If you could have a transmission that worked like your bike in your car wouldn't you prefer that? To me that is what a PDK/DSG, whatever, transmission is.
I don't understand what you mean. On my bike,
I modulate the clutch when I upshift.
I modulate the clutch when I downshift, and
I blip the throttle too. I don't do any of that myself with a DSG. I just send an electronic signal to a computer telling it what gear I want to be in and it handles everything.
There is still that direct connection, I hate torque converters too. (Again, a disclaimer, I haven't tried one, I should go test drive something.)
In my opinion, the DSG in the GTI felt more akin to a good automatic with a good manumatic function (say, the current-gen 3-Series or the current-gen CTS that I drove) than a manual. Mechanically it's very different, but the system of driver input is the same and the overall effect, in my opinion, is very similar.
Would you still like a manual without synchros, that would be more purist? Do you match revs and double clutch downshifts for the hell of it?
I think there is a place for these things, in vintage cars.
I've never driven a manual without synchros. But isn't it the exact same driver input (clutch and shifter), just less smoothness on the shifter and the ability to skip gears while shifting? Adding synchros doesn't take any driver involvement away from the driver. A dual-clutch does, because the driver no longer has control of clutch modulation or the additional "feel" of the engine that modulating the clutch yourself gives.
Anyhow you can't do any more than 2 gear changes before the cops impound your car and license.
Only if you're drag-racing on the street. If you're driving on a twisty road alternating between third and fourth gear (or second and third, or whatever), you can manually shift all day long without getting into trouble.
At the end of the day, I don't understand why anybody would support a
lack of choice in transmissions of a performance car. Some performance drivers prefer the dual-clutch experience; some prefer the old-school manual experience. Why on earth is it
not a bad thing that Audi has denied purchasers of the RS5 the choice that, say, BMW offers purchasers of the M3?