Flat spot when accelerating from slow speed

[raystrat]

2016 Yetty 1200 petrol automatic 7,000mls

I have an intermitent flat spot when accelerating from slow speed, for example when entering the flow of traffic on to a roundabout.

When I accelerate gently, expecting the car to increase speed slowly, nothing happens, then when the throttle is half way down the car suddenly drops several gears and accelerates violently.

It's just if I had kicked down to overtake but the throttle is only half way down.

It also happens when gently accelerating when in a line of slowly moving traffic, you feel this by the sudden abrupt acceleration.

 

It is not only embarrassing but dangerous, and has nearly caused an accident several times.

 

This has been happening from new, has anybody had the same problems?

[SuperbTWM]

Is it a DSG?

If it is then it sounds normal to me, it seems to be one of the things all DSG owners complain about, aparently having it in sport mode helps in this situation.

[raystrat]

Yes it is a DSG

Can not leave it in sport as it hangs on to gears far too long and the MPG will be crucified.

[Expatman]

Something wrong here. I have a 1.2 Tsi DSG and haven't experienced your problem. I should get your dealer to check it out.

[Ootohere]

?

What gear has it got into before 'dropping several gears'.  4th or 5th, and does it drop to 2nd.

 

Maybe try into 'S' as you pull away and once going shift back to 'D' if you are having a dangerous situation as you describe, 

a few hundred meters in 'S' is not going to kill your fuel economy.

 

Maybe best have a Master Tech road test your car, see if there are any issues / faults.

[freedie]

13 hours ago, Expatman said:

Something wrong here. I have a 1.2 Tsi DSG and haven't experienced your problem. I should get your dealer to check it out.

 

Ah yes. But you have a Yeti 1.2 DSG.

 

OP has a Yetty 1200 Automatic ~ completely different kettle of fish.

 

[ajw1100]

Know exactly what you mean raystrat , it is quite normal for the DSG to behave in this way. I found that when you need to be a bit quick entering a fast flowing and busy roundabout or such like you are never quite sure if you might ram the car in front or get rear-ended by the car behind. That is down to the throttle position: Lag or the drop down; all or nothing feeling.

 

I have added a 'Pedal Box' which has greatly improved the 'driveability'. I drive an Octavia - 1.4 TSI DSG - in ECO mode nearly 95% of the time with the odd Sport when I need it from the DSG (Pull one notch back on the stick) this gives me a fair fuel economy 48mpg average on  600 mile variable A road and M25 Friday afternoon car park trip. There is still a very small lag but I have sort of got used to it.

 

You can set up the PedalBox as you wish, there are lots of posts on this website so have a search.

Edited 30 July, 2017 by ajw1100
Gramma, but speeling is worce

[Smokeyjoe]

I had the same problem on an Audi A3 2.0TDI DSG. Coasting up to a roundabout, the car would still be in 4th or 5th gear, and if I decided to enter the roundabout instead of coming to a halt, pressing the accelerator did absolutely nothing for a second or two. Pressing the accelerator harder just made the box change down to 2nd or sometimes even 1st and the car took off like a scolded cat!

 

The only way to be sure of instant acceleration was to manually select 2nd approaching the roundabout using the paddle shifters.  If I was in Sport mode, it did change down early enough, but I found that Sport mode was not great for everyday driving.

 

Some people on here have retrofitted a paddle shift steering wheel to their Yeti, and I would say this would be a great upgrade. Dead easy to manually select a gear change at any time you wish. Great for overtaking for example, or the roundabout manoeuver.

[philbes]

I have never experienced this problem in my car (2012 Octavia vRS CR DSG) or my friend's 2014 Golf 2.0TDi 140 DSG.  Both have the 6-speed wet-clutch version of the DSG.  Is the problem only with the 7-speed dry-clutch DSG?   However one post mentioned the same problem with a Audi A3 2.0TDI DSG and I assume that has the 6-speed DSG.

[raystrat]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, it looks like it is an inherent fault with the DSG models.

I have just purchased a "Pedalbox" as suggested by ajw1100 and hope that this will help to eliminate this problem.

Will post the results after I have had chance to test it.

[Ootohere]

People above are talking about TDI Diesels with 6 speed dsg's, and a 1.4TSI with the 7 speed.

 

I doubt a pedal box is the solution to what you are experience, 

try driving another similar yeti, and try a TDI DSG, see how they behave compared to your car & maybe have a 1.2 TSI DSG driver try yours,

[JCP]

I have my first DSG yeti and like it I suspect it isn't a fault but just a characteristic and if others don't detect it it is probably that they have learnt to drive around it.

[ajw1100]

49 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

People above are talking about TDI Diesels with 6 speed dsg's, and a 1.4TSI with the 7 speed.

 

I doubt a pedal box is the solution to what you are experience, 

try driving another similar yeti, and try a TDI DSG, see how they behave compared to your car & maybe have a 1.2 TSI DSG driver try yours,

 

48 minutes ago, JCP said:

I have my first DSG yeti and like it I suspect it isn't a fault but just a characteristic and if others don't detect it it is probably that they have learnt to drive around it.

 

Mine does have the 7 speed box, and the 'lag', the pedal box does not totally remove the lag but does make it less noticeable (To me anyway) and makes the car nicer to drive generally. I agree with JCP I feel this is more a 'Characteristic' and not a 'fault' there are some very good YouTube Videos on the Characteristics of the VW DSG and why it behaves as it does. Well worth a look. I would offer you a drive in my car as I am quite near to Watford but am not allowed to drive, not for any driving naughtiness but due to an operation. I am only allowed to drive this PC at present .

 

I see little point in trying another car, TDi or not, unless you are thinking of changing, a Pedal Box may not be the perfect answer but a hell of lot cheaper than changing. A small change to driving style and the Pedal Box maybe all that is needed? LV charged me about £7.00 as 'interior modification' just to keep all nice and legal insurance wise.

 

Useful read.....

Edited 30 July, 2017 by ajw1100
Added link.

[Ootohere]

1.2 TSI DSG 105 -110 ps, drive what you have, 105-110ps no rocket ship,

not a 1.4tsi 140-150ps DSG different vehicles in many ways.

 

If anything save the pedal box cost on a 1.2 TSI and get a remap & 130ps.

Edited 30 July, 2017 by Awayoffski

[Zib]

I used to experience this problem on occasion when I had a 1.2 TSI DSG. It's caused by a combination of the relatively little low down torque of the petrol turbo in combination with the gearbox being in the 'wrong' gear for what you are about to do (usually accelerating after coasting to low speed but not actually stopping, hence the box has not dropped into first gear).  It happened reasonably predictably (i.e., at the same roundabouts) and my solution was simply to pop it into sports mode just before the roundabout, and back into normal drive shortly after.  This made no discernable difference to economy.

 

To those with TDI DSG's, the same effect is there but hardly noticeable because of the much greater torque of the diesel.

[ejstubbs]

What the OP reports sounds very like my experience when I test drove a 1.2 DSG way back in 2010.  In situations when I needed to go from overrun into acceleration, the DSG box took a noticeable time to get its act together.  If you weren't expecting it, the natural response to the lack of 'go' was to press harder with the right foot - at which point the 'box suddenly decided to drop several cogs (like kick-down, as the OP says) and the car lurched forward too fast.  It did feel a bit like a flat spot in the engine response but it was really just poor gear selection by the automatic box.

 

When I mentioned this here at the time I was assured by people on this forum that the DSG box would 'learn' my driving style and adapt over time.  I never got to verify that, since I wanted a 4x4 anyway.  Also, the relative newness of the DSG technology, coupled with its obvious complexity, felt to me like too much of a risk of an expensive repair bill at some point in the future - particularly since I tend to hold on to my cars for a fair while rather than changing them when the MOT first comes due.

 

I suppose that if I had ended up with the 1.2 DSG I would likely have learned to live with it.  Other owners of the 1.2 DSG Yeti seem entirely happy with the package, so maybe it's just me.  But I would say that it does seem like a poor implementation if, having bought a car with an automatic transmission, you have to intervene on a regular basis (by knocking it into and out of sport mode, as suggested above) in the face of a pretty common driving situation.

[raystrat]

Thanks Zib, sounds like a plan

[Ootohere]

ejdtubbs, if you bought an Automatic,   but what it is is a Automated manual which those with only automatic Licenses can drive.

2 pedal twin dry clutch 7 speed Automated manual, fitted to a a revy 1.2 or now a 1.0 TSI's, with changes from 2009-2013 with software, then change from Synthetic Oil to mineral and software changes again, then changes in the engines they are fitted to from the Euro 6's.

 

So not all perform the same 2009-2013-, 2013-2014/15/16/17

and they can learn a bit from the previous user after not many miles.