I wonder if anyone is able to offer me some advice?

My new Yeti is my first 4x4 and also my first car with automatic transmission and rear parking sensors.

I have a short drive to my garage, barely the length of the new Yeti. It rises steeply from road to garage door at about 1 in 3. Parking nose to the garage door is relatively fool proof when it comes to avoiding damage to the either the garage and/or the car! Ideally I would like to reverse up and park, so that I’m nose down when going out – would make it so much easier and safer to drive away from the house then.

My questions are: would the Off Road button assist me in doing this more easily, and is there any disadvantage mechanically to parking nose-down on such a steep slope on a daily basis?

Any thoughts would be gratefully received.

One thing you will have to watch is that the DSG will allow you to roll in the other direction to the Drive or Reverse position, unlikely a car with torque converter transmission.  So on your uphill slope to the garage, the car could roll back despite being in Drive.

 

Another point to look out for is to make sure you engage the parking brake very securely to avoid the car being held by the locking pin in Park, which may wear over time, and be slightly difficult to disengage.

would the Off Road button assist me in doing this more easily

 

The Off-Road Button provides assistance on loose or slippery surfaces.  I doubt it would help much in your case unless your drive was icy.  Were you thinking that the downhill drive assist might be useful?  It sounds like your drive is hardly long enough for you to need that kind of assistance - again, unless your drive was icy.  If the road and drive are providing adequate grip, the Off-Road Button won't do much, if anything, for you IMO.

Surely hill hold control would help....

One thing you will have to watch is that the DSG will allow you to roll in the other direction to the Drive or Reverse position, unlikely a car with torque converter transmission.  So on your uphill slope to the garage, the car could roll back despite being in Drive.

 

Thanks, Yib - I discovered this yesterday which was partly what prompted the question. I couldn't then engage any gear and the Maxidot insisted that I select 'N', which made no difference whatsoever to any subsequent attempt to select 'D of 'R'. In the end I rolled it backwards off the drive, and it allowed me to select 'D' again. Was a bit concerned I might end up stranded in the middle of our narrow road  ! PB 

Surely hill hold control would help....

 

HHC is a separate function, it's not activated by the Off-Road Button.  According to page 138 in the May 2013 edition of the manual, HHC is a standard part of the ESC package.

 

I have a short, steep-ish drive with an upward approach on to the road.  I find HHC a royal pain in the a**e when I am reversing in: I'm happy to manoeuvre the last metre or two into position on the brakes, but the flippin' HHC keeps holding the car still when I want to drift slowly backwards!

It shouldn't make any difference whether you park uphill or down, just do the same as you would in a normal car, in gear or park and with the handbrake firmly on. It may be advantageous to reverse to your garage door as the parking sensors will stop you getting too close. Also the Yeti is normally front wheel drive only until traction is lost by the front wheels when the drive to the rear is gradually engaged so parking nose downhill will help with the traction issue.  The off road button will not help you as it effectively changes the traction control and ABS braking settings to help on soft, rough surfaces. Parking nose downhill shouldn't be a problem at all.

Reversing a DSG up a steep slow slowly is an art which had to be learned. It is not easy, likewise driving up a steep slope slowly is not easy either.

It appeared to be because as soon as you ease off the throttle, drive can disengage and the car can roll back the way you have just come. Had the same problem coming up to junctions on steep hills where I tried to approach them slowly, all of a sudden the car would jerk to a halt as I eased off the throttle as the clutches disengaged. Very annoying.

In almost every other way a DSG is a great piece of kit.

I sold mine for various reasons, and now have a traditional torque converter auto, which will cost less than a quarter of the price of a DSG if it fails. I'm loving it. :lol:

Reversing up steep slopes is a doddle now.

Surely hill hold control would help....

I think Hill Hold Control is standard with the DSG boxes

It should be fine with hill hold and also since yours is the 6 speed DSG box then drive to the wheels is never fully disengaged when in D or R so there is also some pull from the engine and not a total loss of all drive like the 7 speed box.

 

Phil

Reversing a DSG up a steep slow slowly is an art which had to be learned. It is not easy, likewise driving up a steep slope slowly is not easy either.

It appeared to be because as soon as you ease off the throttle, drive can disengage and the car can roll back the way you have just come. Had the same problem coming up to junctions on steep hills where I tried to approach them slowly, all of a sudden the car would jerk to a halt as I eased off the throttle as the clutches disengaged. Very annoying.

In almost every other way a DSG is a great piece of kit.

I sold mine for various reasons, and now have a traditional torque converter auto, which will cost less than a quarter of the price of a DSG if it fails. I'm loving it. :lol:

Reversing up steep slopes is a doddle now.

Mike is absolutely correct.

 

DSG has few limitations but reversing uphill is definitely a 'dark art'.

I find the best technique to be lift off the brake pedal and let the clutch bite. Then just as it bites use a tiny bit of throttle and it seems to keep the clutch fully engaged with no drop in drive from the engine.

 

It's when you need to go slower that things become tricky. Creeping just using the brake pedal seems to cause the clutch to fully disengage at times meaning a pause before it engages and the car moves again.

 

Phil

It should be fine with hill hold and also since yours is the 6 speed DSG box then drive to the wheels is never fully disengaged when in D or R so there is also some pull from the engine and not a total loss of all drive like the 7 speed box.

 

Phil

 

Yes, this is noticeable when pulling the hand-brake on when in traffic - it needs to be on very firmly to avoid creep.

 

Mike is absolutely correct.

 

DSG has few limitations but reversing uphill is definitely a 'dark art'.

 

This sounds like a challenge to be overcome! The advice (and the warnings!) offered by all the knowledgeable above is very much appreciated. Guess what I'd like, i.e. to back up so as to be safer when driving off into the road, is possible with skill, practice and a little care of the gearbox. When I get back from my forthcoming travels I'll try it and see.

Yes, this is noticeable when pulling the hand-brake on when in traffic - it needs to be on very firmly to avoid creep.

This is something you really should not do. Unless your foot is pressing on the foot brake at the same time. Then take it out of gear.

Whenever I stop at traffic lights for more than a few seconds, I always take the car out of gear and put in 'N'. Hand brake on. Then when the lights turn to red/amber foot on brake slip into D and then you are ready to move off when the lights are green (if it is safe to do so :lol:)

This is something you really should not do. Unless your foot is pressing on the foot brake at the same time. Then take it out of gear. Whenever I stop at traffic lights for more than a few seconds, I always take the car out of gear and put in 'N'. Hand brake on. Then when the lights turn to red/amber foot on brake slip into D and then you are ready to move off when the lights are green (if it is safe to do so :lol:)

 

Have to second that. I've never used my handbrake whilst in D!  Gosh that is just madness.

This is something you really should not do. Unless your foot is pressing on the foot brake at the same time. Then take it out of gear. Whenever I stop at traffic lights for more than a few seconds, I always take the car out of gear and put in 'N'. Hand brake on. Then when the lights turn to red/amber foot on brake slip into D and then you are ready to move off when the lights are green (if it is safe to do so :lol:)

 

 

Have to second that. I've never used my handbrake whilst in D!  Gosh that is just madness.

 

Thanks, gentlemen - strength of feeling and my apparent madness duly noted  : must inform SWMBO! PB

You will also find that putting it in 'N' when stopped and using the handbrake you can very quickly get it back to 'D' as you don't even need to press the button on the side of the lever. Just foot on the brake and flick it down to 'D' without needing to even bother pressing the release button on the side.

 

I think the handbrake doesn't disengage the clutch for hill starts. Since ours doesn't have hill hold we have to apply the handbrake, then lift off the foot brake and then just as the clutch is biting release the handbrake and on the gas.

 

If the handbrake disengaged the clucth a hill start would be impossible!

 

Phil

Mike is absolutely correct.

 

DSG has few limitations but reversing uphill is definitely a 'dark art'.

Absolutely.  We bought a VW California camper a few months ago and had the same problems getting up our steep drive. The DSG didn't want to know. Either on or off, no gentle slow movement at all and then kept stopping and engine stalling.  I took it back to the dealer as I really thought there was something wrong with it. He took it out and demonstrated how to do it. My problem was that I was using the footbrake and then giving it some revs. This confuses the DSG brain, it doesn't know whether you are stopping or going so just gives up. The trick seems to be to use the handbrake and gently feed the revs in.  I went out and found a steep empty car park and practised.  Definitely not as easy as a torque converter auto which is what I was used to. It should be something that dealers warn buyers about and show how it is done.

...The trick seems to be to use the handbrake and gently feed the revs in. ...

Recently, I had to park down a steep driveway - in reverse, because of a wall that restricted driver access.  Briwy's trick was how I solved driving out; more or less doing a conventional manual hill start but without the foot clutch.  You can feel the bite, and put in a few more revs as necessary.