So I've solved the unresponsive steering - it was a faulty steering rack, changed it and now the car is OK.

While I was at it I wanted to get rid of the annoying whiplash/snap/jerk the car has when going on or off throttle at higher speeds and lower revs where the engine is most torquey (eg. doing 80km/h in 5th at 1900rpm, or 100km/h in 6th at 2000rpm). So as gentle as I'm trying to be, barely touching the gas pedal, there is still a considerable, I would say, snap from the engine. You can hear and feel something in there doing a backward/forward motion without any damping and making slightly audible metal clicking noises. The engine revs also raise by about 50~100 rpm, at a steady speed! At higher rpm's the snapping is less obvious, I would say, due to less torque from the engine to the transmission components (flywheel, clutch, gearbox...).

I thought it was a faulty lower dogbone engine mount, so I changed that (at very low cost at least) but the problem remained.

I must say that it is engine temperature related! While the engine is cold, it does not happen, going off/on throttle results in a smooth ride. But as soon as the engine warms up (an thus all the components close to it) the problem reappears. If anyone rides a motorcycle, it's the same jerk as when the chain loose, no matter how smooth you try to be, the on/off throttle results in a chain snap and thus a jerk.

I also have to mention that, if I read correctly about the symptoms, if an engine mount fails, the gearhandle should move around, at least to some extent? Well, my lever is absolutely firm and doesn't move a milimeter during the symptoms. So I would rule out any other engine mount, but I can be wrong :-)

As I've heard some horror stories about the vRS's poor dual mass flywheel, my best (semi-educated) guess is that the damping elements in the flywheel - died. Thus when cold, the elements are somewhat rigid but when they heat up, they expand and get loose having no damping properties at all.

The car now has 63.000km on it, and has done 25.000km with a remap (I've taken it off at 35kkm precisely because of the fear of the expensive DMF replacement), my driving style is mostly... Eh... Spirited :-)

I would like to hear your comments and suggestions.

Yes, sounds like the DMF has failed, or the clutch is contaminated and slipping/snatching.

My DMF/Clutch is around 32k old and i experience similar symptoms with my PD105 Octy. Mainly in stop start traffic though and low speeds.

Edited 5 January, 201016 yr by Browny_37