At my time of life, ie: balding but not to wrinkly, my vehicle really must have automatic transmission, due to traffic density & my wish to reduce driving stress.

So I need a b/c sized 5 door, with reasonable performance, quiet cruising and an efficient auto giving good mpg.

Now smallish cars with auto tend to be sluggish, and not very economical, largely due to the “traditional” torque convertor design soaking up the power, so what to chose ?

I run a VW Golf Mk6 1.4 tsi dsg auto, which gives good performance, 45 – 50 mpg, & you would think would be ideal for me, and in many ways it is good.

The problem lies in it’s dsg auto, which I’ve been struggling with for the two years I’ve had the car. In the 0-15 mph range the cars response to throttle input is entirely unpredictable, you never know how it will accelerate, you get either almost nothing or a large jerk and wheelspin. The dsg is also very bad at picking up from a closed throttle, and once again a large jerk is in order. Its goodbye to nipping into traffic gaps. 3 visits to the dealer proclaim that all is well, so nothing to be done there.

So what to replace it with maybe.

I tried a Prius yesterday, but came away very underwhelmed, you felt that you had to force the car to accelerate, with the attendant noise from the cvt. It was doing about 65 mpg which could be attractive in these days of the £1.40 litre.

Other possibilities, Kia Soul diesel auto ? Jazz hybrid ?

Thoughts ?