GTI Low speed throttle (on/off switch)

[hooba]

The other day I was coming out of the basement in Westfield Burwood and tried climbing the ramp in 1st gear with the clutch fully out, and only a hint of throttle to give it enough momentum to keep climbing. The car almost died in the ass and nearly stalled as the throttle difficult to regulate just off idle. I didn't want more than 2000rpm, and in the end I ended up riding the clutch more than I would have liked.

The throttle feels like an on off switch which makes low speed manoeuvring tricky, and it got me wondering whether:

a) Anybody else with a manual has had similar challenges
b) The usual criticism you see from journalists about the DSG's poor low speed operation is related to the fly by wire throttle

Thoughts? Happy to be told that it is time for this old timer to stick to two pedals.

[sh|tbmxrider]

I have experienced electronic throttle pedals in other brands that feel like a on/off switch at the start of the travel.

[SMOK3Y]

well to be honest my throttle is good for feel but... the brake pedal feels like a an on/off switch to me has taken alot to get used to

[The_Hawk]

The 118TSI has what sounds like a similar feel to the throttle and clutch.

Personally I am used to blipping the throttle on downshift but am struggling with getting that to work. Maybe it's more to do with a much smaller forced induction engine rather than a larger naturally aspirated one, but that "blip" now needs to be more of a good press and hold to get the revs up.

The clutch seems like it has a far more aggressive bite point over a much shorter space making it feel more like an on/off rather than a gentle easing in. The brakes have the same very aggressive bite too.

In reality it's something I sure I will get used to, to be very fair the Multivan had a similar brake feel at first too, probably aided in the fact that we moved from 10+ year old vehicles to something so shiny and new.

[elephino]

I have stalled a couple of times when trying to be too gentle at take off as it felt like the throttle was taking a little too long at small applications. But, once the clutch pedal is fully up, I haven't had trouble modulating in first gear at light throttle.

The brakes take a little getting used to and I've found that if I've driven another car (most recently a Falcon hire car) and get back in my car, the first couple of braking applications feel a bit rough and heavy.

[mfl]

elephino

I haven't found the same issue, throttle sensitivity seems good in the conditions you described,

The Hawk,
but in regards to blipping I have also found that the revs only increases slightly when I try to blip the throttle when downshifting, I assuming its a function of the turbo (I am a newbie at turbo engines)

[The_Hawk]

(I am a newbie at turbo engines)

Me too. I'm quickly getting used to the way this car responds and feels

[Ryan_R]

I've experienced it a couple of times, but when climbing multi-story car parks haven't really had an issue when the SprintBooster is turned on, I just give the throttle a lil' nudge and it's happy.

[SMOK3Y]

The brakes take a little getting used to and I've found that if I've driven another car (most recently a Falcon hire car) and get back in my car, the first couple of braking applications feel a bit rough and heavy.

ya i went from SS to golf big difference in brake feel

[Wolfgang]

ya i went from SS to golf big difference in brake feel

When I drive works Diahatsu tipper all day then jump in my Golf I nearly fire myself out the back window accelerating and through the windscreen when I hit the brakes. Haha!

[elephino]

ya i went from SS to golf big difference in brake feel

Worst version of that was when I had a 91 Nissan Pulsar and test drove a Honda Civic, which had a super-light clutch in comparison. I could hardly put the clutch down in the Nissan.

mfl, for me it's when coming off idle. Most likely I'm going too far up with the clutch rather than the throttle being the problem. But I've had an issue with another car where it had an idle mapping and it took too long to switch to a normal mapping if you're too quick to drive off (not likely the issue here as on the other car it was very clear what was happening).

[SMOK3Y]

When I drive works Diahatsu tipper all day then jump in my Golf I nearly fire myself out the back window accelerating and through the windscreen when I hit the brakes. Haha!

ya when i had the SS ute i hired a toyota corolla for a week (peice of ****e) when i hopped back in ute i was going through back window lol

[slam]

The other day I was coming out of the basement in Westfield Burwood and tried climbing the ramp in 1st gear with the clutch fully out, and only a hint of throttle to give it enough momentum to keep climbing. The car almost died in the ass and nearly stalled as the throttle difficult to regulate just off idle. I didn't want more than 2000rpm, and in the end I ended up riding the clutch more than I would have liked.

The throttle feels like an on off switch which makes low speed manoeuvring tricky, and it got me wondering whether:

a) Anybody else with a manual has had similar challenges
b) The usual criticism you see from journalists about the DSG's poor low speed operation is related to the fly by wire throttle

Thoughts? Happy to be told that it is time for this old timer to stick to two pedals.

Hi Hooba,

I've noticed exactly the same thing in my manual Mk6 GTi. I owned a manual Mk5 TDi before getting the GTi and the low speed throttle control was definitely much smoother in the TDi. It was so easy to drive the TDi in uphill stop / start traffic - the car was very happy to crawl uphill in 1st gear between 900 - 1,200rpm.

It's impossible to do the same in the GTi.

Does anyone know if the Mk5 Golf had fly by wire throttle or not?

[Corey_R]

The MK6 and MKV throttle is identical from everything I've seen... (at least in the case of the GTI and R's etc)

[bigdave260]

Hi Hooba,

...the car was very happy to crawl uphill in 1st gear between 900 - 1,200rpm.

It's impossible to do the same in the GTi.

I actually found this to be really easy in the GTI, especially when you compare it with something like a Golf 77TSI which I could not get up some of the hills in Paddington without unacceptable levels of clutch abuse.

Dave