Dead Throttle - extreme lag? ... dangerous!

[nomadx38]

I never creep during my normal 1 hour drive to work (unless I really have to) and its still stuffed so the clutches heating up is not the problem. To be honest I find that slipping the clutch actually delivers smoother operation.

For example if I'm in a carpark creeping at under 10-15km/h and the gearbox never goes up to 3rd then its pretty happy to hold 2nd and slip. As soon as I go to fast (like 20) and it goes to 3rd it compleatly forgets how to creep and will start bucking, hopping, dropping the clutch you name it. It's almost as if it forgets how to "run" the creeping program (if you could definite it like that).

There appears to be a really big difference between the "creeping program" (where it can accurately control the clutch for smooth operation at the expense of speed and power) and the "normal running program" where it will clamp down on the clutches much quicker than the creeping program (at the expense of shifting quality). I'm happy for it to be a "bit" hard if I'm in sports or manual (even drive).

That fact that mine can't even decide on a gear ratio, in the end deciding to drop the clutch and when it does it appears to throttle torque output (to prevent damage i assume) and leaves me dead in the water pisses me off!

[AndrewBurns]

For example if I'm in a carpark creeping at under 10-15km/h and the gearbox never goes up to 3rd then its pretty happy to hold 2nd and slip. As soon as I go to fast (like 20) and it goes to 3rd it compleatly forgets how to creep and will start bucking, hopping, dropping the clutch you name it. It's almost as if it forgets how to "run" the creeping program (if you could definite it like that).

That's odd, it sounds like your gearbox is behaving very differently to mine. Have you looked at your shift points when in D under moderate throttle?

My gearbox appears to go:

1st gear from 0 to approx 17 kph (once out of 1st it will never shift back down again until completely stopped)
2nd gear from 17 to 27 kph
3rd gear from 27 to 40 kph
4th gear from 40 to 50 kph
5th gear from 50 to 60 kph
6th gear from 60 to 70 kph
7th gear from 70 kph upwards

I have heard that a major revision to the DSG software was made a while ago that raised the shift RPM's a bit which made a massive difference in drivability of the gearbox, perhaps my gearbox has a newer version? I can definitely see the car driving like crap if it tries to jump into 3rd at 20kph, that's just stupid.

[nomadx38]

That's odd, it sounds like your gearbox is behaving very differently to mine. Have you looked at your shift points when in D under moderate throttle?

My gearbox appears to go:

1st gear from 0 to approx 17 kph (once out of 1st it will never shift back down again until completely stopped)
2nd gear from 17 to 27 kph
3rd gear from 27 to 40 kph
4th gear from 40 to 50 kph
5th gear from 50 to 60 kph
6th gear from 60 to 70 kph
7th gear from 70 kph upwards

I have heard that a major revision to the DSG software was made a while ago that raised the shift RPM's a bit which made a massive difference in drivability of the gearbox, perhaps my gearbox has a newer version? I can definitely see the car driving like crap if it tries to jump into 3rd at 20kph, that's just stupid.

Are you 100% sure yours shifts to 7th at 70km/h. Under level driving, little throttle mine will drop to 7th at 58km/h exactly. If its under load it will hold it longer depending on throttle. I heard there was an update to change the shift points but mine still acts the exact same before and after the update.

37g7 was the latest DSG update which fixed a false neutral problem when leaving "P". It would have also incorporated any other previous updates. Also under light throttle mine will go into second at about 5km/h and if i accelerate it will slip it until it fully engages at about 25km/h. If I'm light on the throttle it will also slip into third at 20km/h~.

In a nut shell if it can go to a lower ratio without stalling it forces it to (100% slipping cutoff appears to be 800rpm - this and up it will slip to full engagement - anything bellow it will force a downshift)

I drove a golf wagon and I noticed it had different shift points (7th was about 75km/h) but it was a 118tsi petrol. This would be designed for towing / carrying more weight which is why it has either a gearbox with different ratios or programming.

[AndrewBurns]

Yep mine certainly shifts into 7th at ~70kph under light throttle. Now that you mention 58 kph I just remembered something I read on the Harding Performance DSG tune page: http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/foru...ram-73662.html

"In D Mode we give you much better drivability, and the S mode becomes much more useful. When driving in D, most 1.4TSI’s shift over to 7th gear at 58km/h, we set this to 78km/h."

I cannot for the life of me find it now but I know somewhere I saw HP mention that there have been a LOT of revisions to the DSG firmware coming out of VW and that newer ones were much more drivable. Sounds to me like you would benefit by either getting the latest version from VW or a DSG tune from HP.

[Rubbadub]

Mine goes into 7th at about 65-67kph. I can "artificially" upshift at 60kph, but it will drop back down at that speed if left to its own devices.

[dening]

Mine had a recent update and it's good and bad.

Fuel economy is better and shifts are smooth...but... It has now started shuddering and bucking sometimes, even a drop of drive briefly when pulling away once. This is seemingly down to it often wanting to change up to second at 8kmh and not changing down to 1st unless held at a complete stop.

[nomadx38]

Sounds like mine, just hope for your sake it doesn't become worse like mine. I have forgotten what it means to have a constant and repetitive smooth take off. It used to be like 90% good, now its more like 90% s**t. Interestingly enough it will still have a small run of good working order.

I just don't know what triggers it. Sometimes it gets the take off perfect once, sometimes perfect for 15 minutes. Other times it feels like its going to break

Every time I adjust something it appears to work and I think hey I got it, all fixed and then after a couple of KM it goes back to its old ways.

Still when ("WHEN") its working it puts a big smile on my face. It's a great car, only let down is the reliability...

[prcurrie]

Mine had a recent update and it's good and bad.

Fuel economy is better and shifts are smooth...but... It has now started shuddering and bucking sometimes, even a drop of drive briefly when pulling away once. This is seemingly down to it often wanting to change up to second at 8kmh and not changing down to 1st unless held at a complete stop.

I had the update done ages ago and it was ok. Now the gremlins are coming back - it's been way wacky the last week or two. Getting gears confused and crunching gears more often.

Even had it drop back into 1st the other day when braking in traffic - usually when you brake, it doesn't use the gears to slow the car down (in D mode) - it was weird

Also kick down in Drive is pretty non-existent unless you really plant the foot

[Hail22]

Interesting as well that the 35C1 Recall being carried out will have new software installed with the replacement mechatronics unit which is not the same software as 37G7...very peculiar...

[nomadx38]

Interesting. Would like to know what VCDS says the software version and revision number is...