R36 Stock

[apom]

I went down this road but its like comparing apples with apple pie.

One is a sensible healthy option and the other one makes you smile from ear to ear every time you take a bite!.

[Steve]

I guess you haven't driven the S4

Too much $$$ and no wagon yet

[R34]

Sorry to say guys but I managed to spend a couple of hours in an R36.
Nice enough car with all the gear and I thought the side light coming on when turning corners was very useful.
BUT
It didn't do it for me. Thought it felt slow and doughy in the lower speeds.
More like the transmission was trying to save fuel by not shifting down.
The engine sounded OK below 4,000 but really thrashy above that.
Couple of times I booted it then backed of and the trans didn't seem to want to change up.
Handling was great and I loved that.
This car is probably quicker than my chipped A3 but didn't feel like it.
Theres a lot to be said for low end Turbo power.
I was confused by this drive as my impressions seem to be at odds with everything I read
Might just have to wait for a MK VI GTi

I think I have 335i tastes on a R36 budget

[R36 Dreamer]

Sorry to say guys but I managed to spend a couple of hours in an R36.
Nice enough car with all the gear and I thought the side light coming on when turning corners was very useful.
BUT
It didn't do it for me. Thought it felt slow and doughy in the lower speeds.
More like the transmission was trying to save fuel by not shifting down.
The engine sounded OK below 4,000 but really thrashy above that.
Couple of times I booted it then backed of and the trans didn't seem to want to change up.
Handling was great and I loved that.
This car is probably quicker than my chipped A3 but didn't feel like it.
Theres a lot to be said for low end Turbo power.
I was confused by this drive as my impressions seem to be at odds with everything I read
Might just have to wait for a MK VI GTi

I think I have 335i tastes on a R36 budget

Maybe the car wasn't run in, or maybe you needed to use "s" mode to get more out of it.

I know the exhaust note changes once the car has done a few kms, and gets deeper.

The trans. is adaptive, and so it can get confused with different driving styles. When my wife uses the car for a week, when I get it back it feels like it is changing for economy and takes some kms to get back to "drive it like its stolen mode".

Horses for courses I spose, it is not going to be for everyone, but I much prefer the power delivery of this than my MkV GTI.

And I agree the 335i is a great car, was on my shopping list but I prefer the lower servicing costs and practicality of the bigger Passat.

Good luck with your search.

Jon

[R34]

Thanks Jon
Car has done around 10,000kms
Like in my A3 I find the "S" mode great for track days but a bit too extreme for on the road "S and a half" would be a great setting

[Steve]

Just drive it with the paddles/gear stick. I've had my R36 for over a year and I don't think it's ever been in "S" mode and only gets put in "D" on long highway/freeway journeys.

[Rocket36]

Yeah - tiptronic mode with paddle shift is ideal unless on cruise on the highway. You have full control of what gear you're in.... I wont ever use the stick to shift tiptronically though because the + and - is backwards, only the paddles.

[R34]

Yeah - tiptronic mode with paddle shift is ideal unless on cruise on the highway. You have full control of what gear you're in.... I wont ever use the stick to shift tiptronically though because the + and - is backwards, only the paddles.

Yeah used the paddles and while it helped I still didn't like the sound of this particular cars engine above 4,000.

Hey Rocket, your the first person I've ever met that agrees with the motoring journos about the tiptronic shift direction. I can't fathom why they keep going on about it.
Porsche,Audi,VW,BMW,Nissan etc all got it wrong except for Ford Foulcans according to them.

[Rocket36]

That's because it's true... Ford (in the Falcon and Territory) and Holden (in the entire VE range) got it right!

Pull back to shift up and push forward to shift down... It goes with the natural momentum of the car that way and is the way sequential racing gearboxes all work. I have no idea why car manufacturers think it should be the other way round.

[R34]

It goes with the natural momentum of the car
I've heard that argument made by Aussie Journos before.
Using that theory maybe the accelerator should work the same way
As a normal sports car can accelerate at say 1G I assume our Journos must be too weak to lift their arms above their heads.

Really there's no right or wrong it just amuses/irritates me when these Journo's think they know more than highly trained teams of engineers.

[Rocket36]

Highly trained teams of engineers? LOL!!! What the? The reason most road cars are setup as "push forward to shift up" and "pull back to shift down" in their tiptronic gear boxes is to cater to the majority of people that will buy them. The lower gears in an auto box have always been pulled back, or towards the back of the car to shift to and the higher ones (incl. D) pushed forward towards the front. It is for THAT reason that they make + push forward (for higher gears) and - pull back (for lower gears) for road cars...

Laugh all you like, but the journalists that complain about it are 100% correct. Shifting up in tiptronic mode should be pulled back and shifting down pushed forward. It has nothing to do with "highly trained engineers" that makes most cars end up setup wrong, just that they have to cater for dumb people that think the right way is actually the wrong way.

Bottom line... + Pull Back, - Push Foward is CORRECT. + Push Foward, - Pull Back is WRONG.

[passatpout]

Highly trained teams of engineers? LOL!!! What the? The reason most road cars are setup as "push forward to shift up" and "pull back to shift down" in their tiptronic gear boxes is to cater to the majority of people that will buy them. The lower gears in an auto box have always been pulled back, or towards the back of the car to shift to and the higher ones (incl. D) pushed forward towards the front. It is for THAT reason that they make + push forward (for higher gears) and - pull back (for lower gears) for road cars...

Laugh all you like, but the journalists that complain about it are 100% correct. Shifting up in tiptronic mode should be pulled back and shifting down pushed forward. It has nothing to do with "highly trained engineers" that makes most cars end up setup wrong, just that they have to cater for dumb people that think the right way is actually the wrong way.

Bottom line... + Pull Back, - Push Foward is CORRECT. + Push Foward, - Pull Back is WRONG.

Rocket, this goes as one of your posts that to me makes no sense. You state it's wrong, but don't provide any reason why.

Are you thinking of a corollary with joystick control, where push stick forward = go forward, pull back = slow down?

For what it's worth, most train and tram power controls in Victoria are push to activate - by your logic that would be wrong, yet there's some fairly fundamental reasons why it's appropriate, compared to push forward go faster, pull back slow down.

What about aircraft, where most people (as kids) think that it's push forward to climb, pull back to drop, but they're all set up the other way?

Personally, I've driven various VWs with Tiptronic boxes, and I've driven my old man's VE Calais. Either way doesn't bother me, in much the same way that switching between our cars at home (Passat and Mazda2) means that the indicator stalk changes side. Same thing again - each is valid, there's advantages and disadvantages with both, but there's no difference to the function required.

As for the stab about "highly trained engineers", I happen to be one, and I get quite amused when talking to car people about all sorts of things they believe, until some of the fundamentals are explained to them (a good example was trying to get my ex-father-in-law to explain why a 45 tonne semi, with rubber wheels on asphalt, took a longer distance and time to stop than a 150-tonne train with steel-on-steel).

Now I'm not saying your opinion is wrong, but really it needs to have some more substance to it than "motoring journos are right".

[Rocket36]

hahahaha! I didn't just say motoring journos are right... I explained why push forward to shift up is wrong and vice version with shifting down.

think of the physics of driving. it's far easier and more natural to push forward to shift down (which is done under braking). Likewise under acceleration to pull back when shifting up.

I don't expect everyone to understand and that's fine. There are those in the world who will never understand a lot of things.

[R34]

Sorry Rocket
I found your reasoning totally without basis and backed up with assumptions and no evidence.
Just because it's your opnion doesn't make it right.
Most Motoring Journos I've met are clowns. Just because they get to test a car doesn't mean they are qualified or have any clue how involved car design can be.
You've managed to insult Engineers and the buying public in one post.

I respect your opinion and ask you to respect mine.

I'll leave it at that thanks

[R34]

Drove a new A4 2.0T Quattro Limited Edition.
Very nice car that's for sure.
Is it a $15,000 better car than the R36?
No (IMHO)