I can't really believe I'm going to write this.

Doing 70 mph on motorway to give the car a bit of exercise instead of dense traffic work. Still running in.   Slowly dawned on driver that revs are going up slowly and speed is going down.

Passenger has settled down now after major faffing about session with a bluddie handbag. Then passenger says "that little screen is showing N and not D7 "  Odd that she is watching my MFD screen.  Driver shouts very loud something that sounded from afar like cooking grit. All happened very quickly in a few seconds.

Driver pulls gear stick into D/S. Without really thinking. No clunk. No noise. No shudder,jolt, shake.  Just nothing.  Just took it in its stride and carried on. 

She "may" have just "nudged" the lever. I'm seriously thinking of a hardboard fence to stop a repeat.

Question.   Is it just remotely possible that this has happened before?  Or am I a world first?  Is it possible that VW did this hundreds of times on the test track while developing the gearbox? It's easy to do. A map thrown from the back seat would do it.

The total absence of anything at all from the gearbox makes me hope and pray nothing is knackered and waiting to get me later.  Can cars turn malevolent?

Any reassurance anywhere? Please.

It happens, people other than the driver can knock the shifter. Luckily not into reverse though.

Edited 5 July, 20178 yr by Awayoffski

Handbags should not be allowed in cars,they are dangerous and can cause major distractions and accidents. Hands free handbags ought to be introduced by law.

I have done this myself before! I panicked because I didn't think I could just move it back in to D whilst doing 60mph and not press the brake...so I pulled to a steady stop and shifted back in to D and proceeded all ok from there. For being inquisitive I decided to actually try this purposely whilst driving on a quiet road, to my surprise the shift can freely be moved in to N and back in to drive at any point without pressing the brake, the gearbox just engages whichever gear suits the speed you are travelling. It is odd I have to say and I am not sure why you can do it.....could it be to free wheel like you can in a manual?? Shot in the dark!

It can't possibly be her fault mate.  It's the car manufacturer's fault for putting the gear lever in such a silly place.

Well, that's what she told me when she did the same thing to mine.

 

As with James, I let the car coast to a halt before shifting back into D. 

I believe the DSG box is idiot proof, but I don't intend to try to confirm it!

So to be clear...this is not a woe! Your box is fine. But you learn something new all the time eh!

First time i did this i drove straight to skoda though it was something wrong, personally think it should be button press, to move on all movements

 

Is this also why some modern cars works cars (ie volvo) have got no manual lever handbrake, my works cars is now a button for the handbrake, same in the van and its on the right dash well out of the way of the passenger! Takes some getting used to

The owner's manual for my 2012 vRS DSG contains the following in the section on the DSG gearbox:

 

If the selector lever position N is accidentally selected while driving, it is first necessary

to release pressure on the accelerator pedal and wait for the idling speed

of the engine to be reached before the selector lever can be engaged in the drive

position.

 

Just let the revs drop to idle - no need to stop.

What happens if R is accidentally selected by a dangerous handbag?

Not possible as the button has to be depressed to go to R, as well as moving the lever

Thank you all very much.  When I panicked I never thought to pull onto the hard shoulder.  The revs had dropped pretty much right off by the time I stuck it into D/S again but I don't think they had hit idle speed.   Oh well.   I don't like the yellow warning in my handbook that says do not go from N to D/S above idle revs.  I think I did BUT the car was moving.   I think the handbook means for lift off from full stop.

Once again thanks.

Moving from Drive to Neutral is an easy mistake if you are in Drive but think you are in Sport.  A push forward on the selector (no need to hold in the button), thinking you are going from S to D, will then engage Neutral.  I have done it a couple of times in my 4 years and 35K miles with the car.

They need to bring back the hand bag holder they used to have on the dashboard years ago

 

Edited 6 July, 20178 yr by octyal

1 hour ago, octyal said:

They need to bring back the hand bag holder they used to have on the dashboard years ago

 

Trouble is the added weight of the hand bag REALLY hurts the fuel economy - engine runs kind of lumpy and won't idle either.

Once a month I put the lever from D to N and apply the handbrake slightly to remove corrosion from the rear discs.

Of course securing that no car is behind me.

 

No problems shifting back from N to D as long as you do not touch the accelerator pedal.

 

 

 

 

In the past couple of weeks I have read, but cannot find where , of some gentlemen doing a road test of a car with preselector gearbox. In the interests of science the driver decided to select reverse! Apparently nothing untoward happened.

Which was lucky!

Torque convertor gearboxes allowed the lever to move between N and D freely, but always had a button to prevent an accidental knock into reverse. Its only necessary to press the footbrake to engage a gear when the vehicle is stationary, and its quite sensitive, if the vehicle is just rolling in neutral the press footbrake icon will go out. 

torslunde,

with most VW Group cars with manual handbrakes i drive in D & apply the hand brake before i reach the end of my road even after the vehicle might only have been parked over night to clear the cosmetic corrosion off the rear disks, even in summer.

Whilst learning to use my new dsg Yeti last week, i have on several occasions goen through D from S to N without intending to. The engine revs drop almost instantly when not in drive, much as they do when in D and the car goes in coasting mode, then jumps back to the revs needed when power is needed and the clutch engages again so I think it would be difficult to do any damage, as the car adjusts the revs before engaging the clutch?