Hi folks.

I took my new to me 73 plate 2.0 tsi L&K for its first long motorway run this week.

I noticed that under certain cruising conditions the revs drop down to tick over and the gear indicator goes from 7th to nothing at all.

As soon as I touched the throttle 7th indicated and the revs came back up to normal for 70mph in 7th.

Is the car effectively coasting under these circumstances?

Yes - basically trading off the small amount of fuel needed to keep the engine idling without the engine drag so rolling for faster for longer,

Versus

No fuel while the car is rolling-with-no-throttle-in-gear but slowing down quicker as a result and lasting for less time.

As a facelift it should happen for you in Eco and Normal profiles. But if you tap the gearstick back into Sport it won’t do it anymore (note that is Sport gearbox mode (sporty version of drive) which you can do in any profile, not the Sport driving profile - which will be in Sport DSG all the time).

Kind of obviously, if you knock it over to manual/pull a steering wheel paddle it will also let the clutch back out.

Whether it really actually adds anything is pretty subjective and condition-specific. Either way, it’s doing what it was designed to do 👍🏼

Edited 22 May, 20251 yr by travs

Thanks for the explanation Travs.

I sort of guessed it is all to do with emissions, but we were always told never to put the car in to manual and coast for safety and stability reasons.

I assume the car would only enter this coasting mode under very specific circumstances. Not going down a hill with bends for example!

It will do it going down hill with bends. But you can touch the brake pedal or accelerator and it is back in Drive.

Bentley,s. Audi,s, VW,s and Porsche were using GPS early doors to know when to Coast or shut down Cylinders, run EV etc & now there are Skoda & SEATS that know where they are and what is coming up and how much power / cylinders etc is needed or braking or use of the drivetrain,

'Coasting' mode as designed is not like putting a manual or auto into N or clutch in and the Highway Code or advice about Coasting.

Does the same thing for you though without needing to do the movement of a gear stick / clutch and you are in control.

Here is a picture of mine in 'coasting' mode, you can see it is in 'D' (drive) but no gear position shown and at the top of the virtual cockpit it also shows 'Eco' within a circle.

The revs drop to about 200rpm more than normal tickover until coasting is cancelled.

Sorry for the poor photo, it was taken while driving up a private driveway.

2 hours ago, Ootohere said:

'Coasting' mode as designed is not like putting a manual or auto into N or clutch in and the Highway Code or advice about Coasting.

Perhaps true, but I still feel that not every clutch-ing and de-clutch-ing when entering/exiting Coast Mode is really and absolutely necessary. More wear on components which are already not the most reliable in their class ....

Not to mention waste of brake material instead of using the engine to slow down ....

Personally I've grown to dislike it immensely, and often drive in Sport just not to have it.

Know that it can be coded out of Normal, but still in the "to do" list ....

Coasting is great. I use it all the time. On long motorway hills it coasts for until I blip the throttle or brake pedal, whereas on a shorter, shallower one in town it seems to know when to switch off and drop down the gears to slow up.

@leolito You are not using brakes unless using brakes, tapping the brake pedal to be back in drive is nothing.

Not using brakes and rusted discs will cost more for many drivers.

As far as what you feel about clutches engaging and disengaging and wear and tear it is good that you think you can avoid this.

@leolito - as soon as you touch the brakes (say going downhill) the engine re-engages so you’ll not be braking harder to compensate for a lack of engine-braking. Although it doesn’t happen under a certain low speed like 20mph.

13 hours ago, Pooroldcodger said:

Thanks for the explanation Travs.

I sort of guessed it is all to do with emissions, but we were always told never to put the car in to manual and coast for safety and stability reasons.

I assume the car would only enter this coasting mode under very specific circumstances. Not going down a hill with bends for example!

I think it’s marginal at best for emissions. I’ve had just as decent economy in sport mode being careful on the throttle and enjoying the 0mpg when lifting off. Obviously VW want to be seen to be emissions-focussed given their scandal but it’s not some sort of game changer.

It’s not out of gear, it’s just like driving a manual in gear but dipping the clutch and rolling to disconnect the engine and running gear. Actually out of gear would be ‘out of control’ as per the Highway Code (and presumably whichever equivalent in all the other countries). This is obviously legislation-compliant.

It is not marginal where the route suits and you might be using less fuel.

Head from the coast in Scotland towards the centre, mountains / hills you are going sea level to maybe 2,000 feet above sea level.

You are using fuel climbing, coming back not using Coasting then maybe less fuel used because mostly down hill.

Use coasting next time returning, and see if you save fuel.

Come into Glasgow from the south on the M77 and down into Glasgow and in the 4-5 miles if you are able to keep moving and Coasting you can compare to doing the same at another time and not coasting.

Location location location. But Coasting Enabled costs you nothing to try and when you do the same journeys regularly you can do a tanks worth with you using 'Coasting' and another time without. See if one way is more economic fuel wise than the other,

Less fuel used is also less emissions if the engine is working efficiently.

Even 40 miles extra range if using Coasting is a win if your travel times are the same for just keeping your toe off the accelerator when going down hill or there is no load on the engine.

It is not Rocket Science, most kids learn when the cycle what is least work and a use of energy, up hill or down dale.

Drive an electric car and see how the power meter drops going down hill, and if you have increased regen braking on or not you can gain energy into the battery. Freewheeling / coasting or retarding speed slightly.

Edited 23 May, 20251 yr by Ootohere

The worst thing about coasting is the cars coasting and still catching up with slow buggers on a flat road 😂

I like the shifting in ECO mode, changes up nicely around 17-1800, but the coasting function is truly awful and i believe completely unnecessary. I do like to drive with engine braking quite alot, and the way it coasts in this mode is not good at all. In my other driving modes it doesn't do that thankfully so normal mode is where i keep the car now. I'm looking into using the obd to disable coasting from the eco program, i think it's simple enough done if you have the right app. That and disabling the start stop nonsense is what i would like to do.

Can you not use individual mode, and have everything in eco setting - or does this turn the coasting on too?

I just leave mine in normal. When I'm having fun I'll put it in sport and then individual is for motorway use (everything to comfort, steering to sport).

I've tried eco mode a few times. The coasting annoys me. Could be worse - the brand new SEAT's I've been in have all done it in every mode!

2 hours ago, OccyVRS said:

Can you not use individual mode, and have everything in eco setting - or does this turn the coasting on too?

I just leave mine in normal. When I'm having fun I'll put it in sport and then individual is for motorway use (everything to comfort, steering to sport).

I've tried eco mode a few times. The coasting annoys me. Could be worse - the brand new SEAT's I've been in have all done it in every mode!

Coasting works in Eco and Normal. I'd say it's even more aggressive in eco.

@MikkyTee what engine and DSG has your car?

Is it the 1.6 TDI with a DQ200 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG?

A whole other kettle of fish from a 2.0 TSI with a DQ381 DSG.

Edited 23 May, 20251 yr by Ootohere

Have done the same route a variety of times; paying particular attention to coasting to maximum effect. Not bothered what anyone else thinks, it’s definitely marginal to me.

I like using the coasting. Maybe it's because I remember driving two-stokes in the 1960s which had a lockable freewheel to avoid the engine being starved of fuel and lubrication on the overrun. That was freewheeling though and you didn't get engine braking if you applied the brakes.

We regularly visit Merthyr Tydfil from Brecon and on the return journey, there are some long straight downhill sections where I can coast and maintain 60mph, whereas the car would slow down if it was in gear. I can sometimes coast up to a roundabout or junction and only use the brakes when I'm close to them, though this is fine if the road's quiet, but not when you're in traffic and there are other cars around you.

In a month or two's time, were moving to Lincoln, so I won't have any hills to coast down around there!

I dislike coasting. I bought a 280tsi because I enjoy driving .. errr … expeditiously. I didn’t buy it for its economy! The sort of roads I mostly drive on speed is constantly changing due to bends etc and the clutch going in and out all the time would drive me nuts. Fortunately it is easy to disable via VCDS.

Decades ago when I was skint I had a Saab 96 with freewheel, that was fine but now I drive in a different way.

Interesting feedback! To be honest I was completely surprised by this feature as I didn't realise it was a thing.

I only noticed because the revs dropped and the gear indicator indicated I wasn't in any gear at all!

I can live with it though.

One thing I am less happy with is stop start. I can see the need for that when you are sat at traffic lights or in a predictable queue. But otherwise I now turn it off.

I hate it when you are waiting to do a right turn, and you ease up to the white line, wait..... and then the bloody engine switches off, so you then have a delay when you want to turn.

Last week we were in the Lake District. As many of you will know, the A66 is mainly a national speed limit , very busy road with numerous entrance points from smaller roads.

If you are entering a 60mph road from a standing start then you need to pay extra attention. When a suitable gap appears, the last thing you need is the delay as the engine has to re-start.

Anybody else agree with me?

4 hours ago, Pooroldcodger said:

Interesting feedback! To be honest I was completely surprised by this feature as I didn't realise it was a thing.

I only noticed because the revs dropped and the gear indicator indicated I wasn't in any gear at all!

I can live with it though.

One thing I am less happy with is stop start. I can see the need for that when you are sat at traffic lights or in a predictable queue. But otherwise I now turn it off.

I hate it when you are waiting to do a right turn, and you ease up to the white line, wait..... and then the bloody engine switches off, so you then have a delay when you want to turn.

Last week we were in the Lake District. As many of you will know, the A66 is mainly a national speed limit , very busy road with numerous entrance points from smaller roads.

If you are entering a 60mph road from a standing start then you need to pay extra attention. When a suitable gap appears, the last thing you need is the delay as the engine has to re-start.

Anybody else agree with me?

For stop start, just click the gearstick back so it goes into sport mode. Dash will S instead of D or E. Stopstart doesn’t happen and you can be as reactive/lively as you need. Once on the move just do the same and it’ll go back into whatever mode you were in.

15 hours ago, Pooroldcodger said:

Interesting feedback! To be honest I was completely surprised by this feature as I didn't realise it was a thing.

I only noticed because the revs dropped and the gear indicator indicated I wasn't in any gear at all!

I can live with it though.

One thing I am less happy with is stop start. I can see the need for that when you are sat at traffic lights or in a predictable queue. But otherwise I now turn it off.

I hate it when you are waiting to do a right turn, and you ease up to the white line, wait..... and then the bloody engine switches off, so you then have a delay when you want to turn.

Last week we were in the Lake District. As many of you will know, the A66 is mainly a national speed limit , very busy road with numerous entrance points from smaller roads.

If you are entering a 60mph road from a standing start then you need to pay extra attention. When a suitable gap appears, the last thing you need is the delay as the engine has to re-start.

Anybody else agree with me?

I've read there is a way to disable the start stop, by fooling the cpu into thinking the battery isnt charged enough. So even if it is enabled, it wont function and it stays like that until you change it again.

Seen it on here somewhere, using obdeleven.

21 minutes ago, MikkyTee said:

I've read there is a way to disable the start stop, by fooling the cpu into thinking the battery isnt charged enough. So even if it is enabled, it wont function and it stays like that until you change it again.

Seen it on here somewhere, using obdeleven.

That has knock-on effects though. You can buy a dongle that connects to the S/S switch and gives persistence to the last setting. So once you switch S/S off, it stays off until you switch it on again. Fooling the ECU about battery charging is not a great idea, IMO.

Thanks for the tip Travs. I will do that in future.

MikkyTee - wouldn't it be easier just to switch off the start stop system using the switch next to the gear lever?

10 hours ago, EnterName said:

Fooling the ECU about battery charging is not a great idea, IMO.

Hi,

I've done this modification on my Mk3 almost from the beginning. Though I didn't disable completely the S&S.

Factory setting of start limit voltage is 7.6V.

I've pushed it to 9.0V So that it doesn't kick in too often. (This value is just a question of 'taste').

If it's set to 12.0V, then S&S is completely disabled.

I've lurked for years on Audi and Skoda forums, I've never read someone reporting problems related to S&S disabled using this method.

I plan to do the same on my current Kodiaq Mk1

However Im' curious to know, what makes you think it's not a great idea. Feel free to explain. I may have missed some point.

TIA