Mine thinks I ruined the car with the motor mounts. With the gti she hated the smf and clutch, now with the R in dsg, she hates the nvh. I am considering stepping down to the stage 1 inserts. I am at 500 miles now on the stage 2 and it has calmed down some, but not much.
As the owner of a car equipped with a SMF, I agree with your wife. It sucks.
Installed stage 1 mounts before doing the clutch and the car sounded great. With the SMF, it is loud and grating inside. Like she said: a "metal on metal" sound. That is while driving, which doesn't include the clickety-clack sound of a broken sewing machine at idle.
The other issue is daily driveability and the questionable need for the advantages of a SMF on such a car. I'm sure it would be great on a road course, but like a straight piped exhaust, is the small benefit worth the aggravation of living with the downsides? Not for me.
I live in a hilly area, with lots of intersections right at the crest. Departing a steep hill from a dead stop really sucks. The lightweight flywheel's lack of inertia requires revving the car up a lot more than normal and it's a fine line between bogging it and spinning the tires.
And using reverse is just comically bad. The ridiculously tall gearing, coupled with the need to rev the engine higher is a terrible combination. There is no good way to crawl in reverse. As soon as you let out the clutch, the car is going too fast and you have to brake. Rinse and repeat several times for each occasion. Backing up hills with a SMF in this car? HAHAHAHA!
The gear ratio is all on VW. I mean, is reverse in this car designed for movie stunt drivers?
I 100% regret getting a SMF.
/ end rant
