faidilah Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 I am not sure there is anywhere near as much engine braking as with a conventional gearbox... or maybe I need to paddle it up 2 or 3 gears before there is any ?? any perspectives on this ? just saw a maserati slow up from speed at lights and there was clearly much engine braking going on if the exhaust note anything to go by... sounded like it was going to choke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aswall Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Engine braking is no different than with any other gearbox, you just need to be in a low enough gear, as with a manual. Having said that, using the brakes is a much better idea than cogging down 3 gears to stop for lights, the Maser driver sounds like a knob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skifly Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 have to admit I noticed in my manual that the GTI engine doesnt seem to want to do much engine braking compared to other cars (not just soot chuckers)? Do you reckon it has something to do with the type of engine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 And I can also add that as a 58yo brought up with using engine braking, I have naturally tried dropping several cogs on the paddles in DSG and the engine braking simply doesn't feel very strong at all. With good discs all round plus ESP, what's the point other than dropping into a better gear for fast acceleration out of whatever. I've specifically tried testing engine braking down some very very steep hills as well and it feels limited. So it seems to be the same in both Manual and DSG GTIs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skifly Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 my sister has a few year old 1.3 or 1.4 golf and that thing does the engine braking quite well compared to the GTI. personally i just prefer to change down to get the right gear out of the bend. WOuld love to learn how to drive properly though and go on one of the split days where you get someoene assessing your driving plus you get some track / skidpan time etc... any ideas anyone? Edit: and preferably decent priced as it looks like helfinger is going to force me to buy one of these snooper indago's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutkins Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Is this not due to the flat power curve on the GTI? As there's so much power right across the rev band, you simply don't get the same jump in power and therfore lurch you get with other cars? - just a theory.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 ....A pretty logical theory though! I reckon you could be spot-on. Torque Rules! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faidilah Posted October 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 ya maybe... but i would have thought the geezer in the Maserati would have had a fair bit of torque at his disposal and a fairly flat power curve n'all... whatever concluding this is not necessarily a DSG related phenomenon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark_90 Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 I must say the 2.0T A4 I borrowed from the stealers wasn't so good at that either. Stayed high revving for a very long time. Good for a "spirited" drive though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtec Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 It's probably the turbo - they have to unwind in the same way that they have to get spinning in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRobin Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Following an afternoon with Ray West of West Tuning who is an experienced engineer, I can report that it's all to do with the fuel injection. I'm not going to attempt to try and remember all the detailed info he told me but it all made perfect sense to me at the time and also involves the fact that the throttle is electronic (I hope I got that right!) and programmed for fuel efficiency. Do I make any sense? It doesn't make any difference whether DSG or Manual, the engine and fuel management doesn't deliver old-fashioned engine braking. Even with 270 neddies on his Manual GTI this afternoon, I didn't experience engine braking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neimad Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 Had a feeling it might be something to do with the injection type as my current Polo is terrible at engine braking as well, and it has an FSI powerplant. I've always wondered if there were something wrong with it since I could never gear-down as smoothly as in other cars. I have managed to get a few half decent downshifts by rev-matching the new gear, but since the brake pedal sits about an inch higher than the accelerator on it, it's not possible to heal-toe... not that I could do it even then, but I can always dream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simonl Posted October 24, 2005 Report Share Posted October 24, 2005 6 gears might have something to do with it, closer ratios perhaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 The reason modern engines don't have a lot on engine braking is because they effectively shut off the fuel when you take your foot off the gas. In doing this their is no power going into the engine it only has its own momentum to carry on moving. In older cars the engine would still effectively be pumping fuel into the injectors or carbs all the time at the rate of the RPM of the engine thus they slow down because there is a load acting against the drive. If anyone has been in some cars with instant fuel economy showing you can see that it can go from 30MPG to 99.9 when you are gliding to a halt, but then registers again when you sit at the lights. Plus if you ever go on a defensive driving course they always tell you to use the brakes to get to a stop and only engage the gear that you need to be in when you get to the junction not before, buts cutting down on unnecessary changes that might upset the car and make you less aware of whats going on around you. Hope this helps to clear it up a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoomx3 Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 just btw, since we are on the topic of comsumption, has anyone worked out how many litres of fuel the gti consumes per hour while idling. i notice that when the engine is really hot it shows 1.0 ltr/ 100 kms. at other times, it shows 1.4 or 1.3 ltr/ 100 kms on the display when idling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoomx3 Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 ive given up on the concept of engine braking. its probably one of the older conceptions when the un-synchromeshed gear box was still around. ive tried it numerous times on the gti, like last night, going full manual. there is no engine braking. the only time i'd shift down is if i want to hear the engine. use the brakes!. brake pads are cheaper to replace than a dsg gearbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simkna Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 I only realised this morning when I was driving the wife's Mini to work how much I normally use engine braking in my V6 diesel. Si. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzGTI Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 Good I'm glad I wasn't the only one who was 'missing' engine braking. It makes the car feel a little bit more like an auto but we have purchased the very latest in automotive technology haven't we! If the experience of engine braking is lost to me as a result of the DSG then I'll just have to enjoy its other features even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 It wouldn't matter if you have a manual, its the engine that does the braking not the transmission. DSG or Manual the result is the same, and the Golf / A3 are not the only ones to suffer the same. I had a Vectra which did the same thing 8 years ago, My Dads BMW 325 is also very similar. As I have said its the lack of fuel driving the engine in modern fuel injectored engines that makes engine braking so low these days, but then you do see an advantage at the pumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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