Why would you drive it in a field? That is what Rovers are for. I like it. I miss having a smaller daily driver, but with soccer dad duties I need a seven seater.
Apparently, Buying a Car is Difficult...
- Thread starter kennith
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Weeeeellll... It's more fun than driving a Rover in a field, because you're not supposed to do it.
I take everything off the road at least a little. I'll probably take it out in a field tomorrow if I feel well enough just to take a picture.
I just want to be careful with that paint, because I don't think it would be too easy to match.
Cheers,
Kennith
Yeah, after seeing it on a couple of Porsches recently, I figured I'd put it on the Rover once it's painted. That got me thinking about the VW, and then I realized even if I just have it applied on the very front, it will make a big difference in the likelihood of paint damage in precisely the places cars like this become damaged.
I'm very excited to get the tint, as well. I think there are a lot of people who don't know just how much of a difference great window tint makes. It's damned near the single best thing you can do to a car.
...and, for the record: Those heated seats may well be the best I've ever experienced; and I really pay attention to comfort features. Firing that seat up is like sitting in a hot tub.
This car makes me wonder just how much better a Mercedes or Jaguar could be if they tried their hardest; because clearly they aren't if VW can give me this for less than $25,000.
Cheers,
Kennith
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I might actually swap this for a DSG-equipped model. I'm not so sure this engine is meant to be attached to a manual transmission.
Sure, I can do all that tuning stuff to get it right, but... It's not right as-is.
There's a clash happening here that I might not be able to get over. Picked up the manual because I was concerned I'd wish I bought it, but now the opposite might actually happen. I never thought I'd see the day that computers get in the way of a manual transmission.
The car is great, though. It just also kind of sucks.
Cheers,
Kennith
Sure, I can do all that tuning stuff to get it right, but... It's not right as-is.
There's a clash happening here that I might not be able to get over. Picked up the manual because I was concerned I'd wish I bought it, but now the opposite might actually happen. I never thought I'd see the day that computers get in the way of a manual transmission.
The car is great, though. It just also kind of sucks.
Cheers,
Kennith
Loved our 2008 Passat wagon with it! Had the 2.0 Turbo and it was a very nice combination. Keep in mind it has some differences than a std auto box. Didn’t realize it was an option on the Golf or for sure would have suggested it. If possible drive one. If not like I didn’t, just get it as it is a great combo.
I was able to get out and drive one earlier, but I found it to be wrong in the opposite direction; at least on the GTI specifically. I'd expect it would be better on a heavier vehicle. This time, the second you let off the brake, it pulls like you're at quarter throttle... Damn, Volkswagen: Goldilocks and the three bears.
It's a lesson for a reason.
I've found that if I look at this not as a slow to respond car, but as a really good driving simulator, it comes together more. If I tell myself I'm playing a video game, it kind of works. We'll see what I can adjust when the VCDS computer comes in. It's got so much potential, but here's an example I came up with that works:
If you were playing CS: Source, Quake, or Doom in a deathmatch tournament with low ping and a modern processor, and I walked by when you went to grab a drink and turned on mouse acceleration and dropped your DPI to 350... You'd have the Golf GTI.
I'll get it right.
Cheers,
Kennith
Seems to have suddenly changed it's personality, with all the settings the same. I think there was indeed a "nanny mode" for early break-in.
It still has the issues, but they're not nearly as bad. It's not me just getting used to it, either. That was a dramatic alteration over a single night.
Cheers,
Kennith
It still has the issues, but they're not nearly as bad. It's not me just getting used to it, either. That was a dramatic alteration over a single night.
Cheers,
Kennith
Could be break in "nanny mode", or it could be that the ECM has a function where it "learns" your style of driving and makes adjustments over time.
I suppose, but it was an immediate switch between one day and the next; as if the computer needed to reset to alter a parameter. I wish I'd have been looking at the mileage; I could have seen if it was at some specific and obvious point.
The VCDS computer should show up tomorrow, and I'll be able to poke around and see what's what. Maybe I'll spot something there. It'll be a few days of study before I actually do anything with it. I need to be careful to reasearch everything I might want to change, to find out if it affects warranty coverage.
There's a pretty damned "tuning friendly" dealership within towing distance, so I might not have to worry about much. They even sell APR stuff there for new vehicles, so I doubt they'd care about me making the throttle pedal obey my commands like a good little servant. I'll be calling them up next week.
Sucky thing today: The damage the carrier caused is below his deductible, and the insurance company said I'd have to contact him directly.
Fuck that. I'm not kicking that hornet nest. I told my insurance agency that I'm paying them to handle this shit for me, and they'd have to handle it. I've wasted enough time on that asshole, and I'm not about to end up on the news over the result in the modern world. I'd be crucified immediately. By the time they're done costing people money, it'll be well above his deductible.
Over the past two days, I have listened to fourteen hours of elevator music on hold. I timed it, because me and time don't get along. Now, I'm quite literally incapable of boredom, so it didn't bother me, but I do have other things to handle.
Cheers,
Kennith
Computer is here, and I'm letting a laptop run through some updates. The software is installed, and I'll be poking around that throttle setting soon.
Hopefully it'll be noticeably more responsive. That would help out a lot.
Given that short first gear, the nerfed input is really annoying; I'd go so far as to say dangerous in everyday driving.
Cheers,
Kennith
Hopefully it'll be noticeably more responsive. That would help out a lot.
Given that short first gear, the nerfed input is really annoying; I'd go so far as to say dangerous in everyday driving.
Cheers,
Kennith
On my ‘71 914-6, first was also very short. To kinda make up for it, Porsche used the shift pattern with 1st down to the left and the rest 2nd - 5th in the H.
Really wish I would have kept that car.
Sounds like a dogleg gearbox, there, but I've never driven a 914.
That's the pattern I learned on back in the day, and it still feels most natural to me. It's odd to have driven so many cars with that setup, because it's not particularly common, but I really like it. Second right on top of third is the cat's ass; which I gather was the point of them, originally.
The Infiniti has reverse to the far right and down, and I do always have to pause just a bit...
Honestly, I don't understand why the hell the "conventional" pattern became popular. I suppose first to second is easier in everyday driving? It's still the most hassling shift either way.
Cheers,
Kennith
It's done.
A little later, once I've forgotten I did it, I'll take it out and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
I fucking guarantee I'll forget.
Cheers,
Kennith
A little later, once I've forgotten I did it, I'll take it out and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
I fucking guarantee I'll forget.
Cheers,
Kennith
Well, that didn't take long. Popped out to grab a soda, and completely forgot.
It still lugs in first, and that's certainly artificial, but the throttle does respond much better now. Quick blips for down-shifting are now quick; not as quick as they could be, but that part is fine now. It's what I would consider appropriate from the factory for an all around vehicle like this.
The first gear thing is baffling. At peak output it pulls like it's got about 90bhp. I'm certain it's stepping in to limit input, even if the measurements are now linear. Can't for the life of me figure out why they did that. With the final drive it has in first, it should be pulling at the reins. The DII is still quicker off the line.
Still, it's a big improvement. There's a lot of car under here. I've just got to keep digging to find it.
To be fair, this is fun, as well. It's just a different kind of fun. Maybe that was the whole point behind all of this strange configuration. The average person wouldn't notice it, and the enthusiasts get to have fun finding all the missing performance. If so, it's kind of brilliant. Sounds like something I would arrange, actually.
So, much better, but still a little way to go. I'm having fun, and that's what counts.
Cheers,
Kennith
It still lugs in first, and that's certainly artificial, but the throttle does respond much better now. Quick blips for down-shifting are now quick; not as quick as they could be, but that part is fine now. It's what I would consider appropriate from the factory for an all around vehicle like this.
The first gear thing is baffling. At peak output it pulls like it's got about 90bhp. I'm certain it's stepping in to limit input, even if the measurements are now linear. Can't for the life of me figure out why they did that. With the final drive it has in first, it should be pulling at the reins. The DII is still quicker off the line.
Still, it's a big improvement. There's a lot of car under here. I've just got to keep digging to find it.
To be fair, this is fun, as well. It's just a different kind of fun. Maybe that was the whole point behind all of this strange configuration. The average person wouldn't notice it, and the enthusiasts get to have fun finding all the missing performance. If so, it's kind of brilliant. Sounds like something I would arrange, actually.
So, much better, but still a little way to go. I'm having fun, and that's what counts.
Cheers,
Kennith
I just can't prevent that dance completely. If I'm just driving, my feet are following their programming. It's like watching anime: I get up to go get a drink, and I'm still understanding everything that's being said. The second I realize that, though... It's all Japanese again.
Humans are funny. We don't have to think to do complicated things, and yet we do have to think to do simple things.
It's more having fun trying to find the diamond in this rubble; but to me, that's actually fun.
This car can be defined very easily: They went too far, and then tightened the collar with computers. It's a neutered muscle car with GT dreams. Ask it to rocket from 45-120mph, and it'll be there in a blink. It's like a slingshot. Ask it to do anything from 0-45mph, and it complains.
Remember those over-tuned ricers in the '90s? I don't mean the properly sorted cars, I mean the FWD monsters cranking out 450bhp. Such feathering was required to launch the things that they just weren't useful around town, and they never did well in drag races. Well, have a look at these numbers:
Now, give that roughly 3,000 pound car 260 pound-feet of torque at 1500rpm. Hell, they usually dyno higher than that, actually.
Incidentally, this is why every RV8 builder who tells you the charts don't matter is a moron.
All the power in the world doesn't help you at all if it's in the wrong place, or if the curve is compromised. You don't tell me a cam is a good idea and then tell me I don't need to see the power band... Idiots.Regardless...
Instead of relying on the driver to move this fairly monstrous vehicle without incident, they computerized it. I know for a fact they're cutting power in lower gears, despite arguments I've heard. Those people are, quite simply, wrong. I don't need to speak with an engineer, I don't need to see any more numbers, and I don't need to test anything.
Those gears and this output in such a light vehicle is a burn out or stall out scenario for most people.
My question to Volkswagen would be this: Why? If you knew you'd have to take control of the car, why'd you build it like that, or sell it at a price for the masses?
I don't think they want to sell this car anymore. I think they want to bow out of the GTI and focus on the R; because this chart showing the R gearing makes a shit-ton more sense if you dropped the GTI final drive in there:
Riddle me this, VW: Why'd you give the GTI a transmission that only the R could handle?
I'll go toe to toe with any engineer they've got on that point, so anyone who knows one can bring it. They got nuthin'.
Seriously, though, I enjoy finding the core of a problem and sorting out ways around it. I'm just not quite prepared to blow the warranty, as it's not a long-term vehicle, and that warranty is transferable and valuable. If it was a long term vehicle, though...
Holy shit, I'd have a blast un-fucking it. This is giving me something to do that I can indeed do in my current state, so it's probably just what I needed. I know it sounds like a pile of griping, but this is the way a kennith has fun. It's his natural environment. If you've got a problem to solve, just put me in the room with it for a while with a microphone and a translator so you can understand my nonsense. It'll be sorted out, I'll have fun, and I'll forget to charge you.
Once you get it moving, it does work quite well, and lord knows it's fast. What a quirky car; but you know what? It's the quirks that make a car interesting.
I'd never enjoy something that just did what it was supposed to do all the time. Maybe that's why I don't like Porsches
Cheers,
Kennith
Hahaha!
I just improved this vehicle quite a bit more.
Turned off the V8 simulator, or whatever they call that speaker. It's really cool, but I wanted to hear the real exhaust note.
The second I did that, the disconnect between my brain and feet went away.
The car still needs some massaging, but that was a bigger improvement than adjusting the throttle input. I hate turning it off, but I guess it was coming in improperly and confusing me on some level. That was a much more relaxing drive.
Cheers,
Kennith
I just improved this vehicle quite a bit more.
Turned off the V8 simulator, or whatever they call that speaker. It's really cool, but I wanted to hear the real exhaust note.
The second I did that, the disconnect between my brain and feet went away.
The car still needs some massaging, but that was a bigger improvement than adjusting the throttle input. I hate turning it off, but I guess it was coming in improperly and confusing me on some level. That was a much more relaxing drive.
Cheers,
Kennith
Blasphemy!! The Golf GTI has been around since dirt.
One thing I always consider about German cars is the home market. Their driving environment is different than ours especially the Autobahn.
Sounds like you are getting into the soul of the car which is pretty cool in itself. And all it takes is some disposable income and VW / or tuners will sell you what you want to make what you need.