Pros and Cons to both....
Appreciate my 2.0 TDi isn't the same as an S3, but there are times I just love my DSG and times it annoys me and I wish for a manual box.
As an "automatic" for normal town or motorway queue driving, its brilliant.
As a "good feeling" generator, accelerating down a motorway slip road and using the paddles to go up through the grars - its real fun.
When trying to pull out from a junction quickly, especially when its cold - its a pain, because you can't rely on the clutch "engagement" and being as slick as you could control it manually. I have to wait for bigger gaps in the traiffic than I would do in a manual....
When approaching a fast moving roundabout and trying to slot into a gap in the traffic, its a nightmare because there are times you end up with no power, in neutral for 2 seconds or so, whilst it tries to decide what gear you really need. It seems to get confused when you slow down to match your speed to the speed of traffic on the roundabout and then try to accelerate again to get into the approaching gap. If you remember every time, you drop the gears manually approaching fast roundabouts to ensure that you're always in a gear when you need power....
When going up or down a mountain pass road (well not really a mountain, Snake Pass in the Peak District, but you get the idea...), the automatic "hunts" to find the right gear, with all the changes in gradient, as you'd expect of an auto, so that's not great.
I expected this to be when the manual mode excelled, using the paddles to enthusiastically drive the "pass" road. Its good and its easier to use the paddles to change gear than having to use the clutch pedal, but after you've done it a couple of times the magic wears off and a manual box would be just as fulfilling and easy.
So I'd come to the conclusion that I'd get a manual box next time - but then I had a manual courtesy car for a day last week whilst mine was in for a cambelt change - and now I've realised just how much I do enjoy the good bits of the DSG box and that overall I prefer it to the manual box.