Throttle response on a vRS Kodiaq (and DTUK/other tuning boxes)

[CainDingle]

My last few cars have been a 1.4 petrol mk3 Octavia, a 2 litre TDI ultra A6 and now the Kodiaq vRS (2.0 TDI with the dual turbochargers, not the new petrol one). The mrs drives a 1.6 TDI touran which is probably my favourite car out of the lot of them because it's a spritely little thing which carries all of us with two weeks' worth of luggage on the smell of a barmaid's apron and drives and parks like a golf. All of them have the most rubbish throttle response known to man and I've little choice other than to assume it's a VAG thing.

 

I'm thinking of getting a DTUK pedal box and/or a DTUK tuning box for one or both cars. My question is this. I've read a lot (including on here) about the pedal boxes and how they've transformed people's driving experiences without any extra power being added. Is it worth getting one without an accompanying tuning box?

[linni]

There is one more option. Buy OBD11 and change the throttle behaviour from gradual to linear.

[snala]

On 16/03/2023 at 09:40, CainDingle said:

My last few cars have been a 1.4 petrol mk3 Octavia, a 2 litre TDI ultra A6 and now the Kodiaq vRS (2.0 TDI with the dual turbochargers, not the new petrol one). The mrs drives a 1.6 TDI touran which is probably my favourite car out of the lot of them because it's a spritely little thing which carries all of us with two weeks' worth of luggage on the smell of a barmaid's apron and drives and parks like a golf. All of them have the most rubbish throttle response known to man and I've little choice other than to assume it's a VAG thing.

 

I'm thinking of getting a DTUK pedal box and/or a DTUK tuning box for one or both cars. My question is this. I've read a lot (including on here) about the pedal boxes and how they've transformed people's driving experiences without any extra power being added. Is it worth getting one without an accompanying tuning box?

I had the diesel vrs Kodiaq too and now have the petrol one instead, and we also have a Kamiq Monte Carlo too. I also use OBD11 to change the throttle responses to linear.

I still ran a DTUK pedal box on the diesel though as its throttle response from stopped was way too slow compared to previous VAG cars. I only had to set the box on one of the lower positions to make it good for me.

Interestingly the new petrol VRS doesn't have this throttle issue, but our Kamiq does. It is the other half's car so just left it as is though 😉

[Avocet]

Personally, I've never really seen the point?  Most cars with a "sport" button just alter the throttle response so you get more of it in the first few inches of pedal travel.  My sister swears it makes her car go faster, but of course, it doesn't!  I've never really found it too much of a chore to push the pedal another inch down the footwell?   In fact, I'd go so far as to say I quite like it on really bumpy farm tracks, at low speeds, as it makes for less jerky progress.

[Yogi-Bear]

1 hour ago, Avocet said:

Most cars with a "sport" button just alter the throttle response

 

If they just altered the throttle response, then that would be fine... but unfortunately it also puts the gearbox into sport mode (as well as everything else on a vRS, such as DCC and the fake noise etc.), which means it hangs onto lower gears for longer.

 

It would be nice if the 'drive' option in the driving profiles (eco/sport/normal/etc.) was split out into 'throttle' and 'gearbox', so that you could have a sporty throttle response without driving around at 30mph in second gear (it's not quite that bad, but you get the point). Probably too much for most people to want or need though, so it'll never happen.

[Ootohere]

@AvocetVehicles that come with a 'off-road' mode / button, have the software that does that, calms down the accelerator. 

Edited 23 March, 2023 by toot

[CainDingle]

On 16/03/2023 at 12:51, linni said:

There is one more option. Buy OBD11 and change the throttle behaviour from gradual to linear.

I forgot I posted this and only came back to it earlier this week.

 

In short - thank you very much. I had a Carista dongle I bought ages ago so subscribed to the app for a month and changed the setting today. It drives like a different car. Feels like it’s got about 30 extra horsepower.

[CainDingle]

On 23/03/2023 at 09:17, Avocet said:

Personally, I've never really seen the point?  Most cars with a "sport" button just alter the throttle response so you get more of it in the first few inches of pedal travel.  My sister swears it makes her car go faster, but of course, it doesn't!  I've never really found it too much of a chore to push the pedal another inch down the footwell?   In fact, I'd go so far as to say I quite like it on really bumpy farm tracks, at low speeds, as it makes for less jerky progress.

This is the thing - my issue was not about the depth to which the pedal is depressed. It was to do with the fact that you could drop it to the floor and there’d still be a second or so’s lag before the car responded. Changing to sport mode didn’t remedy that; all it did was dictate the nature of the car’s behaviour when it HAD responded. In other words, what VAG refer to as ‘throttle response’ in the context of their different drive modes has to do with the amount of gas pedal depression required to open the throttle fully, rather than the actual time it takes for the engine to react to a variation in the position of the gas pedal.

 

Changing the throttle behaviour in the OBD from gradual (based on time depressed) to linear (based on extent of depression) makes the car respond more like it would if it had a mechanical throttle rather than throttle-by-wire. It really does make a significant difference - feels like how the car SHOULD be set up from factory.

[simonharper]

Any recommendations for an OBD11 device and rough costs? If I can change my throttle to react properly, it would make owning my Kodiaq far more pleasurable.

[CainDingle]

On 20/09/2023 at 11:37, simonharper said:

Any recommendations for an OBD11 device and rough costs? If I can change my throttle to react properly, it would make owning my Kodiaq far more pleasurable.

 

I've got a Carista - 25 quid from amazon plus a month's subscription for £10 (which you can cancel immediately after taking it out and then use for the next thirty days, so you only pay a tenner). Worked fine for the throttle thing and I also did a few other tweaks like having the nearside mirror drop when reversing, audible beep when locking from the keyfob, and so on.

 

They all seem much of a muchness as far as I can make out, these dongles.

[simonharper]

Many thanks @CainDingle! Much appreciated. Will check it out. 

[CainDingle]

No probs Simon - let me know how you get on. Will be interested to know if your experience with the response is the same as mine.

[simonharper]

6 minutes ago, CainDingle said:

No probs Simon - let me know how you get on. Will be interested to know if your experience with the response is the same as mine.

Will do. Will. Any of the changes cause warranty or insurance issues? I guess if they are accessible and are the manufacturers own settings (that are just hidden or disabled), then only warranty would potentially be an issue. 

[simonharper]

On 25/10/2023 at 13:49, CainDingle said:

No probs Simon - let me know how you get on. Will be interested to know if your experience with the response is the same as mine.

Well. Bought the Carista. Changed the setting. For me it’s made things even less responsive not more. Slower to pick up pace and more hesitant to kick down - Sport also feels less responsive. So changed setting back again.

[kodiaqsportline]

I haven't a clue about any of this but just reading your reply and looking at your car details, there may be an explanation.

 

You list your car as 2020. If it's the older car like the OP then I'd assume you'd experience the same results as him.  If however yours is the upgraded car which came out in the 2nd half of 2020 ( identified by new type steering wheel, usb-C sockets and no CD drive in glovebox ), those cars have component protection that prevents you from changing certain functions. The change you made may therefore have had no or different affects to those earlier cars.

 

As I say I haven't a clue, it's just an educated guess.

[simonharper]

1 minute ago, kodiaqsportline said:

I haven't a clue about any of this but just reading your reply and looking at your car details, there may be an explanation.

 

You list your car as 2020. If it's the older car like the OP then I'd assume you'd experience the same results as him.  If however yours is the upgraded car which came out in the 2nd half of 2020 ( identified by new type steering wheel, usb-C sockets and no CD drive in glovebox ), those cars have component protection that prevents you from changing certain functions. The change you made may therefore have had no or different affects to those earlier cars.

 

As I say I haven't a clue, it's just an educated guess.

Thanks for the insight. Mine has the older style steering wheel, CD player, and USB-A only socket. 
 

It made a difference in quite a negative way for me, so certainly changed things. Getting a refund from Amazon and have cancelled the subscription, so not out of pocket. 

[linni]

Carista and even  OBD11 are not the same level as VCDS and might mess things up sometimes.

 

Instructions, just in case:

1. Module 44 - Power Steering (Code 19249)
2. Adaptation
3. Select - switching driving profile
Choices:
A - Gradual, controlled by time
B - Directly controlled threshold value

[simonharper]

Confused, what has power steering to do with the throttle setting?

[linni]

yes, strange , but that`s the way it is.

[simonharper]

1 minute ago, linni said:

yes, strange , but that`s the way it is.

Oh! Well that’s confusing indeed then 😬
 

Will leave the car hacking to others I think. 

[linni]

It`s not really hacking, the mod was easy to do. Just not sure Carista can do it.

[simonharper]

Well I meant it in the loosest of terms

 

Anyway, I’m not messing anymore. Refunds in progress. Will put up with the Kodiaq’s lazy throttle for a year before it goes back. 

[EnterName]

On 13/09/2023 at 20:00, CainDingle said:

I had a Carista dongle I bought ages ago so subscribed to the app for a month and changed the setting today. It drives like a different car. Feels like it’s got about 30 extra horsepower.

What did you change the setting to?

[ahar]

I've just switched from a 2019 TDI VRS to a 2023 190 TSI engine (not VRS) and been really surprised how much better the throttle response is.  I guess VAG took the feedback and made some changes to the software in the gearboxes

[CainDingle]

On 28/10/2023 at 17:49, simonharper said:

Well. Bought the Carista. Changed the setting. For me it’s made things even less responsive not more. Slower to pick up pace and more hesitant to kick down - Sport also feels less responsive. So changed setting back again.

 

Argh. Sorry to hear this Simon. It certainly made things very noticeably better for me so I assume it's some kind of software difference as ahar suggests.

On 29/10/2023 at 07:12, EnterName said:

What did you change the setting to?

 

Direct (controlled by threshold).