Setting off in a DSG. Definitive answer of normal or not?

[Phil-E]

Hey folks.

 

Not sure if this is just me being paranoid but her goes.

 

Had our Octy since February this year.

 

Ever since we have had it when setting off if you are too quick and just push straight down on the throttle the car can be a bit sudden setting off and kind of 'jerks' forward.

 

It is possible to set off smoothly. The key to this seems to be to lift of the brake pedal, give it a second and then onto the throttle.

 

No other problems... no knocking, noises, jerks or anything. All other driving is smooth and very impressed with the box and love the responsiveness, smoothness and speed of the changes.

 

I got the impression that this was normal and just a driving style issue in that coming off the brake onto the throttle too quick wasn't giving the car enough time to engage the clutch.

 

So basically the aim of this thread... to determine if this is normal behaviour?

 

MOT is due next month so can get them to look at any problems then if needs be.

 

Many Thanks

 

Phil

[wardlow]

I`ve had my 2008 Octy 1.9td pd dsg, for the last 6 weeks and it does exactly as you describe.

I had the fluid and filter changed three weeks ago, but this has made no difference. As you say off with the foot brake and gentle on the gas seems to be the only way.

When the fluid was changed i asked if any faults had been found on the test drive but apparently all was working as it should.

Having read some of the comments on this forum, i suspect the box should be smoother on takeoff, but i have a horrible feeling the clutch pack may be at fault, but i cannot afford a replacement so i will have to live with it and start saving.

[Chappers.]

If you hit the throttle straight away it can be a bit jerky - I put this down to the DSG not allowing the clutch to slip enough to smooth out the initial take up of drive. I caught mine out the other day when I had slowed for a roundabout and at the last moment saw a gap that I went for by mashing the throttle - nearly gave myself whiplash! 

[Paul007]

The box learns how you drive over time.  Mine's in "rapid change" at the moment as I've been doing lots of "spirited" driving.

[Perc]

Sounds pretty normal to me. It took me a little while to get used to the DSG after driving normal automatic cars for about six years, for that very reason. 

 

Also the reason I miss my proper automatic every once in a while.

[Matt2134]

Completely normal I think - mine certainly does the same.

[Phil-E]

Ok. Starting to feel a little easier.

 

Still some conflicting opinions around though.

 

One other thing.

 

When stopped in "D" with your foot on the brake is the clutch still engaged slightly to give a certain ammount of 'creep'? If I shift to neutral the engine note changes as the load is taken off the engine and the same when shifting from N to D the engine goes under load slightly.

 

Phil

[Chappers.]

Mine does that.

[booke23]

 

Ever since we have had it when setting off if you are too quick and just push straight down on the throttle the car can be a bit sudden setting off and kind of 'jerks' forward.

 

 

My DSG does not do this when setting off. My standard trick at traffic lights when I want a quick getaway is to hold the foot brake on with my left foot, with my right foot over the throttle......as soon as the lights change I release the brake while simultaneously stomping the throttle with my right foot to the floor. It launches like a dream with no snatch or jerk.

 

The only time I get a jerk is when I try to do a 3 point turn in a hurry.....when you shift from D to R, it takes the gearbox about half a second or so to engage reverse.......sometimes I have applied a little bit of throttle thinking it has engaged R when it hasn't and it jerks when it actually goes into Reverse.

 

 

When stopped in "D" with your foot on the brake is the clutch still engaged slightly to give a certain ammount of 'creep'? If I shift to neutral the engine note changes as the load is taken off the engine and the same when shifting from N to D the engine goes under load slightly.

 

Yes, it is engaged very slightly when in D with your foot on the brake......my rattly flywheel stops when in D with the foot brake applied, so there must be slight engagement of the clutch.

 

When you take your foot off the brake (but not apply any throttle) it engages a lot more and goes forward. The gearbox monitors the brake pedal switch to do this.....next time you are stopped in D, try putting the handbrake on and taking your foot off the brake....you can really feel the extra bite coming in.....it obviously does not monitor the Handbrake position.  

[gadgetman]

Shouldn't you put in N if stationary for more than a few minutes because the clutch is rubbing/slipping and thus causing wear?

[booke23]

Shouldn't you put in N if stationary for more than a few minutes because the clutch is rubbing/slipping and thus causing wear?

 

Yes, you should if you are stopped for prolonged periods. Mostly to stop the transmission oil temperature getting high......the clutches are immersed in the transmission fluid so wear is not so much of an issue......on the 6 speed anyway.   

[gadgetman]

What about the 7 speed?

[booke23]

What about the 7 speed?

 

I have no experience of the 7 speed, but it has dry clutches, so clutch wear would be the primary reason to put it in N when stopped.

 

Having said that, I imagine the 7 speed is programmed not to drag the clutch when stationary in D like the 6 speed does.....otherwise clutch wear would be pretty high, but I'm not sure.  

[Perc]

The DSG7 certainly does not drag the clutches when stopped. And there's no reason to knock it into N, I don't think. 

 

You can very clearly feel what's going on with the clutches when driving a DSG7. Parking, taking off, etc feels just like in a manual car where someone else is working the clutch pedal for you. Standing at a stoplight with a foot on the brake disengages the clutch completely. I'm actually not even sure that the DSG7 has a neutral gear of any kind. I wouldn't be surprised if shifting it into N just means that it sits there with first gear selected and the clutch disengaged, waiting for orders. 

[booke23]

The DSG7 certainly does not drag the clutches when stopped.

 

That certainly makes sense and is what I suspected. 

 

 

 I wouldn't be surprised if shifting it into N just means that it sits there with first gear selected and the clutch disengaged, waiting for orders. 

 

I'm pretty sure the 6 Speed DSG does this. In very low temperatures when you start the engine with the DSG in P it will actually creep slightly (until the park pawl catches) due to the oil being very thick in low temperatures actually transmitting drive.  

[Phil-E]

My DSG does not do this when setting off. My standard trick at traffic lights when I want a quick getaway is to hold the foot brake on with my left foot, with my right foot over the throttle......as soon as the lights change I release the brake while simultaneously stomping the throttle with my right foot to the floor. It launches like a dream with no snatch or jerk.

 

The only time I get a jerk is when I try to do a 3 point turn in a hurry.....when you shift from D to R, it takes the gearbox about half a second or so to engage reverse.......sometimes I have applied a little bit of throttle thinking it has engaged R when it hasn't and it jerks when it actually goes into Reverse.

 

Will try a launch like this and see how it feels. It's when just setting off normally that it can feel a bit jumpy setting off. Being light on the throttle makes for a smooth start. Maybe it's just our driving style I'm not sure.

 

And yeah I have also done the latter a couple of times before. Oops.

 

Phil

[countryboy]

Mine can do that, I find the best way to set off is to release the brake and then as soon as you feel the clutch starting to bite then give the car a bit of throttle, a bit like you may do with a manual car, throttle down and clutch up.

[pipsyp]

Its interesting, I've owned a DSG6 and 7 car and have to say whilst the 6 is smoother its more delayed (due to built in clutch slip) at pulling away from a standstill.

I live just off a busy B road roundabout that I have to cross every morning on my journey to work and find its often pot luck whether I pull out in front of someone like a sitting duck before it starts trying to wheelspin and rev its nuts off. Seems to be no nack to it, almost certainly have less issues in a manual car.

[Nemtex]

When I was working on the Stereo in my car I had the battery disconnected for the best part of the day. On re-connecting and driving, the gearbox was a whole new experience as it seemed to have 'unlearned' all my bad habits.

 

Might be worth trying unplugging the battery for an hour or so. You will obviously lose other settings as well, but my gearbox is much more responsive now as I suspect it  'learned' while I was running the car in rather than my normal, more 'spirited' driving technique.   

[Herschel]

Mine does the same Phil.

The issue is that a DSG isn't really an automatic gearbox at all.

It's basically a self-changing manual.

I've had mine stall on several occasions when leaving the driveway, as I touched the accelerator before the gear had engaged (from R to D) and the gearbox then gets confused and drops the clutch before the gear is ready, so you get exactly what would happen in a manual if you did the same yourself..........a stall.

[Norco]

Mine does the same Phil. The issue is that a DSG isn't really an automatic gearbox at all. It's basically a self-changing manual. I've had mine stall on several occasions when leaving the driveway, as I touched the accelerator before the gear had engaged (from R to D) and the gearbox then gets confused and drops the clutch before the gear is ready, so you get exactly what would happen in a manual if you did the same yourself..........a stall.

 

This doesn't sound normal - anyone else managed to stall a DSG?

[Phil-E]

Ok so it's souding pretty "normal" now.

 

It's just the first non-torque converter auto I've driven properly so very different to both those and an manual gearbox.

 

Some practice the other night and i've got it pretty much mastered.

 

Foot of brake, wait a second then very lightly start to push the throttle.

 

I also tried the left foot braking launch mentioned above... no jumpy start with full throttle and it shot off like a stabbed rat... very fun! hehe

 

Phil

[Phil-E]

This doesn't sound normal - anyone else managed to stall a DSG?

 

Oh and no... I have also tried to go before the gear has actuall engaged... it jumped a lot but has never stalled.

 

The only time I did stall it was when starting the car I put it straight into gear before it had even started and it stalled but that was just my own stupidity.

 

Phil

[Foffer]

I find the best way to pull away is to lift off brake, wait a second and gently press accelerator.  Pressing accelerator too soon can make the pull away a bit jerky.  

 

I find that in my car with a DSG box I can't pull away quickly.  Foot straight to the floor results in a slight pause, average pull away, then about 1.5 secs later it goes off like a rocket.  Pulling out the end of my road is a nightmare - blind bends both ways and in my old manual, if a car suddenly appeared as I was pulling away I could step things up a bit easily, but the DSG seems to have just the one take off speed, "normal"!

 

My car has an intermittent stalling problem, which has only happened three times in 8,000 miles.  I now realise that on all three occasions I had driven from cold about two miles, stopped for about one hour then on restarting this problem occurred.  When putting into D or R the engine stops.  I assume its something not quite right in the software on my car, I don't know!

[philbes]

My 2012 car does not show any of the delay on moving away that is being talked about.  I can move my foot as fast as possible from brake to accelerator and the car instantly moves with the degree of initial acceleration matching how much I press down on the accelerator and no jerk.  Perhaps the 6-speed DSG in later cars has different programming?  However, the least smooth gear changes are 1-2 and 2-3.