I've been searching around, reading, testing, and collecting bookmarks, and have just ordered a VCDS interface to aid my explorations. Some of the information is scattered about far and wide, and some hasn't really been hashed out in quite some time. Some is really kind of all over the place, and when it's discussed in relation to tuned vehicles, it kind of throws the data out the window for stockers like mine.
Here are the issues I find to be extremely negative:
1: The throttle does not respond accurately or even consistently to my input. This is most noticeable when launching the vehicle from a stand-still, and I'm not talking about drag races, here; only general use and the occasional attempt to move along quickly when a light turns green, such as when people are impatient at certain times of the day. Nothing crazy; though this issue would certainly present itself in a more demanding scenario. This also affects quick blips and down-shifting.
It kind of feels like there's a very weak turbo the size of a trash can lid under the hood that needs to spin up before the car responds; tapping the throttle does nothing. This has been attributed to several different potential features on the web, and I think that's because people are going in with different explanations of the issue and using specific words rather than generalized questions; effectively "priming" the answers.
2: With that issue in mind, it's hard to tell if this next issue is actually causing a problem for me. The vehicle has some manner of feature where if I release the clutch at common "get it rolling lazily" rates, the RPMs will rise and aid the launch. That would seem like a decent enough idea, but that's going to build a bad habit, because whatever this system is doing does not play well with driving the vehicle properly. It's not consistent, either, and even when used deliberately sometimes it does it's job, and sometimes it chatters.
Without correcting the odd-ball throttle response, I can't know how big of an issue that really is.
Also, shifting from first to second, it's readily observable that the RPMs don't behave as expected, or consistently. That's the hardest first to second in any car I've ever driven.
When you're moving faster any issues are masked by inertia, but I will say that this vehicle launches like it's got 35bhp; unless you let it do it's thing, in which case it feels like it's got 47bhp. In first gear it is being nerfed severely; as if someone's shoved a potato in the intake. Something is telling this car not to go, and it's saying it in every language the vehicle speaks. To me, this feels like a protection method for shipping that dealerships are forgetting to disable, but apparently these are "features" somehow.
What we have here is potentially one of the best cars ever manufactured, but as delivered... Well, there's no other way to say this... It's one of the worst, because it's like window shopping. You can see this torque, but you won't get to use it.
Now, if it only felt 20 down, that would not be such a big deal, but this thing is less responsive off the line than a three-cylinder Fiesta which, to be entirely fair, is quicker than you'd think.
I can say this with absolute certainty: If I can't get this corrected, this clutch will not last very long. The vehicle's odd behavior will cause necessary actions and resulting dynamics that will prematurely wear it out.
Here are the issues I find to be extremely negative:
1: The throttle does not respond accurately or even consistently to my input. This is most noticeable when launching the vehicle from a stand-still, and I'm not talking about drag races, here; only general use and the occasional attempt to move along quickly when a light turns green, such as when people are impatient at certain times of the day. Nothing crazy; though this issue would certainly present itself in a more demanding scenario. This also affects quick blips and down-shifting.
It kind of feels like there's a very weak turbo the size of a trash can lid under the hood that needs to spin up before the car responds; tapping the throttle does nothing. This has been attributed to several different potential features on the web, and I think that's because people are going in with different explanations of the issue and using specific words rather than generalized questions; effectively "priming" the answers.
2: With that issue in mind, it's hard to tell if this next issue is actually causing a problem for me. The vehicle has some manner of feature where if I release the clutch at common "get it rolling lazily" rates, the RPMs will rise and aid the launch. That would seem like a decent enough idea, but that's going to build a bad habit, because whatever this system is doing does not play well with driving the vehicle properly. It's not consistent, either, and even when used deliberately sometimes it does it's job, and sometimes it chatters.
Without correcting the odd-ball throttle response, I can't know how big of an issue that really is.
Also, shifting from first to second, it's readily observable that the RPMs don't behave as expected, or consistently. That's the hardest first to second in any car I've ever driven.
When you're moving faster any issues are masked by inertia, but I will say that this vehicle launches like it's got 35bhp; unless you let it do it's thing, in which case it feels like it's got 47bhp. In first gear it is being nerfed severely; as if someone's shoved a potato in the intake. Something is telling this car not to go, and it's saying it in every language the vehicle speaks. To me, this feels like a protection method for shipping that dealerships are forgetting to disable, but apparently these are "features" somehow.
What we have here is potentially one of the best cars ever manufactured, but as delivered... Well, there's no other way to say this... It's one of the worst, because it's like window shopping. You can see this torque, but you won't get to use it.
Now, if it only felt 20 down, that would not be such a big deal, but this thing is less responsive off the line than a three-cylinder Fiesta which, to be entirely fair, is quicker than you'd think.
I can say this with absolute certainty: If I can't get this corrected, this clutch will not last very long. The vehicle's odd behavior will cause necessary actions and resulting dynamics that will prematurely wear it out.
