Powershift v Geartronic
 

Hello!

My wife and I are looking to buy a nearly new car to keep for the next 10 years or so and have settled on a diesel S40. It needs to be automatic so we are looking at either a 2008 2.0 Powershift or 2.4 Geartronic.

It appears that the DSG box used by VW Audi has quite a few issues (Google 'DSG Problems' for instance) but I haven't heard of any similar issues with the Powershift (either Volvo or Ford) but maybe it hasn't been in use long enough yet.

Have any of you here any thoughts or experience on the reliability of the Powershift compared to the Geartronic?

Many thanks

We have a V50 2 litre diesel 2008 with powershift which was bought to replace a V70 geartronic mainly because of fuel consumption when fuel prices were rising steeply

The V70 did around 25 mpg

The V50 has done over 40mpg since new

There have been no issues with the powershift gearbox and it is difficult to be aware of gear changes unless you listen for them

Quite a few Powershift boxes have been changed in Germany. Mainly with worn out clutches (around 70.000 km ~ 40.000 miles!) and with Ford the same...

No wonder it has been removed from the Volvo box choices...

The Geartronic is simply the better box. With the newer versions having an earlier lock up etc.

Being a Powershift owner and having test driven Geartronic I'd say Powershift is by far the better choice.

Changes are smooth but very fast. The car always feels like it's in the right gear unlike Geartronic which always felt like it was in the wrong gear or slow to change down/up. There is no MPG penalty with Powershift. I am now averaging 51MPG on mostly motorway journeys cruising at 65-70mph. When I'm off work and only doing short journeys it drops to low to mid 40s. To get that on a D3/4/5 with Geartronic you'll need to drive on a long straight road at 55, preferably downhill with a tail wind. They are thirsy but the 5-cyl diesel does have a unique if sometimes obtrusive note to it.

The Ford/PSA 2.0D is a quieter car than the D5.

I'm surprised to hear of early clutch wear - they are wet clutches so should be good for 150k+ miles.

Neither is it true that Volvo have dropped Powershift - it's available on V60/S60/XC60 with the Ford Ecoboost petrol engines.

I should have said "dropped" in combination with the diesels... Afaik the same goes for Ford with the 2.0 Duratorq/TDCI

and the d3 in the C30 ,
No problems with uk Powershift boxes yet , they do have 2 large clutches running in oil and comprehensive overheating protection , so what's actualy going wrong in Germany? Fabulous gearbox so far ...

I have no idea... May be the Autobahns?

VW has tonnes of issues with DSG boxes here. And I wouldn't be surprised, if it was all to do with the Autobahns with high speeds...

Is it not the case that the latest VAG DSG gearbox is different in that it runs dry, i.e. it has no (or very little) oil whereas the Volvo box as said above runs in oil

The powershift isnt a vw unit so no point in comparing the two ..
.. once you are up and running the whole box is like a manual so no relative moving / slipping parts so speed shouldnt be an issue .

I know it ain't. It is like comparing an AW autobox with a Getrag manual...

Again, I have NO idea why they have issues here. I can only ASSUME. I had been told by my dealership NOT to order a PS box - they would earn more if I did... They simply said the issue is there. Done - oh, my dealership has the 3rd best Volvo mechanic (tested in Volvo Vista test) - he was the one informing me...