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[Audi A3/S3] 2.0 TDI sluggish at low revs


skyblue11
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Hi,

first post here, noticed a few 2.0 TDIs floating about. I've now had a 2.0TDI Sport for nearly two weeks and 500 miles. I'm finding the car pretty sluggish below 1800rpm - to the extent that my other half's Clio DCI feels faster and more flexible. Pick-up seems fine above 1800 though. Does this improve through run-in or is it the way it is with this engine?

I'm also noticing a slight hesitation after pressing the accelerator before anything happens. Is this just the drive-by-wire throttle or should throttle reponse feel instant?

Cheers

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Hiya....welcome to TSN!

Interesting comments, I have never driven a brand spanking new A3 2.0 TDI (well not for the next 4 weeks until mine arrives!) but the demonstrator I had for a day had 1k on the clock and was pretty impressive.

Throttle response and pickup seemed fine as far as I could see. It may well be a bedding in thing as a lot of people have said that their MPG is pretty low for the 1st thousand miles or so.

Have you mentioned it to the dealer? did you test drive a TDI and notice any differemce between yours and theirs?

Cheers

Jay

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Is this not just the way it is with diesels? The actual engine is not very powerful, most of the power comes from the turbo - so until the turbo cuts in it will be slow. It also means that when it does cut in you get as big surge almost like an on/off switch.

Must say this is how the demo 1.9TDI A4s I drove felt to me - and why I went for the 1.8T which was so much smoother and more refined. Even that is still a little sluggish till the turbo cuts in, but the ratio of the power derived from the engine vs. turbo makes for better response below the band and a smoother transition.

diesels work best if you keep your rpm within the turbo range - at which point they do have phenomenal torque.

I will probably get flamed for saying it, but this (and the noise) is why I still wouldnt drive a diesel day to day by choice...

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As a 1.9TDI driver who is going to a 2.0 TDI in the near future, I can agree to this to a certain extent but what I would say is that the pickup in the 2.0 TDI is much more gradual and more of a comparison to a petrol although obviously you still get the 'dead' area below around 1500rpm.

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[ QUOTE ]

Hi,

first post here, noticed a few 2.0 TDIs floating about. I've now had a 2.0TDI Sport for nearly two weeks and 500 miles. I'm finding the car pretty sluggish below 1800rpm - to the extent that my other half's Clio DCI feels faster and more flexible. Pick-up seems fine above 1800 though. Does this improve through run-in or is it the way it is with this engine?

I'm also noticing a slight hesitation after pressing the accelerator before anything happens. Is this just the drive-by-wire throttle or should throttle reponse feel instant?

Cheers

[/ QUOTE ]

hahahaha

do not doubt the power of the dci the_finger.gifnotworthy.gifjump.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

Is this not just the way it is with diesels?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope in a word.

Sure, an old school td needs three grand to have the turbo going but with modern common rail and pump duse engines the turbo is always hooked up. Dads has a totally smooth pick up from 1000rpm right around to 4000rpm when you upshift to drop back into the torque. There is no turbo cut in point at all. He has a PSA 2.0 HDi and yes I agree, not much bhp, just a nice mound of torque. Pulls well, use some throttle, short shift up and it goes. Being very poor at 1800rpm sounds wrong.

If you want to drive petrol, that is your choice, I would not flame you for doing so! I cannot see myself buying a petrol car until I can afford like M3, Elise, RS4 or Carrera machines, which will be many many years away. Diesel all the way for me, simply love instantaneous torque, not having to downshift to accelerate. The PD130 and 1.8T (150) are about same pace in everyday driving. One returns 45-50 mpg, the other 30-35. You pays your money.

Ian C

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Ian's on the money in what he's said about the function/design of the system used on the 2.0TDi. I would suggest you give the car a bit of time for run in to see if it frees up a bit and failing this take a test drive in another 2.0 Tdi and then based on this complain to the dealership.

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Thanks for all the replies.

I would say I didn't really notice this on my test drive. I think I'll give it until 1K miles before having a word with the dealer as they'll probably just say the engine is too new.

Don't know much about engines, but is the turbo not providing any boost at all below a certain threshold? The one in the little Clio seems much more linear - is this just a function of being a much lower powered engine?

The throttle hesitation is pretty minor, but feels obvious compared to my now departed Leon 1.6 which seemed to respond instantly then bog-down. The A3 seems the other way around

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