Reversing slowly downhill with a DSG, tow bar options and infotainment update in NZ?

[HenryNZ]

Hello all!

 

New to 7-speed DSG here.  Despite what I have read, my car seems to behave quite well at low speed without any of the jerkiness mentioned on the internet -- with one exception -- I seem to have  problem reversing the car downhill slowly - but I am not sure if it is a problem with auto-hold rather than DSG:

 

My driveway is short but it is steep downhill and has a 45 degree bend about halfway. At the bottom of the driveway is a two-car carport which is a rather tight fit. In the past, with our normal automatic cars, my wife and I have always been reversing our cars slowly down the driveway, by putting the car in reverse and feathering the brakes to slowly "creep" into the carport.

 

However, when I attempted the same manoeuvre with my DSG and autohold-equipped car, I must have braked / slowed down too much such that auto-hold became activated repeatedly. To release the auto-hold, I ended up having to give it some gas which resulted the car lunging  downhill, which in turn caused me to slam on the brake and ended up activating the auto-hold again (and rinse and repeat).

 

My question is, should I: (a) attempt the same with auto-hold off, but keep the car in reverse gear and control the descent by feathering the brake (i.e. what I did with my old AT); (b) attempt the same with auto hold off and also switch the gear to neutral so that the car reverses downhill by gravity, with the speed controlled by feathering the brake or (c) something else? Which way is least harmful to the gearbox or are they all equivalent?

 

I enquired about fitting a tow bar when I purchased the car and was quoted by the dealer NZ$3300 for a third party locally made tow bar. I was gobsmacked by this figure as the tow bar on my last car 10 years ago costed only NZ$400. Admittedly that was 10 years ago and it did not need any special  ECU wiring. I did find a company that will fit a locally made tow bar for just under NZ$1000 including ECU wiring, but it does not seem to integrate with the car function such that one need to manually turn off reversing / park sensor etc. I am just wondering if any fellow Kiwi or our Australian neighbours have similar experience? Do you have recommendations for cheaper alternatives?

 

Despite the salesman telling me the infotainment unit will be most up-to-date at delivery, I am disappointed to find out that the version on the unit is 1900. I have downloaded the files for the two newer versions but I am hesitate to update it myself. Also, since there is no OTA update here in NZ, will a manual DIY update cause problem with the in-built navigation or online-manual? I am under the impression that these can updated over the air after manually updating the software, but this is probably not something available in NZ...

 

Appreciate any comments or suggestions!

 

Henry

 

 

 

 

[Ootohere]

Is it not Rear parking sensors and Autobraking that is happening, like when you reverse towards, fences, bushes, walls etc?

 

If turn off 'Autohold' & keep it in R not N is no good then i have no idea.  .

If it is Hill Hold Assist that is the issue that is different, but i doubt it is that when reversing downhill.

[Winston_Woof]

autohold applies the foot brake so does not operate on the gearbox.

For any parking maneuver I turn it off out of habit as it can be annoying  when inching

 

[Stonekeeper]

5 hours ago, HenryNZ said:

 

 

My question is, should I: (a) attempt the same with auto-hold off, but keep the car in reverse gear and control the descent by feathering the brake (i.e. what I did with my old AT); (b) attempt the same with auto hold off and also switch the gear to neutral so that the car reverses downhill by gravity, with the speed controlled by feathering the brake or (c) something else? Which way is least harmful to the gearbox or are they all equivalent?

 

 

 

 

 

 

(a) is the answer

 

The same you would have done in a regular automatic in reverse

[HenryNZ]

1 hour ago, Stonekeeper said:

 

(a) is the answer

 

The same you would have done in a regular automatic in reverse

Is it going to harm the gearbox? I have read too much about not creeping / inching with DSG, but I don’t think I can reverse into the driveway any other way. Does the rule not apply to reverse gear?

[Stonekeeper]

15 minutes ago, HenryNZ said:

Is it going to harm the gearbox? I have read too much about not creeping / inching with DSG, but I don’t think I can reverse into the driveway any other way. Does the rule not apply to reverse gear?

 

 

The rule is "Don't do it excessively" 

 

It's like riding the clutch in a manual, sometimes you have to. The situation you are describing you have to 

 

The DSG is a manual gearbox with two clutches controlled by a computer.

 

https://www.allthingsmotoringinternational.com/articles/should-you-fear-the-dual-clutch-gearbox

 

 

Edited 5 May by Stonekeeper

[Ootohere]

@HenryNZ  Did you get a vRS with a DQ381 DSG? 

[HenryNZ]

38 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

@HenryNZ  Did you get a vRS with a DQ381 DSG? 

Yes I did. I know the 1.4 TSI is probably more than sufficient but vanity got the better of me… the RS is so much more car and the price difference between the Style and RS (the only two trims available) has decreased a lot with the run out special (it looks like the car is of 2022 vintage based on the VIN and the fact that the infotainment is still stuck at 1900 version). 

[SouthernComfort]

Sadly the DSG and I never got on in the past, however I don't recall any particular antics when reversing. As for the towbar, we have the same options as you describe i.e. either the ridiculously expensive OEM fitted by the dealer, or an aftermarket job which declined as I'm concerned about a less than perfect integration with the electronics. I only wanted one to mount a bike carrier and the Euro style bar isn't suitable for that anyway, so I'll live without it. If your car is a '22 build (if late '22, it will be MY23) it's the same vintage as mine, as is your software. Mine was current at the time I bought the car and I have no issues with it, although I will talk to the dealer about an update at next service. Personally I wouldn't attempt a DIY update, that sort of thing sits just outside my comfort zone I'm afraid.

[aaaaplay]

10 hours ago, HenryNZ said:

Despite the salesman telling me the infotainment unit will be most up-to-date at delivery, I am disappointed to find out that the version on the unit is 1900. I have downloaded the files for the two newer versions but I am hesitate to update it myself. Also, since there is no OTA update here in NZ, will a manual DIY update cause problem with the in-built navigation or online-manual? I am under the impression that these can updated over the air after manually updating the software, but this is probably not something available in NZ...

 

Our LG MOI3 (MIB3) Infotainment units use the same software updates as Europe - I've done the update from 1941 to 1969 myself.

 

For context the Preh MOI3 units used in some of the older Skoda range like the Superb, Karoq, Kamiq, Scala, Kodiaq - pretty much everything else actually - uses the RW or Rest of the World update file.

 

Also of note, we don't get incremental OTA updates like Europe does. We get 1 maybe 2 map releases per year via the Skoda Update Portal - although using the VW update portal and selecting Golf 8 will often get you newer updates sooner. In regards to the online manual that is also not applicable to our cars either.

[HenryNZ]

Tried reversing downhill with auto-hold off and it's a lot better, almost the same as my old automatic transmission car. I do hope doing this will not cause premature wear of the clutch.

 

In a coupe of attempts, the emergency braking was activated causing quite a jolt at the bottom of the driveway. It would appear that the sensor mistaken the acute change in ground level as an "obstacle". However, this did not happen all the time -- it seemed to get triggered if the car was near standstill at the bottom of the slope and I tried to reverse into the levelled carport by giving it gas.

[bigreddognz]

The emergency braking is a real pain, mine does it occasionlly backing out of the driveway (downhill angle) and also backing into the (narrow, but not excessively so) garage. You can turn off the sensors from the screen while in reverse, however it has the annoying side effect of also turning off the reversing camera!  But I learnt to drive with mirrors and they still work!