DSG gearbox oddities

[the_biochemist]

Hi people

 

Hope you're all. Happy with your skodaqs. 

 

Has anyone else seen these traits that I'm not used to seeing with my other and previous automatics... 

 

1. Doesn't change gear when gently braking down hill... 

 

So I have a steep hill near me and my old Mercedes c class auto would start at say 30 in 4th and whilst I had my foot on the brake controlling the speed down the hill - as speed increased to 40 or 50 whilst still using brake to control acelleration the gearbox would shift to 5th a d 6th thus keeping revs at a reasonable level. 

 

My kodiaq just stays in the same gear and revs go into the red. I have to push across to manual and the shift myself up as the revs get high. 

 

Is this normal for other kodiaqs. 

 

 

2. If i drive the car having put it in eco mode the maxi dot display shows the current gear as E1-7 and if i stop accelerating I get coasting displayed and what seems to be a much longer rolling travel which I assume is the eco element of it. 

 

If I'm in sport mode the display shows S1-7 and normal G1-7.

 

However if i turn off the car and start again the columbus unit still says I'm in eco/sport (whichever I was last in) for instance but the gearbox is in normal (i.e. Displaying G1-7) not eco or sport. 

 

I then have to press the button by the gear shift, select the mode on the display, select the eco or sport mode again and then the gearbox will change to eco with the coasting thing or sport and not be such a slug. 

 

Is this what others are seeing too?? 

 

Thanks 

[Hellblazer]

Hi,

 

Yes, my DSG also holds the gear while braking downhill. It even shifts down sometimes. I believe this is normal, as we should always brake with the engine.

 

Regarding point 2), my DSG also doesn't remember the last drive mode selected. It always starts in "Normal". I will report this next time at the dealer.

[DaveMiller]

Both points are normal.

 

Old-fashioned autos change up as you go downhill, depriving you of engine braking and "running away".  The modern box in the Kodiaq will change up if you maintain throttle (indicating that you want to keep accelerating), but if you take your foot off, or start to apply the brakes, it then "knows" you want to maintain the slower speed and uses the present - or lower - gear to give you engine braking.  I've never seen mine take the revs "into the red", though. Your hill must be steeper than any I've tried.

 

With the Benz, you've got used to going down that hill in a strange way: if you want the Kodiaq to accelerate to 40-50, why keep your foot on the brake?  Rather than start messing about with the manual gear override, use the accelerator and brake in a way that tells the car what you want to do.

 

The way the modes "forget" when you restart is also normal - and very annoying!  It seems that it's only the "drive" (gear and throttle) aspects of the mode which go back to "normal", so the maxidot is telling the truth about the gears, while the infotainment screen is telling you that the other aspects of the mode (for example aircon, headlights, steering assistance and suspension stiffness, if you have that) are still active.  The handbook confirms that the drive aspects will revert to normal, so the cars are indeed doing what the makers expect.

 

Quite why the makers expect that, I haven't worked out! The overall effect is that I can't be bothered to keep telling the car to change mode, so I use "normal” all the time.

Edited 5 January, 2018 by DaveMiller

[Bignij]

Going downhill in Eco, mine will coast until it gets to a certain speed and then the engine braking will cut in and it generally changes down to E3. I also flick it over to manual and go up the gears, to drop the revs down if I don't want the engine braking. Curiously, mine 'remembers' what mode it's in and will retain it when the car is restarted.

[DaveMiller]

6 minutes ago, Bignij said:

Curiously, mine 'remembers' what mode it's in and will retain it when the car is restarted.

Ooh, I wish!  I've had that for just a short stop, but never for example overnight.

 

Does yours maintain it overnight, and confirm "eco" on the main screen and “E” for the gears on the maxidot?

[Hellblazer]

11 minutes ago, Bignij said:

Going downhill in Eco, mine will coast until it gets to a certain speed and then the engine braking will cut in and it generally changes down to E3. I also flick it over to manual and go up the gears, to drop the revs down if I don't want the engine braking. Curiously, mine 'remembers' what mode it's in and will retain it when the car is restarted.

 

Are you sure that if you have it in ECO and shut it down, when you restart the Kodiaq the gearbox is still in ECO ?

Edited 5 January, 2018 by Hellblazer

[Bignij]

25 minutes ago, Hellblazer said:

 

Are you sure that if you have it in ECO and shut it down, when you restart the Kodiaq the gearbox is still in ECO ?

Yep. Absolutely. I'll try and video it when I go out at lunchtime. I must advise that I am cr@p at that sort of thing though.

Edited 5 January, 2018 by Bignij

[Bignij]

28 minutes ago, DaveMiller said:

Ooh, I wish!  I've had that for just a short stop, but never for example overnight.

 

Does yours maintain it overnight, and confirm "eco" on the main screen and “E” for the gears on the maxidot?

Now you've got me second guessing myself but yes. I'm certain it does.  

[the_biochemist]

51 minutes ago, DaveMiller said:

Both points are normal.

 

Old-fashioned autos change up as you go downhill, depriving you of engine braking and "running away".  The modern box in the Kodiaq will change up if you maintain throttle (indicating that you want to keep accelerating), but if you take your foot off, or start to apply the brakes, it then "knows" you want to maintain the slower speed and uses the present - or lower - gear to give you engine braking.  I've never seen mine take the revs "into the red", though. Your hill must be steeper than any I've tried.

 

With the Benz, you've got used to going down that hill in a strange way: if you want the Kodiaq to accelerate to 40-50, why keep your foot on the brake?  Rather than start messing about with the manual gear override, use the accelerator and brake in a way that tells the car what you want to do.

 

The way the modes "forget" when you restart is also normal - and very annoying!  It seems that it's only the "drive" (gear and throttle) aspects of the mode which go back to "normal", so the maxidot is telling the truth about the gears, while the infotainment screen is telling you that the other aspects of the mode (for example aircon, headlights, steering assistance and suspension stiffness, if you have that) are still active.  The handbook confirms that the drive aspects will revert to normal, so the cars are indeed doing what the makers expect.

 

Quite why the makers expect that, I haven't worked out! The overall effect is that I can't be bothered to keep telling the car to change mode, so I use "normal” all the time.

 

DaveMiller - you have such a very polite way of saying...

1) drive properly you idiot; and 

2) read the *flippin* manual!

 

It is a reasonably steep hill and starts after a very sharp corner so one is in a strange position of needing to increase speed marginally but limit that acceleration. What I am not feeling at all is any support from the engine to retard acceleration - that engine braking - just an uncontrolled increase in revs as gravity does what it does best and me using the brake continually to manage the speed to what is needed which as you mention is not ideal down a long hill.

 

Maybe I should re-name the post oddities of my driving style and the Chiltern Hills!

 

Thanks for the feedback that is is by design though.

 

[Ootohere]

'Coasting function' is great on economy, but for descents like on the Cairn o Mount i find that a little touch on the throttle has the gears engaged and the speed being retarded according to the gradient, there are sensors that know how steep you are going up and down.

If conditions like currently with road temps below freezing and snow or slush or ice and where i am not touching the foot brake and no longer have a handbrake to trail the rear brakes i do often manually drop gears, or bring the stick back to 'S' on descents.

[Bignij]

Definitely starts up in E mode. I took some video but it's too large to post and I don't* do YouTube videos.

*can't. 

[Hellblazer]

3 minutes ago, Bignij said:

Definitely starts up in E mode. I took some video but it's too large to post and I don't* do YouTube videos.

*can't. 

That video would be really good to show at the dealer. Can you post a link to it, using some kind of cloud storage, like Dropbox, OneDrive or Google drive ?

 

Just make sure one can see the maxidot and the infotainment screen at startup.

Thanks!

Edited 5 January, 2018 by Hellblazer

[Bignij]

I'll try later when I get home. 

[Bignij]

Try this.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tluitq9v5bbyk9t/20180105_120756.mp4?dl=0

You might have to zoom on the maxidot but you can see it go from P through N to E1.

Edited 5 January, 2018 by Bignij

[Hellblazer]

1 hour ago, Bignij said:

Try this.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tluitq9v5bbyk9t/20180105_120756.mp4?dl=0

You might have to zoom on the maxidot but you can see it go from P through N to E1.

Yes, I sure can. I will ask for this on my Kodiaq too.

Thanks for the video.

[Bignij]

8 minutes ago, Hellblazer said:

Yes, I sure can. I will ask for this on my Kodiaq too.

Thanks for the video.

No worries. I’m quite impressed that, a) I posted the link and b ) it works and you can watch it. 

[DaveMiller]

Thanks for that. How long had it been turned off, since the last trip?

[Bignij]

Just now, DaveMiller said:

Thanks for that. How long had it been turned off, since the last trip?

Four and a half hours. 

[BoxerBoy]

I think the original questions have been answered. The car is doing what it’s supposed to do.

 

Re the ECO mode thing. When I used ECO I also found the car would always start up again in ECO mode, but the gear stick or paddle shift would happily let me move to D or S mode with a click. I guess the driver’s key mode was doing what it is supposed to do.

 

When coasting - good old fashioned bad practice free-wheeling - I found that the coasting would continue until I touched a pedal, gear lever or paddle. No use whatsoever when you need to control the car on hills, slush, snow or anything else that requires driver input and full control of the vehicle.

 

ECO - the spawn of the Devil!

[Ootohere]

Or just an option you do not need to use if your are not in circumstances where ECO is an option you want to use. 

Those circumstances exist for some where the want to use it, it is a location location location thing, they are vehicles for Global sales.

I know 23 miles north of the Central belt with average speed cameras ie the A9 then another 60 miles from Dundee to Aberdeen on the A90 where it is just fine.

Edited 7 January, 2018 by AwaoffSki

[Michel4632]

On 05/01/2018 at 08:47, DaveMiller said:

Quite why the makers expect that, I haven't worked out! The overall effect is that I can't be bothered to keep telling the car to change mode, so I use "normal” all the time.

 

Exactly the same for me : I quit using the eco mode at all...

[Bignij]

Just as an addendum. I had it in SNOW mode on Sunday morning and it defaulted to NORMAL when I restarted, however it still stays in ECO once it's put in ECO.

[MikeHig]

Interesting comments about the DSG applying engine braking on descents as I have just experienced the same behaviour in my recently-acquired 2014 Superb ( I would have liked to buy a Kodiak but will have to wait for used prices to drop). I was quite impressed that it was basically doing what I would have done. However the downshifts were not especially smooth and the roads were usually slippery (winter in the Alps) so I often switched to manual to control when it changed.

Of course this may also be driven by eco-mania: diesels use no fuel on over-run and modern petrols cut fuel above 2k rpm or so.