hummm.. i wonder wat it can be. if its not speed sensitive can it be the hvac blower had something caught? maybe check the cabin filter if there is something stuck in there? not sure. may the bearing in the blower is going bad..? no idea.

 

have u guys tried this on ur golfs? looks easy to do and supposed to get a more direct feel of the clutch.

https://www.autoinstruct.com.au/manu...valve-removal/

another way is to get the ecstuning kit which includes a new billet housing. id need to buy oem brake fluid anyway so would probably just go with the ecs kit..

 

That's a nice how to ken. Although I don't need to do that.

 

Agree Ash.

IMO, it's just a sign of VW's poor programming. My wife drives her Golf just like you suggest kenchan. She starts out in sport and then shifts it to normal. Then shifts back to sport anytime she wants to accelerate. It requires a constant back and forth unless you want to try driving the pistons out the bottom of the block with low rpm/high load.
There's a fair amount of rod knock issues caused by wearing out rod bearings in these modern turbo cars. They are programmed to let the operator harm the motor in exchange for better fuel economy.

In the end, it's not very "automatic". More effort than just driving a manual for me because I don't have to think about driving a manual.

The Korean stuff does the super low rpm shifts also, but they are known for premature motor problems. At least VW build a stout short block.

GM and Ford stuff does not do the early shifts. Even though my Lincoln has almost double the displacement and double the turbo's, it does not shift before 3k even in normal. Maybe not the best for fuel economy, but it sure drives nice.

 

I think APR says it best...

"In drive mode, the transmission aggressively seeks sixth gear, earlier than necessary, leaving behind an anemic and lack luster experience for the driver."

https://www.goapr.com/products/tcu_u...dq250_mqb.html

I would just have to factor that into a current gen DSG purchase. $700 isn't that bad and I bet it would be incredible to have a DSG perform at it's peak.

 

wtf guy.. i'll repeat again but the first gear issue i have is not a programming issue. it is all mechanical.

and i dont need to constantly go back and forth between D and S mode.. lol now dat is a shitty map if u need to do that all day. on my GTI i only shift to S mode on occasion, only wen i anticipate i need 1st gear from a crawl going up a hill after a turn. otherwise i'd just leave it in D if im going to drive normally, or shift to manual mode if im going to drive spiritedly.

the only thing dat i might enjoy is the higher clamping force on the APR dsg map.

 

Maybe it's OK with you, but I think it's a horrible program to search for top gear ASAP. VW's, including ours, upshift at ridiculously low rpm's. It will even shift at under 2,000 rpm while under boost/load.

That is rod bearing failure territory.

Sport mode solves the early shifting, but then brings jerking downshifts under deceleration.

All of the VW tuners address the issue with their tunes. Once ours is out of warranty, it will get a tune to solve the poor VW programming.

 

I think what you drove during your test drive (GTI) and what your wife currently drives is different from my GTI. as u know, im a pretty picky driver and i dont have the issues u pointed out.

my issue is just 1st gear's gear ratio. everything else about my DSG, its fine with me. otherwise i wouldnt even consider a DSG-R in the first place to replace my GTI.

 

GAFIT- I'm not sure APR can tune a Golf Aisin automatic. It's a torque converter auto not the DSG. My thinking was APR only tuned DSGs. People with Tiguans with the Aisin also complain about the early shifting & the race to top gear.

I also worry about lugging the engine. I was told many decades ago by a respected old German mechanic to never lug an engine. Keep it over 2000 rpm he said. I've followed his advice, but my German car insists shifting way too early. I'm not sure I'm hammering the rod bearings, but I do worry about that. VW doesn't care if our cars die down the road, as long as they get them out of warranty that's good enough for them.

My GTI has just dropped out of warranty. I'm thinking hard about a tune. Although truth be told my car is fast enough for me. If I was still doing track days it would be an easy decision.

 

does the tune enable the cluster to show a large gear number u are in? if that is the case that might be worth it to me. i know it shows the gear number while in D mode after the reflash but that doesnt really help me when im in the manual mode.

being a MT driver i naturally count which gear i am in as i shift but i rather have the ability to see which gear i am in during those times when i accidentally hit the paddle twice due to some road condition (bump) or something. i mean some race cars have HUGE numbers on their screen showing which gear they are in. that i want (in my future DSG-R if i get one, i dont care to spend any more money on my GTI)..

 

Ash - I don't think APR can, but I'm not a fan of APR anyway. I don't like their marketing system. It's similar to Amsoil.

I was looking at Unitronic, but I'm not positive if it can change the shift program either?

That was good advice from the mechanic and I agree. Problem is that our stock tune violates the general rule.

Curious about the gear ratios. Just looking at them here are the different ones we are discussing (if my google searching is correct)...

Our Golf - 4.46 1st, 3.87 final = 17.26
MK6 GTI - 3.46 1st, 4.12 final = 14.25
MK7 GTI - 2.92 1st, 4.77 final = 13.92

That does leave the MK7 at a slight first gear disadvantage. A simple tuning solution would be to slightly delay the clutch lock up to allow a bit more slip to get it into boost faster.

Whether it's a clutch or a converter, the computer can command the lock up % by rpm and throttle. It's amazing what tuning can do these days.

 

Unitronic says this...

"Enable Gear display in MFG for DSG Software owners"

Our Golf displays the gear when in manual mode. Does the GTI not display the gear? My Lincoln displays the gear in manual mode, but not in auto mode. I kind of wish it displayed it at all times.

 

it does but it's a tiny little text. i want the whole cluster display to show which gear is selected so dat i can see it in my peripheral vision.
like on my manual cars i just feel for the shifter which gate it is in *if* i loose track. i want to keep my eyes on the road..

 

Went for a nice long drive in the Golf today. Getting close to needing it's 25k oil change.

I'm critical of any car I own, but the overall driving experience in the Golf really is good. Much better than you'd think given it's size and price tag. It's no shock that the Golf is basically the cheapest car made by a company that is used to making much more expensive stuff. With a Fit you have a company that mostly produces Civics and Accords with the once per generation release of an NSX. With the Golf you have a company that also churns out 911's every year.

kenchan, I know better now what you are speaking of. Boy, it's small font. Ours will only keep the gear number in the cluster if in full manual mode. In Sport, it flashes it and then goes back to "S" in the display. A larger number permanently displayed would be nice.

The one in my Lincoln also only stays displayed when in manual mode, but it's 10 times the font size. Probably for us old folks with poor vision.

 

yah, i dont care if they call me old, i want BIG numbers displayed in manual mode! lol

and i agree with the MK7's driving dynamic. it is very good.

 

The MK6 only shows a smallish font while in manual. Larger would be nice, but I've never had trouble knowing what gear I'm in. That is in manual mode. In drive it's up to some computer chip.

 

Well stated. I doubt owners of larger, more prestigious vehicles who literally look down on our Golfs have any notion of what our cars can do. Not only are they quick, but the handling would leave many other vehicles behind.

After leaving our neighborhood, there's a sharp curve on a local road and most everyone nails their brakes on it … except us. The Golf feels so well planted on it. Saturday night, my wife nailed the throttle halfway out of the curve and it was exhilarating to say the least. The lumbering SUV that tailgated us into the curve was a distant hulk in the mirror as the 1.8T spun up. It's hard to be bored driving a Golf. :-)

 

sounds like fun alco!

 

Any LeMans fans here? The 2018 race begins Saturday at 9AM Eastern on the Velocity Channel which will telecast the race in its entirety. We find the night racing particularly cool. The sun sets at the race at about 4PM Eastern, so it should be fun to watch a few hours.

It was sad to see Audi depart at the close of 2016 after the diesel emissions debacle and I now read that Porsche has left LMP1 as well. <sad face> Toyota will be the sole Corporate LMP1 competitor and hybrid competitor, but private teams will field LMP1 cars. With their technological and financial edge, maybe this will finally be Toyota's year.

 

It better be Toyota's year. They really have only their other team cars to compete against. Yes the privateer's will be there, but I'd guess the odds are stacked against them.

Was it last year or the year before when Toyota died on the final lap? That was so sad.

Looking for ward to watch some of this years race.