petsy Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 hmm, me wonders if those Piloti driving shoes are pink in colour... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I invested in a pair of Piloti driving shoes from America [/ QUOTE ] Holy Cow Robin ...i think i need another coffee lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 - BOTH of you!! petsy > My next pair might be red. LeMan > No skin of the cow anywhere in their construction! Right! I'm going to post a review of them in the Reviews forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotw Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 I have to say this annoys me about my DSG as well. Fair enough that it drops when you hit the kickdown sensor (i.e. you boot it) but it also drops down with even hints of power. Example approaching a roundabout the other day, quite busy so I was approaching quite slowly, dsg moved down to 2nd. Space opened up so I pressed the throttle (not stamped on it) to approx 25% power expecting a nice smooth delivery in 2nd. Nope, the dammn thing paused, dropped to first and then blasted on to the roundabout. Not safe, not clever. The fact that D goes up too fast and then needs to drop down all the time is the main reason I hardly use it anymore, I mostly drive in M, sometimes in S. It should def stay in 4th up to 40mph for town driving, mine will hit 5th in 30 and 6th by 40, so when you need a little power it pauses to drop a gear. Its annoying enough to me, that I wouldn't buy another DSG unless they fixed this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 How come I don't get this problem you describe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punas Posted August 15, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Thanks Scott, I thought I was reasonably alone on this. Your description sounds very much like my frustration too - just scrap kick-down in all forms for a GTI DSG, maybe ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oli Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 I know what you guys mean, mines the same but I adapt my driving around it, and either hold the paddle or switch to manual or sport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 That's what I do and what I mean whenever I post using the term 'feel' - You have to drive according to how the DSG system feels and also gives feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhs Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Oh and the other thing, briefly mentioned above, is launch control...... The benefit of this is that it reduces the "pause" between being stationary and booting it from the lights..... which can be useful in a traffic light grand prix type situation..... Left foot onto brake, DSG into S, traction control off, foot onto accellerator, rev to 2-3000 revs and then foot off brake, then foot down gradually avoiding wheelspin while optimising accelleration! Don't bother trying it in the wet, with the traction control off I can spin the wheels at 30-40mph by just planting the right foot into the carpet in S - an interesting experience, recommended only at airfields in wide open spaces (Carlimits and suchlike....) Feel the GTI DSG joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seventyseven Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 This 1 reason why I didn't go for DSG. I'm the 1st to admit I'm outside looking in withn interest at all this,as I haven't driven DSG(or any mkv gti,tho' I've ordered one!!)but I bore in mind that if I went for it & couldn't get the hang of it relatively rapidly,it could ruin the whole mkv thing for me. VERY interesting to read tho',evidently there's a knack to it & some people just get the hang of it sooner than others! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGK512 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Scott I agree with you. Around town DSG is at it's "worse" when to me it's the one thing it should excel at ! I appreciate the "settings" on an R/GTi are going to be sport biased but with them putting it in all sorts of models and engine combos I though the 'experience' would be better I know Robin will defend it till the cows come home But I have to say (tongue in cheek) that talk of "special shoes" to be able to drive a DSG car to the shops 'properly' is a step too far I'd love to see a really technical document on how it works. sensor inputs etc As the more I drive it the more I think things are more 'absolute' than it first appears eg road speed x, revs x, throttle CHANGED by x = I am programmed to change up or down etc Scott have you ever had this .... 15-20mph junction turn. arrive on a trailing throttle turn in gently go to accelerate and it's in the middle of changing down .... good 1000 rpm rev rise 'in neutral' (as it's changing up again) and if you don't lift before it hooks a gear you get far more go than you want. It's a wierd sensation because having lifed your not quite sure when to press it again. This doesnt happen very often but it's mighty frustrating when it does. As yes I to have a very sensitve foot ..... just no fancy boots Like Scott says my R changes up very quickly it's in 6th by 30 and will hook 2nd on tickover which is great for enconomy and works perfectly on a little throttle placed in a near constant position from take off ..... trouble is stop start town traffic (5-10 mph up down changes) isn't like that. It's at is worst on swift accellerator/brake changes .... and I mean swift and light I mean all the above comments in a constructive way and would love to try another DSG car sometime around town to see if mine has any kind of 'fault' (yep dealer checked it) OK rant over ..... I've got my tin hat ready so PS Robin if those boots do come in silver with wings put me down for a pair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotw Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Guys, nice to hear you have the same issues. Don't get me wrong, I love my GTi and DSG is fab, but this is a enough of an issue to spoil it in town. I'd say if it held 3rd to 30, 4th to 40/45 then proceeded as it does then all would be well, no need to drop a gear when a little power is needed (esp on our cars, we have torque to spare!). Personally Id rather it never dropped down unless you are slow enough to warrant it or you hit the sensor (in which case you want, super-turbo power). We prob all live round it, but thats the annoying thing, the whole point of DSG is to be versatile and allow some nice relaxed "D" driving to work when the traffic's bad and you've only had one cup of coffee. Since its an electronic system, I wonder if it has a firmware that can be updated? Anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I know Robin will defend it till the cows come home But I have to say (tongue in cheek) that talk of "special shoes" to be able to drive a DSG car to the shops 'properly' is a step too far PS Robin if those boots do come in silver with wings put me down for a pair [/ QUOTE ] ....Actually I'm not prepared to defend DSG til the cows come home - It's just that I feel determined to adapt to it and work with it to suit me as best as I can, and that consequently I mostly like it. As for the shoes, you don't need them for driving the DSG but I am merely sharing the fact that they do help as they increase the foot sensitivity. Would anyone prefer to drive the GTI in heavy work boots given the choice? Don't worry, your silver winged pair of Pilotis are in the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 I find mine swaps cogs smoothly with the minimum of fuss in town's and other stop start situations with no exception. As for the hill starts, the handbrake takes care of that, the only DSG niggle i've got is a bit of a thud into reverse. I wonder if every DSG is a bit different, maybe they are made by Italians in a German factory......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhs Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 LOL If you want to know how good the DSG is in the GTI, just try it in the diesel MkV..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGK512 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 Cheers Robin .... that should fix the problem with the squidgy bit in the seat Point taken about big boots Never had more than few seconds feel problem if I was wearing a pair in my old car. Think you hit the nail on the head with "adapt to it and work with it to suit me as best as I can" I'm not trying to fight it just for me it dicates too much how you 'have' to drive it around town ..... which is a big chunk of my driving ..... which is why I thought I would give DSG a go ! Scott a software update might help things but I think at the end of the day if you change throttle position mid gear change where ever the change point it's going to give an undesireable result....trick is to try and avoid this but sometimes (for me) it's just not possible Like you overall I happy with my car and of course the real solution is stick it in sauce mode and give it the full HP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGK512 Posted August 15, 2006 Report Share Posted August 15, 2006 I have no problem with the change itself. It's more when. All I can say about reverse is it's a bit 'special' Love the italian job comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithp Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 Hi all just poped over from the R32 forum for a look round, found this interesting as i have the same issues with the dsg kicking down when in manual when you don't expect it, one issue i have as well, which is not mentioned here is that my car will change down in sport two gears when you dont expect it when you are not going for it . An example of this is say , you have moved away in sport and are now is say 5th crusing at a steady speed and all of a sudden it will drop two gears, this is with out any drop in road speed or additional throttle input , it has even happend an a slight downhill slope . I can understand it if you came to a hill and there was more load on the engine and it changed down to compensate but to my mind this shoud not happen , dealers say i'm not driving it correctly! Anyone else experance the same thing? Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punas Posted August 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 I think my issue is mainly with accidentally meeting the kick-down switch. I would consider disconnecting the thing to be honest. Other people's issues are primarily with D (to generalize). I think that in general for smooth town driving D is fine, but on occasion where you want to nip into a gap opened for you, or move onto a roundabout whilst slowing down but not stopped at it, those very small blurts of acceleration can result in some sudden kick-downs or hesitations. This is not a frequent occurrence, but I guess happens to some of us enough for it to be a frustration. Pulling onto a roundabout can often be problematic when you need to get on it and something is coming from your right that you expect to get safely in front of. This is where the kick-down can give you some uncertainty. To be honest, I have had similar problems with manual turbos in the past (Lancia, Subaru) where the turbo gets bogged down and a car is coming towards you, so you floor the accelerator and all hell breaks out when the turbo finally cuts in. Modern turbos are less prone to bogging down at low speeds of course. Of course, to avoid all of this, you need M or S (a bit manic for town), where (I think) kick-down only occurs after the switch point. If you've gone as far as the switch point in town then you are likely to be not driving 'appropriately' for that situation. Again, I'm fairly happy (and impressed) with D, I just think the kick-down switch should not exist, or be disabled, for M and S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhs Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 KeithP - usually S on steady fast driving is a pain and at those speeds GTI DSG is best in D unless you have a specific overtake in mind. S is absolutely best avoided on the motorway as changedown for hills etc is frequent otherwise. D is more restful and can still get up and go whenever you want [ QUOTE ] As for the hill starts, the handbrake takes care of that [/ QUOTE ] Evosapper - have you found your "hill start assist" yet? This is found with hills over 5% when you brake to a halt, then push the brake down to the HSA catch point (whereever that is on your car's brake depression) and then when the time comes to go, you can just take your foot off the brake and the car moves forwards, you can deploy the accelerator straight away or after HSA - handbrake optional and not really needed with HSA. Takes some getting used to, particularly if you have always been comfortable with hill starts with the handbrake. Once used to HSA with forward direction hill starts, reversing on hills becomes potentially tricky as HSA doesn't seem to work in reverse and handbrake becomes essential - can lead to scary moments until you remember Also need to take care on hills that turn out not to be steep enough for the HSA to activate HSA is standard on UK cars, but optional on some imports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 mmmm mine is a 05 Uk car but I've not triggered the HSA either accidently or on purpose before! Now I'm going to have to go out for a drive and find a hill to give it a go on, oh well no work was getting done anyway...... I'll let you know how I get on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMC950 Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 I'd be very suprised if there wasn't an easy way to disconnect kickdown, or de-program it. I'd be interested in this if anyone knows what to do/who can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 Following reading this thread I have been taking very conscious notice while out driving this morning. I just don't find any of what is being discussed here a problem so far and, contrary to my reputation, I am totally prepared to find something wrong with DSG if I find it there. I will sometimes use S to enter and exit a busy roundabout and find it no problem - Not too fierce and easy to settle back into D afterwards. In fact, at junctions and roundabouts I prefer to use S rather than D which may not always launch me as quickly as I would wish or need. If I feel a need to 'boot it' in D, I invariably pop it into S instead - Hence I rarely experience kickdown at all. As an alternative I will sometimes use the paddles instead of S. I've said it before and I still believe that the key to all this is simply how you use your right foot! Laugh at me if you will but a lightweight smooth soled driving shoe does help. However, all this is suddenly complicated because this morning I had a Carbonio Cold Air Intake fitted and everything feels much smoooother and there feels as if there is even more torque and instant throttle response! This is down to the car having a Hi-flow exhaust as well. I best shutup and report this in the Carbonio thread! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evosapper Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 Hey all, Well I did pop out for a short drive today and have just got back, oops! My 05 DSG does not seem to have the HAS that others have, no matter how hard I press that big pedal it does not seem to engage the HAS, I still roll back a good half a cars length before the DSG wakes up and creeps me forward. Anyone else not have this feature? Its not a problem as I didn't even know it exists and have been using the handbrake for the past 12k miles....... Good job I live in east Anglia eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhs Posted August 16, 2006 Report Share Posted August 16, 2006 Sounds like it isn't on your car - suggest you check your manual - if it's there, then go to the Stealer and ask them to check it. If not....... Well someone more knowledgable than me should be able to advise if HSA was actully fitted into the 05 car..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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