R32 manual transmission

[R3223R]

Hi everyone,

I had my car for 1 month now and it is a wonderful car to drive. However, I have notice some noise coming from the transmission when I release the clutch in low gears most of the time. There is no crashing of the gears just a low but noticable mechanical noise. Also find it very hard to shift from 1->2 and 2->3 smoothly at engine speed above 2000rpm. I never experience this for my old VR6 for the past 12 years and not sure if this is normal.

Any maual R32 owner experience similar problems?

[acdcfan]

Hi everyone,

I had my car for 1 month now and it is a wonderful car to drive. However, I have notice some noise coming from the transmission when I release the clutch in low gears most of the time. There is no crashing of the gears just a low but noticable mechanical noise. Also find it very hard to shift from 1->2 and 2->3 smoothly at engine speed above 2000rpm. I never experience this for my old VR6 for the past 12 years and not sure if this is normal.

Any maual R32 owner experience similar problems?

Get the clutch looked at. Maybe clutch plate or you're not pushing clutch all the way down ( please don't hit me ).

[R3223R]

Thanks for the reply. I think it's time to bring it in for a health check before any real damage is done. I defintely push the clutch all the way everytime and I don't think the noise and the rough upshift in low gears is normal.

[Panman]

I have the same issue, it seems to be drivetrain related, and something specific to the R32 - so maybe to do with the rear driveshaft. Sort of a "shunting" noise - the Haldex engaging maybe?

WIth practice (now 3 months) it does become quieter but more noticable in the lower gears - it's almost as if you need to double on the way up as well as down.

Haven't noticed it in any of the GTis I've driven.

[R3223R]

It's comforting to know I am not the only one having the problem. I am not too concern about the noise at the moment unless it gets louder over time. It's the roughness of the upshift in low gears that's bothering me. I have the car for a month now and still not used to that. Upshifting from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3 in any rev higher than 200 jerks like a bad downshifting. Upshifting from 3->4->5->6 is silky smooth. Strange problem!

[Panman]

I've found I needed to slow down my clutch release. I know it seems odd that you need to do that for upshifts, but it seems to take the "shift shock" out of it.

The R32 seems to tempt you to drive quickly but you need to be quite deliberate about the upshift and not rush letting the clutch out.

[R3223R]

I also tried letting out the clutch slowly and it helps sometimes but I probably need more practice on this to perfect it. This must be a feature of R32 and may be the reason why the 0-100 time is slower the the DSG ?

[itgwv]

Use to have a WRX and would get varying jolts from the rear diff on up changes in low gears when giving it stick. Drove a manual R32 few weeks back and didn't notice anything but now i will be on the look out if i hopefully get my deal sorted in the next few weeks.

[Panman]

I had one of the two door STis and the driveline shunt in that was worse than the a standard Rex, and certainly worse than the R32.

The reason that the DSG is quicker is primarily down to shift speed and launch control.

[R3223R]

Just google "vw r32 manual drivetrain jerk" and comes up with the following link in a WRX/STI forum:

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27777

It describes exactly the same problem I am experiencing so I guess it's common on high performance manual cars. I have been driving manual cars for over 15 years and I thought shifting becomes 2nd nature to me. I guess I have to learn some new tricks all over again.

There must be a way to shift quickly and smoothly. This give me more excuse to drive! Not a bad thing in a R32.

[DaveMack]

If you find you can't get used to it ...

Just google "vw r32 manual drivetrain jerk" and comes up with the following link in a WRX/STI forum:

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27777

It describes exactly the same problem I am experiencing so I guess it's common on high performance manual cars. I have been driving manual cars for over 15 years and I thought shifting becomes 2nd nature to me. I guess I have to learn some new tricks all over again.

There must be a way to shift quickly and smoothly. This give me more excuse to drive! Not a bad thing in a R32.

... I'll swap my Pogo for the R32 any day.

Cheers,
Dave

[R3223R]

Dave,

I am not complaining. Love to take the R for a spin any time of the day. And nothing beats the feeling of perfect executed shift. That's why I opt for the 6 speed manual over a DSG. DSG is fast and smooth but lack of any invlovment of driving. BTW, what is a "Pogo"

[DaveMack]

Look at my sig.

Dave,

I am not complaining. Love to take the R for a spin any time of the day. And nothing beats the feeling of perfect executed shift. That's why I opt for the 6 speed manual over a DSG. DSG is fast and smooth but lack of any invlovment of driving. BTW, what is a "Pogo"

Polo GTI, Candy White, APR, Tinted.

OK ... it's a couple of cylinders short of an R32 ... but the shift is silky smooth (even if it only has 5-speed).

Cheers,
Dave

[qsilverza]

I find with the 4motion I have, the shifts and the launch are quite difficult to get right.

I have found releasing the throttle slower helps and car doesn't lurch so much. Once you get into the higher rev ranges it is easy as pie to get it right.

[R3223R]

After couple of weeks of trial and error, I think I start to get the hang of a smooth upshift now. I was taught to treat the clutch as an on/off switch once the car gets going. But on the R32, I found that I need to slip the clutch a bit and apply a little throttle at the same time to get the upshift from 1->2 and 2->3 smoothly. I still get a jolt at times but when I do it right, it feels good.