range, I could feel/hear some vibration. I only noticed it if I tried to notice it. And by the end of my *test* I actually forgot that I was testing the insert because I didn't notice the NVH. There were no other rattles or issues associated with this part.
One interesting observation was that the NVH increase actually seemed lessened with the AC on. I anticipated it being worse, but that wasn't the case.
Overall, I like the upgrade and for the money, I think it is worthwhile, even for DSG guys. At the end of the day, I believe this mod is DSG and wife approved.
