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GolfWang’s Green Alltrack

tigeo

Autocross Champion
I learned how to drive in my mom’s 2011 DSG CC. That was PQ35-era (MK5/MK6 chassis) TCU software. I still love that car to this day and it now has 130K on it.

My 2015 MK7 DSG GTI had the same transmission as my mom’s CC, but the TCU tuning is far more efficiency oriented than driveability. It always annoyed me. And when I got my Uni TCU tune and it didn’t address the issues I had with it, I had a bad taste in my mouth about DSG and wanted to return to manual (my previous 2 GTIs before the DSG MK7 were 6MT).

so I got a manual... and a year and a half in, I just didn’t care as much for it as I thought I did, at least not in a day-in day-out sense. I liked it sometimes, and not others. Despite 10 years’ experience driving stick, it felt like the transmission behaved differently day to day. Some days I got great shifts and it was sublime. Other days no matter what I did I couldn’t hit any smooth shifts.

also my gf got a 2014 TDI wagon (also PQ35) DSG and I absolutely love that car and how the factory ECU/TCU work together. Very few complaints.

I wish I got a DSG on the Alltrack because I would’ve gotten an APR tune which I have reason to believe would have kept me happier than the Uni tune I got on my 2015 GTI.

Anyway, getting an SUV about it now haha.
For sure end user experience with a DSG is going to be heavily weighted on the TCU tune's shift points. I have accepted mine and just invovle myself in the shifting when necessary through sport mode or manual mode us. To summarize my issue with the Uni D mode is simply - hold third and forth longer at low % throttle....hahahahaha. It's not that big of a deal but if I could chnage it myself, that's what I'd do. I'm not sure how APR handles it. I've always heard United Motorsport's DSG tunes are v. good. On the other side I don't want too aggressive of a D mode for normal driving...it's a balancing act for sure. My brother in law has a CC w/DSG and I've driven it and yeah, the logic is different.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
The drama never ends... currently sitting on the shoulder of an exit at the bottom of a bridge after getting slammed into by another driver who was in the right lane. We had just crested the bridge and the driver to our right slammed on her brakes in her Tennessee plate Corolla, and swerved into the passenger side of our TDI wagon, slamming us up against the median and for a second there it felt like we might flip over. The dogs are in the car so very glad that didn’t happen. Looks like a bigger shake up is happening sooner than anticipated!
 

Gr33nBunny

Drag Racing Champion
Location
610-SePa
Car(s)
18 GTI SE 6mt
Oh man, hope everyone is ok, glad it wasnt worse for sure! Looks like another TDI off the road :(
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Oh man, hope everyone is ok, glad it wasnt worse for sure! Looks like another TDI off the road :(
Yeah everyone is okay, no injuries just a scary one on the edge of a bridge in a snowstorm lol. Driver’s DOB was 99 and got her license on 11/30/21... I feel bad for her, this ain’t gonna be good for her. There’s significant damage to the passenger front door, mirror, fender, hood, front bumper, passenger headlight, and passenger side front bumper + both front wheels. I’m hoping there’s some damage to the suspension/strut towers/control arms etc and they total this bad boy out. Then the miss and I will just split the new Treg until she’s ready to get another car.
 

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Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Scooped my Touareg TDI Friday. It’s absolutely magnificent. It carries itself very, very well for being 5K lbs. and the 8-speed transmission is actually so smooth, I really don’t even mind the factory shifting.

I was a tad concerned going into it because everyone online always complains about every diesel-fixed TDI about how they are “gutless” or “clunky,” but neither my Treg nor my gf’s JSW TDI are underpowered and I have almost zero qualms with the factory throttle + transmission mappings. I do believe it is because the Treg and JSW are PQ35-era vehicles. Different engineering ethos, more about a healthy balance of performance and efficiency. MK7/MQB+ engineering = “let’s put it in its highest gear @ 35 mph.” The factory TCU doesn’t go to 8th until 46 or so mph which is still a tad low but not horrible. I don’t mind using the slap shift to keep it in 7th in the 40’s. The JSW is similar, and my mom’s 2011 CC that I learned how to drive on was similar as well. I couldn’t stand the DSG in my 2015 GTI.

Driving 13 hours home after a fresh snowstorm today, gonna wait a few hours for the snow crews to clean the highways up before I get going. I do not need a repeat of January 3rd (see previous post).

I’m shit with pictures but I’ll try and get some better ones in coming days/weeks.

406 torque @ 2K RPM is really something to marvel at. It’s wild being able to get up and go so well in an SUV.
 

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Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
Complaints: No CarPlay (even the final year 2017 Tregs didn’t get it), and the Dynaudio stereo seems like something is “wrong” with it. Adjusting audio settings is really weird and it only sounds good with treble and bass @ max on stereo. Every other “Dynaudio Confidence” sound profile lacks body and detail. I’m gonna have to dig into the ClubTouareg forums for ideas on VCDS or other possibilities to get the Dynaudio sounding how it should. Part of me feels the weak link is ultimately the RNS-810 head unit. The RCD/RNS units sucked lol.

Oh, I also put diesel in it for the first time last night in anticipation of the drive home this morning. 5/8 of a tank remaining, it still cost 38.50 to fill😅

Won’t need to stop once on the way home for fuel though.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
More Pros: “Area View” system is really sleek. Since the Touareg is raised, it can be difficult to see the lines in a parking spot to check whether you’re straight or not. And it can be scary maneuvering in tight spaces.

area view takes input from cameras on the roof of the vehicle and splits the back-up camera screen with the backup display and a top-down/birds eye view of the area around the front and sides of the car. Between the visual and the radar beeps, it’s really easy to park this thing.

the steering is great, I’ve never owned a car with Hydraulic steering. The 40/60 split Torsen diff is really noticeable in parking lots etc. looking forward to some donuts in the snow today.

I did get 33 mpg on a 45 minute drive from a museum in Chicago to my grandma’s house last night, going 50-65 mph. Though the mileage goes down quick once you hit 70+ mph. 75 nets you 25ish mpg.
 

Dog Dad Wagon

Autocross Champion
Location
Go Birds
Car(s)
16 Touareg TDI
More pros pt deux

The build quality is absolutely insane on these. Off the charts. It’s funny, the guys on the Treg forums complain about how the T3/T4 (2nd Gen pre/post facelift) are decontented compared to T1/T2 (first Gen). I’m sure that’s true to some extent, but the build quality, materials used is unreal. The accenting in the interior is very slick. The doors are so solid. The car just feels so German. So proper. Much less of the cost cutting you get with a Golf platform vehicle.
 

Acadia18

Autocross Champion
Location
The Greater Boston Metropolitan Area
Car(s)
2019 Golf R
So how do you pronounce kielbasa?
 

Acadia18

Autocross Champion
Location
The Greater Boston Metropolitan Area
Car(s)
2019 Golf R
Phonetically, unless it’s plural. Plural for kielbasa is actually “kuh-bahss-ee”

You have a recipe by chance for a good sweet and sour kielbasa? All the ones online are mostly just "Mix kielbasa, a bottle of ketchup, and a cup of sugar..."
 

Gr33nBunny

Drag Racing Champion
Location
610-SePa
Car(s)
18 GTI SE 6mt
Even a Tiguan is much bigger than my wife would prefer, but I have always loved the T-Reg. Any good news on the JSW?
 
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