I've seen some AS for sale recently and know the basics of how to shift one. My question is, how many forward gears are there when driving? Is it like a regular trans beetle that goes from 1st to 4th gear and how much more or less economical is the AS? What kind of regular maintaince does it require? Thanks for you comments in advance.
When driving normally, not towing or going up a steep hill. There are only two gears that you would use.
You start the car in neutral. Press down the brake and press down on the shifter and put it into 1st gear. You can be in first for normal city driving, but anything faster should probably be in 2nd. To go to 2nd you need to get off the gas, possibly brake a little, press down on the shifter and put it into 2nd.. then let go of the shifter and it will engauge.
This is just my understanding.. as I have not driven an Autostick yet.
There is also a low gear that would go before 1st gear. This is for starting on a steep hill, or when towing..
Hiya x,
Welcome to the forum.
When the AS was originally introduced, VW claimed that one could drive it like an automatic or a stick. Which is to say........a driver could select first range (roughly equivalent to third gear in a manual) and drive around town without ever having to shift. Pop it into second range (think fourth gear manual) and you're set for freeway driving. Some folks have driven their AS in this manner.
Or the driver could run it through the "gears" (ranges is the correct term in an AS) The vast majority of AS drivers (now) run through the ranges. From a standing stop it's low range (first and second gear) up to about 27 mph, first range up to about 45 mph, and second range thereafter. Driving in this manner is actually easier on some of the components.
Economy-wise it's in the same boat with the manual tranny. As I recall, VW figured that the AS would get 1 mpg less than the manual (26 mpg vrs. 25 mpg). Performance-wise almost the same story. It is slower off the line, but the acceleration curve once you hit 30 mph is basically the same as stock manual transmission. Top speed is 1 or 2 mph slower.
Your question about regular maintenance really hits home. The AS is a very robust and reliable transmission. The reason we see people having problems with them is simply because regular maintenance has not been pulled. 90% of all probems with an AS can be solved without ever getting inside the transmission case. Because the clutch is "protected" by the torque converter, clutch components last an incredible amount of time. I pulled my VW original equipment clutch disc after 100,000 miles and it still had 70% wear left!
Basic maintenance would consist of checking the electrical connections (in the shifting system), checking the vacuum hoses and their connections, adjusting the control valve and clutch freeplay (if needed). And, of course, you would want to look over the ATF hoses and make sure the reservoir has an adequate supply of ATF. Always a good idea to be sure the engine is in good tune because the AS is more dependent on the engine than is the manual. There is more to do than on a manual, but really, it's very small potatoes.