ACT only enables after run in period?

[G-man-kodiaq]

Hi all,

Coming from a Nissan Qashqai+2. This Kodiaq is a different class altogether. Can't believe some of the tech like the active matrix lights and the virtual cockpit is really cool.

Does anyone know if ACT (active cylinder technology) only enables after a certain run in period? I've done about 1100 miles in my Kodiaq Sportline 1.5TSI DSG. I believe I should see an ECO symbol on the instrument panel, but not seen it yet. I believe the car does support it. 

Thanks for any help.

[Kenny R]

ACT should occur on a light throttle at any speed on a flat road. The eco symbol is at the top of the virtual cockpit dash, perhaps you’ve missed it. 
The car should also coast with no gear engaged when you lift off the throttle, indicated by the gear symbol only having the D with no gear number.

[kodiaqsportline]

Don't have the latest 2023 model so can't guarantee this is how your display works.  I'm also doing this from memory - it's all so automatic to me now, I don't really pay attention.

 

1: There's no such running in period.

 

2: The following only applies to cars with the full digital-dash ( i.e. your Sportline ).  Older cars with analogue dials actually say "2-cyl mode" in the small central display unit. Haven't a clue how the basic digital dash in the poverty trim levels work.

 

If you're in Normal drive mode ( the default when you turn on the engine ) or sport drive mode, you may occasionally see a little green tree symbol displayed. The tree symbol is telling you the car is running on 2 cylinders.

 

It's only when you're in ECO drive mode that the ECO symbol is displayed.  Try changing to ECO drive mode and see if the ECO appears.

 

'ECO' and the 'green tree' are the same thing.  Why display two different symbols?  Haven't a clue.      An educated guess would be  they're pandering to some European law making tree hugger bureacrat who sees it important to distiguish between ECO and drive modes.

 

Hope that helps.

[G-man-kodiaq]

Thanks everyone. I have manually selected ECO drive mode before and I can see a leaf on the dashboard. The main thing I notice in ECO mode is the car is a bit slower and goes into coast mode a lot quicker. But I've never seen it go into a green tree or leaf when using a light throttle though. I wonder if it's not working...

[Kenny R]

Picture attached albeit from a Tiguan as I couldn’t find a Kodiaq, but eco symbol is exactly the same and in the same position on the Kodiaq.

Mine goes into 2 cyl mode regularly and surprisingly even after a cold start. 
I’ve never seen any leaf’s , but I’ve only ever used Normal or Sport mode using the gear selector, never used Economy mode or any other mode using the mode button.

[kodiaqsportline]

1 hour ago, G-man-kodiaq said:

Thanks everyone. I have manually selected ECO drive mode before and I can see a leaf on the dashboard. The main thing I notice in ECO mode is the car is a bit slower and goes into coast mode a lot quicker. But I've never seen it go into a green tree or leaf when using a light throttle though. I wonder if it's not working...

 

As per Kenny - flat road and feathering the accelerator is guaranteed to display either symbol. Sounds like you need to visit the dealer for confirmation if there's a problem.

 

My only other thought is It's definitely the 1.5tsi you have ?

 

From 2020MY owners manual:  Both symbols for ECO but manual doesn't indicate which driving mode you have to be in for them to display. Obviously the 2023MY is different.

 

 

 

 

Edited 6 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[Routemaster1461]

For what it is worth, the ECO symbol comes on in my Karoq (manual) with very light throttle on flat or downhill. I never use economy mode. I can tell when it goes into eco as the exhaust note inside the car becomes harsh.

[G-man-kodiaq]

2 hours ago, kodiaqsportline said:

 

As per Kenny - flat road and feathering the accelerator is guaranteed to display either symbol. Sounds like you need to visit the dealer for confirmation if there's a problem.

 

My only other thought is It's definitely the 1.5tsi you have ?

 

From 2020MY owners manual:  Both symbols for ECO but manual doesn't indicate which driving mode you have to be in for them to display. Obviously the 2023MY is different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which section from the manual does that picture come from?  I've looked in mine (hard copy and online) and can't find the same section. It's very possible I might have missed the symbol on the virtual cockpit though.

I do definitely have the 1.5TSI.

Thanks for the tips everyone.

[kodiaqsportline]

Hi G-man.

 

In my manual, that comes form the Warning Lights section which starts on page 12. That particular excerpt is from the list on page 14.   But as I say the 2023MY may well be different.

 

An explanation for each symbol is given on pages 171 and 172 labelled 'economical driving mode" and "driving style".  The explanations aren't very good tho.

 

Hope that helps

Edited 6 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[kodiaqsportline]

3 hours ago, Routemaster1461 said:

For what it is worth, the ECO symbol comes on in my Karoq (manual) with very light throttle on flat or downhill. I never use economy mode. I can tell when it goes into eco as the exhaust note inside the car becomes harsh.

 

I've read elsewhere that people have been able to detect when 2 cyl mode kicks in. Have to admit if it were not for the symbols on the dash, I wouldn't be able to tell in my car.

Edited 6 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[G-man-kodiaq]

Thanks kodaiqsportline! Looks like they've updated the software and manual. There's no indicator for 2 cylinder ACT mode anymore. Although the feature is briefly mentioned on page 124. See pictures from the manual below. This puts my mind at ease now :-). They probably decided it wasn't worth giving the driver the extra info.

 

[Kenny R]

48 minutes ago, G-man-kodiaq said:

Thanks kodaiqsportline! Looks like they've updated the software and manual. There's no indicator for 2 cylinder ACT mode anymore. Although the feature is briefly mentioned on page 124. See pictures from the manual below. This puts my mind at ease now :-). They probably decided it wasn't worth giving the driver the extra info.

 

My 2022 facelift 1.5 tsi Sportline certainly does have the indicator of 2 cylinder mode ( eco) on the virtual cockpit as per my post above. Seems a strange thing to remove, perhaps someone with latest model can confirm it’s removal.

Edited 6 November, 2023 by Kenny R

[linni]

Sorry if I am not catching it all up, but: ECO mode and ACT are totally different things.

 

ACT will disengage 2 cylinders and is available only on the models with "ACT" in the model name (well, at least in here).

 

ECO is a useless feature, when the gearbox is set to Neutral (consuption about 1 liter an hour) after releasing the throttle instead of engine beraking (consuption 0 liters).

 

Correct me if I am wrong.

Edited 6 November, 2023 by linni

[G-man-kodiaq]

Yeah I agree with you linni, it's very confusing naming. They seem to use an Eco symbol with a circle arrow around it to indicate 2 cylinder mode. And a leaf to indicate the Eco driving mode.

I noticed with the Eco driving mode the car tends to go into coasting (neutral) more readily than in Normal mode and the throttle response is not as good either. I guess the thinking is that these combined help the fuel efficiency. If the car is coasting it's not slowing down as quickly because there's no engine braking and hence you need to use the throttle a little less.

However, I do wonder how much these little tricks do actually help. Is it actually noticeable? And then coupled with the complications of implementing the tech, does the car become less reliable?

[Ootohere]

'Coasting' and the Gears disengaged in no Accelerator, toe off the pedal. There is no engine braking when there is just D showing and not D7, D6. D5 etc. 

 

1.5TSI ACT  (COD  Audi)  have been on the go enough years now.   The Active Cylinder on Demand /   Cylinder on Demand is reliable enough after these years of them being in production and the Software sorted out after the 2018 mess getting the WLTP / RDE2 results. 

[kodiaqsportline]

3 hours ago, linni said:

Sorry if I am not catching it all up, but: ECO mode and ACT are totally different things.

 

But that's not what is being discussed.

 

The ECO light illuminates only when running on 2cyl.  You're refering to ECO drive mode.

 

The ECO light and ECO drive mode are two seperate things.

 

G-man -  They way my car works is that leaf symbol only illuminates when the car is in 2-cyl mode, it doesn't illuminate to tell me I'm in ECO drive mode - quite the opposite. As above, the owners manual on my car appears to have been written by someone who hasn't driven the car.

 

Rooted - when my car is coasting, neither the ECO symbol or the leaf / tree symbol illuminates so unsure what that's telling me. No cylinders running?

 

I'll occasionally see them when the car is in cruise, but it's when I'm driving that they'll display more frequently. One of the benefits of driving like an old man on his way to church on a Sunday morning.

 

Auto engine shut off will save some fuel / emissions whilst waiting in traffic, but to be honest, I'm not sure ACT saves any appreciable amount of fuel simply because it's on less than 1% of the journey time. This is now our 4th VW product with cylinder deactivation and it's a bit of a gimmick if I'm being honest. No doubt will cost a fortune tho if it goes wrong.

Edited 6 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[linni]

Yes, thats what I am talking about. Messy. ECO mode, ECO light, ACT somewhere between them.

 

Anyway, switching off half of the cylinders on 4 cyl engine is ridicoulous itself. Could understand it was V12 or at least V8.

 

Cannot imagine what they do next to get the emissions figures down, even virtually.

 

[kodiaqsportline]

11 minutes ago, linni said:

Yes, thats what I am talking about. Messy. ECO mode, ECO light, ACT somewhere between them.

 

Anyway, switching off half of the cylinders on 4 cyl engine is ridicoulous itself. Could understand it was V12 or at least V8.

 

Cannot imagine what they do next to get the emissions figures down, even virtually.

 

 

That reminds me of a Cadillac that was launched when i was in Canada, I think around the late70's, early 80's. That was a V8 or rather a V8-6-4. In response to rising fuel costs, GM designed a smaller Cadillac with a V8 which could shut off 2 or 4 of it's cylinders to save fuel. 

 

However owners renamed it the V8-6-0 as they kept breaking down. The engine was ditched. In all that time, VW were the first mainstream company I'd come across who tried the technology again. Must admit I thought it would have been a complete disaster but I was wrong.  

Edited 6 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[Ootohere]

@kodiaqsportline

No Cylinders running only happens when the engine is stopped / off in your vehicles with the 1.4 or 1.5 TSI ACT in a Skoda.

 

...................

As to Active Cylinder Technology /  Cylinder on demand, that is  the 2 or 4 cylinder going up and down, and it was first on the 12 and 8 cylinder engines on Bentleys.

 

(There are VW Engines that do stop the engine while the car is still moving. & not just Mild Hybrid or PHEV,s) 

 

2012.   Vorsprung Durch Technik.

 

 

 

 

2013.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 7 November, 2023 by Rooted

[kodiaqsportline]

Drove the car today and paid attention to the ECO symbol.  What I said above is complete b0ll0cks

 

The ECO symbol illuminates in any drive mode. The leaf / tree thing only appears in ECO drive mode and it's always white - I thought it turned green when 2 cyl was activated. 

 

And just to confuse matters further , when the leaf first appears, a second  ECO icon makes itself known.

 

I've only been driving this car for 3 years... 

Edited 7 November, 2023 by kodiaqsportline

[G-man-kodiaq]

No wonder in MY2023 they decided to get rid of the Eco icon, it's all too confusing. But then you get people like me who wonder if 2 cylinder mode is even working 🙂 

 

As for fuel economy I find it's OK. Not stellar approaching 40mpg on a good run, but then it is a big car. My previous car was a 1.6 diesel Nissan Qashqai+2 and I reckon the Qashqai was nearly 50% more efficient than the Kodiaq, based on the car's claimed MPG.

 

But diesel is evil now, so had to switch to a petrol. But I do quite a low mileage these days so it's fine. It's probably about as efficient as my 2003 Audi A4 1.8T, which was obviously a much smaller, lighter car from 20 years. I don't change cars very often 😄 

[silver1011]

The activation of ACT on my 1.4 TSI is noticeable to me, but not my wife.

 

Sometimes it’ll very briefly hesitate when the cylinders restart.

 

The most obvious indication is the fact the engine note alters, turning two cylinders off cannot be done without the engine sounding different. I guess those that notice it might just be more observant, or have the radio turned off…

[Ootohere]

The ACT / COD Engines have evolved and changed and not just the Cubic Capacity, it is 1.5 TSI EVO engines and then the Software / Engine Management that they were released with and then the Software and changes not just for the WLTP / RDE2 but to have them behave and be fit for actual Real World, not Real World Test kidology.