2010 DSG JETTA TDI vs 2005 DSG MK5 Golf TDI

[Chewbacca]

I have a technical question to ask.

Friend of mine has recently taken delivery of a 2010 DSG Jetta 103 KW. he upgraded from a Honda Jazz so I was very surprised to hear that he was complaining about the lack of responsiveness from the TDI engine.

Having driven my 2005 103 KW DSG Golf MkV for the last 2 years I was stunned to hear that , since my car absolutely flys through the gears as you feel that incredible torque and deep and powerful engine noise ....as it pulls away quite comfortably.

I noticed that he was considering doing a powerchip or some other sort of modification to get more response from the engine.

To understand what was going on I thought I would drive his car and to my surprise I did notice a significant difference in his brand new car compared to my older car.

As I was driving the car I felt that it did not rev as much as it should and when it did it delivered no where the incredible pull I am used to!!!

When in Park I tried to rev the engine and noticed tha car would not rev past 2000 rpms. Not quite sure if this is a safety mechanism in newer TDIs or if there is actually something wrong with the engine.

Is the extra weight of the Jetta perhaps making that much difference to the power delivery?

Is the implementation of more stringent emission targets resulted in lower power at lower rev ranges?

I will ask him to take back his car to the dealership but wanted to see if there were any thoughts about what could have possibly caused this!!!

I loved the MKV TDI DSG so much that I am now waiting for a MK6 GTI .... so not sure how a newer could could feel less powerful!!!

Any thoughts?

[westpest]

I have a 2010 Jetta DSG 103TDI and I certainly do not suffer with the same problem, have done over 16k in 4 months and it has never hinted at any of the symptoms you mentioned and I can rev well over 2k in park, although I did not try to redline...in closing I can only say that to someone of my somewhat mature years this car is scary fast both in acceleration and passing speed.

[Russ59]

How many k's has it done ? If it's done a few thousand already and is lacking power as you describe then it's possible that it hasn't been run in properly. The 103 TDI has more than enough grunt to pull the extra bit of weight in a Jetta, I would also suggest a trip to the dealer for a check. If all else fails it sounds like it needs a damn good fanging to clear the cobwebs

[jessv3]

Have you popped the bonnet? maybe he accidently bought the 77kw tdi I actually noticed something similar to this recently when I drove a brand new mk6 golf 103kw i found it felt significantly slower then an older mk5 103tdi i had driven a few months earlier.. Im assuming its just because its a brand new engine? or maybe the newer tdi's arent as quick?

[Bizi]

Please let us know how you go.

I find that my older-technology PD 103 TDI 2.0 has adequate power to keep up with almost anything until the power and torque tops out and what you describe makes me think that this engine is not right.

Has the engine been properly run in?

[Chewbacca]

Guys

Thanks very much for the direction and comments.

You guys asked for an update ... here is what my friend emailed me this morning.

I took the car to the dealer last Friday for them to drive and see if there are any issues.

After the drive, the service guy said that the car drive normally.

Apparently, in the current model, they tune the engine to ‘smooth’ out the acceleration over a longer range to make it smoother. Thus the lack of ‘flying off’ feeling.

Not too sure about the reving the engine beyond 2000 rpms in park, didn’t ask him then.

I done 3500km so far. He did mention, drive for a while more, if it still doesn’t feel right, can get them to reset it to the factory settling.


In one sense ... he is right the engine on the 2010 Jetta does feel a lot smoother.

But considering the fun I have with my 2005 TDI I think its a great price to pay in the name of achieving smooth power delivery.

Either way maybe the factory reset my help.

I am surprised the dealer says the car drives normally!!!

I would really like to see one of those rev range power delivery graphs comparing older TDIs to the newer Jetta TDIs.

If there is nothing wrong with the car my guess is that in complying with emission laws in many jurisdictions VW have had to change the power delivery profile.

Maybe in the normal operating rev ranges VW have had to compromise on power to ensure lower consumption and lower emissions?

The search goes on.

I have recommended he goes to another dealership and test drives a demo 103KW Jetta DSG to see if it behaves like his recently delivered car.

if they behave the same we will know that this is probably a change made to the entire range compared with the earlier TDI cars.

If that is the case I am surprised motoring publications in reviewing the newer cars have not noted this!!!

Interesting!!