1st gear

[pixl]

I'm hoping someone can explain why first gear on the Polo GTI behaves the way it does.

I'm at a red light, waiting to get on the freeway. Out of sheer curiosity, I wanted to see how long I could stay in first gear. I reached 50km/h and then that's it; no more power. The engine is at about 5200rpm and in no way does the engine sound like it's struggling, yet something is holding it back.

Second and third are by far the best gears, even if you're doing 40 and need to reach 100, you can be lazy in third and it'll get there just fine.

Maybe the whole 50km/h in 1st is a bad example. Even simply changing from 1st to 2nd is a bit jerky, no matter how concious I am about making a smooth gear change, but from 2nd to 3rd and into 4th, there's no hint of jerkiness at all.

Is there anything I can do (besides a remap) that will smooth out 1st gear, or is it strictly an ECU thing?

[philthy]

I'm hoping someone can explain why first gear on the Polo GTI behaves the way it does.

I'm at a red light, waiting to get on the freeway. Out of sheer curiosity, I wanted to see how long I could stay in first gear. I reached 50km/h and then that's it; no more power. The engine is at about 5200rpm and in no way does the engine sound like it's struggling, yet something is holding it back.

Second and third are by far the best gears, even if you're doing 40 and need to reach 100, you can be lazy in third and it'll get there just fine.

Maybe the whole 50km/h in 1st is a bad example. Even simply changing from 1st to 2nd is a bit jerky, no matter how concious I am about making a smooth gear change, but from 2nd to 3rd and into 4th, there's no hint of jerkiness at all.

Is there anything I can do (besides a remap) that will smooth out 1st gear, or is it strictly an ECU thing?

That's odd, you should be able to redline in first ( I think it's around 7500 rpm or so.. haven't checked in a while ). Should definitely pull more than 50 k/hr tho ??

[mickofoz]

Man, if I push my '07 GTI in first gear, it would take the best part of 2 sec before I hit the rev limiter. You should have yours checked out by the dealer.

[Y2008]

I definitely remember pushing first gear a few times to quite high rpms but its definitely my least favourite gear in the car. About the jerkiness i remember trying everything to limit the jerkiness when my grandma was visiting as she has neck problems. The best result came from installing the SEAT intake which has really reduced the unnecessary pull between first and second and also a bit from second to third. The only other way to avoid the jerkiness is to shift before you reach 2500-3000rpm where the boost kicks in. But the SEAT intake has made a massive difference. My brother who is very agitated by jerkiness has commented that the car seems a lot smoother and thats before I told him about the intake.

[Chuck]

a slight bit of clutch abuse and slightly riding it into second will ensure smooth change..i find this works best if you depress the clutch for the change after 5 grand whilst still letting the revs climb then finding second with a slightly slower letting out of the clutch..i give myself a slight pat on the back when i manage to get a seemless change as it can be difficult to achieve!

i hope that makes sense

[Bluey9N]

1st - 2nd change is def the hardest to get smooth, i take about a second to make a change from 1 - 2 so it doesnt crunch, jerk etc. The other gears you can smash it around it doesnst seem to matter.

Is 1st gear synchromeshed?

[danish]

I definitely remember pushing first gear a few times to quite high rpms but its definitely my least favourite gear in the car. About the jerkiness i remember trying everything to limit the jerkiness when my grandma was visiting as she has neck problems. The best result came from installing the SEAT intake which has really reduced the unnecessary pull between first and second and also a bit from second to third. The only other way to avoid the jerkiness is to shift before you reach 2500-3000rpm where the boost kicks in. But the SEAT intake has made a massive difference. My brother who is very agitated by jerkiness has commented that the car seems a lot smoother and thats before I told him about the intake.

I just take off in 2nd whenever I have my Nan in the car. Much easier than trying to get a smooth 1-2 change

[Petrina Polo]

Are you cruising in first gear? dumping boost as you fiddle with the throttle and then letting it spool up again.. Of course its going to be jerky..

The only problem with my first gear is a lack of traction.

[noone]

Sounds like the ECU is making the car safe for you... Thanks...

Chip the damn thing, its good value.

[Chuck]

a slight bit of clutch abuse and slightly riding it into second will ensure smooth change..i find this works best if you depress the clutch for the change after 5 grand whilst still letting the revs climb then finding second with a slightly slower letting out of the clutch..i give myself a slight pat on the back when i manage to get a seemless change as it can be difficult to achieve!

i hope that makes sense

this thread made me analyse my change style last night whilst driving :

The above quote it should be stated i use when hammering it...under normal driving conditions i find its just a timing thing of throttle on/clutch off that keeps it smooth for me

[MINTpolo]

Okay, this is gonna be hard for me to explain but here goes,

I think that the problem is that you describe of a lack of power in 1st gear is due to the turbo not being loaded up at those kind of rpm's because of the way you accelerated. If you have accelerated gently or backed off, due to the short gearing in 1st, the turbo will be "unloaded" and not able to deliver full boost without putting load on the engine again (i.e shifting to 2nd gear). Its the same reason you cant gain much if any boost in neutral, the engine is unloaded and the tubo won't spin up to speed due to their being minimal exhaust flow and pressure.

Its easy to simulate again, drive at partial throttle in 1st gear to about 40km/hr, hold that speed with light throttle and then floor it, the car wont respond like it would from a standstill because the turbo cant spin up to speed to deliver full boost.

Is this what you meant? because i used to notice it when i had my polo, accelerating in 1st around a corner, easing off to round the corner, dumping the boost, and not being able to regain it due to the short gearing. Much better idea is to short shift to 2nd, load up that turbo and receive full boost!

As for the jerky shifting, i always found the polo clutch and gearbox did not lend themselves to "fluid" gear changes, clutch slippage is the easiest way to reduce it. Engine mounts and torque dampers etc. may help.

[Ralfi]

1st takes me to at least 60kmh consistantly, but it can go further, just haven't pushed it.

I usually start at 1500revs from standstill & gently put the foot down from there to get to 60kmh.

I'll get aggressive one day......bare with me - coming from an 86 corolla.

[Buller_Scott]

sounds like a rev-matching issue.

even though its a different ball game, in the diesel, if im running, i'll go from first to second to third, and in each case im onto the accelerator pedal way before i release the clutch.

no jerkiness in that case. i'd experiment more with rev matching [some guys on the club can and have driven in town, doing normal gear changes, WITHOUT using the clutch, simply by rev matching] but i dont like crunchy sounds.

[ACTGTI]

Okay, this is gonna be hard for me to explain but here goes,

I think that the problem is that you describe of a lack of power in 1st gear is due to the turbo not being loaded up at those kind of rpm's because of the way you accelerated. If you have accelerated gently or backed off, due to the short gearing in 1st, the turbo will be "unloaded" and not able to deliver full boost without putting load on the engine again (i.e shifting to 2nd gear). Its the same reason you cant gain much if any boost in neutral, the engine is unloaded and the tubo won't spin up to speed due to their being minimal exhaust flow and pressure.

Its easy to simulate again, drive at partial throttle in 1st gear to about 40km/hr, hold that speed with light throttle and then floor it, the car wont respond like it would from a standstill because the turbo cant spin up to speed to deliver full boost.

Is this what you meant? because i used to notice it when i had my polo, accelerating in 1st around a corner, easing off to round the corner, dumping the boost, and not being able to regain it due to the short gearing. Much better idea is to short shift to 2nd, load up that turbo and receive full boost!

As for the jerky shifting, i always found the polo clutch and gearbox did not lend themselves to "fluid" gear changes, clutch slippage is the easiest way to reduce it. Engine mounts and torque dampers etc. may help.

Really well explained, I've found this as well.