Mk7 Golf TSI & TDI - Observations and Questions

[lambertia]

My GTI has non-led tail lights and the whole cluster lights up on each side and has done since day 1.

I honestly think it's a mistake if the LEDs on GTI PPs and Rs have half-lit clusters. All the bulbs and wiring are already installed

I think this coding causes the LEDs on the rear door to light up. There is not change to the outer clusters.

[salrom]

but in traffic is where that feature has most of its benefits!

I agree and I drive around the city a lot but I am concerned about how much extra wear it puts on the battery and starter motor. Both are very expensive to replace so the saving in fuel may be a false economy I'd like to see some comparisons on parts replacement between models with and without Bluemotion. I have also spoke with with a few others who find it frustrating when stopped at an intersection turning right the the engine stops while waiting to make the turn and start up delays the car making the turn which can be dangerous if it's a busy road.

[DV52]

I agree and I drive around the city a lot but I am concerned about how much extra wear it puts on the battery and starter motor. Both are very expensive to replace so the saving in fuel may be a false economy I'd like to see some comparisons on parts replacement between models with and without Bluemotion. I have also spoke with with a few others who find it frustrating when stopped at an intersection turning right the the engine stops while waiting to make the turn and start up delays the car making the turn which can be dangerous if it's a busy road.

salrom:
Couldn't agree with you more! Whilst I appreciate the intended benefits of Bluemotion, I'm also well aware of the risks to the car's occupants from this "dubious" facility.

On a couple of occasions, I've experienced firsthand the unwanted "thrill" of having the car hesitate before accelerating against on-coming traffic when completing a right hand turn . I'll be frank and say that Bluemotion scares the SH*T-out-of-me. And, I'm not comforted by the fact that the driver has to remember to disable the facility every time that he/she starts the engine- using the center console button!

I have no problem with those who believe that the environmental benefits of Bluemotion are far greater than the risk of a serious accident. I just do not hold to that view.

For those who believe as I do, my suggested solution is to implement the VCDS tweak that I describe in the following link (it makes driving the mkVII Golf a lot more enjoyable):

Disable Stop/start - VCDS tweak

[Dutch77]

I agree and I drive around the city a lot but I am concerned about how much extra wear it puts on the battery and starter motor. Both are very expensive to replace so the saving in fuel may be a false economy I'd like to see some comparisons on parts replacement between models with and without Bluemotion. I have also spoke with with a few others who find it frustrating when stopped at an intersection turning right the the engine stops while waiting to make the turn and start up delays the car making the turn which can be dangerous if it's a busy road.

I don't know much about the VW start/stop feature, but I do recall reading up about it on my Mazda CX5 and the fact it was designed not to put an extra strain on the battery and starter motor (it was not the equivalent of a normal startup). I'd assume the VW system would be working on the same principle.

I must admit I learnt to modulate the brake to avoid triggering it in the CX5 (it's the same as the VW in that regard, must be disabled each time ignoring VCDS or a dongle tweak), it's not too bad in the VW.

One area where it sounds like the CX5 has a clever edge (based on these comments, I haven't tried myself) is it won't activate stop/start if the wheel is turned - to specifically prevent any hesitation when turning across traffic.

[Kesh]

Was just about to say that myself, the cx5 only stop starts if the wheel is reasonably straight. The golf requires a very high angle for it to disable stop start where the vehicle is 'manoeuvring' according to the vehicle status menu. Hopefully they can change this with a software update.. Although it's quite unlikely

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[veew]

Mazda's SS system restarts the engine if you move the steering wheel or take foot off the brake, whereas the VW SS system is only activated to restart when lifting off the brake pedal. If you don't press hard enough to have SS turn off the engine in the first place then you can control it as you like, but there have been some reporting their situations where in an emergency setting the pressure required to stop turns off the engine, thus delaying the car from moving off quickly in a crucial situation. It's in this thread, around page 30, from memory.

[Kesh]

The golf does restart if you move the steering wheel a little. Obviously at a standstill, it does take quite a bit of elbow grease to move the wheels given there's no power assist. If they just limited the steering angle for SS, I'd say it's very much free of faults to be honest (refinement aside).

[DV52]

The golf does restart if you move the steering wheel a little. Obviously at a standstill, it does take quite a bit of elbow grease to move the wheels given there's no power assist. If they just limited the steering angle for SS, I'd say it's very much free of faults to be honest (refinement aside).

Kesh: I agree with you that the mkVII Golf is a great vehicle, but I'm not sure that I would agree with your assertion that "The golf does restart if you move the steering wheel a little".

I've disabled SS on my Golf, but I still get the SS reports that appear on the Discover media screen. On my Golf (103TSI), I have to turn the steering wheel in excess of 3/4 of a full turn before the message on the discover media screen appears (saying something like "stearing wheel angle is too high"). IMO it's closer to 80%-85% of a full turn. This is the point where (had SS been active on my car), my car would have restarted. IMO it is way too much to be safe.

Perhaps this trigger point is different for other mkVII's. I'd be interested to hear if others have the same steering wheel angle on their mkVIIs. It's easy to test. Turn-on the ignition (park brake on and/or transmission in Park, and SS engaged) and bring-up the Discover media reports for SS on the screen. Whilst the car is stationary in the driveway, turn the steering wheel. At some point, a report should appear on the screen saying that the steering wheel angle is too high. How far have you had to turn the steering wheel?


Edit:If you are not aware of the process for bringing-up the SS reports on the Discover mdeia screen, see the link below:
http://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/foru...ml#post1041607

[Kesh]

Sorry mate, I think you may have mis interpreted what I said there! I said that the steering angle required was too high for it to disable stop start, same as what you're saying. But when I said the golf restarts, what I meant is that, if you your engine has stopped and you try to move the wheel, the engine will restart

Hopefully that clears things up!

[Kesh]

In my opinion, any angle more than a 1/4 turn is too much. I believe the Mazda system is calibrated in that way as well.