Notchy gear shifting

[dtran11]

Hi all,

I just bought my first VW car. It's a 2019 GTI S, 6MT. It's sold brand new but it had 900 miles when I drove it away from the dealer. I am also fairly new to driving manual.

I noticed while shifting gears there are times when the shift would just slip into gear. Other times I feel small notches shifting into the gear. Is this normal? Again this is my first gti car so I have no reference.

Also I find it hard to heel toe in this car. I have small feet and the stock pedals are too far apart for me. And I keep hitting the side wall when I try to swivel my heel to blip the gas pedal. Please advise.

Thanks all. Very excited to drive this car. Coming from a boring Q60.

 

[JC_451]

Gearbox on this car is extremely quirky. What you're describing is totally normal, you'll just need to build up GTI muscle memory and you'll pull off more seamless shifts. It's never going to be amazing all the time unless you're the god of shifting.

Heel toe almost certainly requires modifications, there's a bunch of kits available if you do some research. The gas pedal being so much lower than the brake makes it really tough to manage the stock set up without giant shoes (feet)

 

[dtran11]

Gearbox on this car is extremely quirky. What you're describing is totally normal, you'll just need to build up GTI muscle memory and you'll pull off more seamless shifts. It's never going to be amazing all the time unless you're the god of shifting.

Heel toe almost certainly requires modifications, there's a bunch of kits available if you do some research. The gas pedal being so much lower than the brake makes it really tough to manage the stock set up without giant shoes (feet)

Thanks for your feedback.

Regarding your comment about the gearbox and muscle memory, are you saying I might be out of alignment when I push the shifter into gears? I thought it had more to do with the syncro.

Thanks

 

[JC_451]

You could be just slightly too quick with the shift lever and you get that notchiness. Its pretty sensitive unfortunately.

 

[dtran11]

You could be just slightly too quick with the shift lever and you get that notchiness. Its pretty sensitive unfortunately.

Got it thanks. I'm more concerned of defect than annoyance but it would be nice to be buttery smooth slip in place like it does most of the time. Thanks

 

[sergcuv]

Hi all,

I just bought my first VW car. It's a 2019 GTI S, 6MT. It's sold brand new but it had 900 miles when I drove it away from the dealer. I am also fairly new to driving manual.

I noticed while shifting gears there are times when the shift would just slip into gear. Other times I feel small notches shifting into the gear. Is this normal? Again this is my first gti car so I have no reference.

Also I find it hard to heel toe in this car. I have small feet and the stock pedals are too far apart for me. And I keep hitting the side wall when I try to swivel my heel to blip the gas pedal. Please advise.

Thanks all. Very excited to drive this car. Coming from a boring Q60.

Hi all,

Exactly my story. Learned manual at 15, 61 now. Owned more manual than automatics in the span. Actual owner of a 2015 GTI Autobahn 6MT. Shifting smoothly is tricky due to:
on/off clutch / clutch engages early in pedal travel / revs don t drop fast enough between shifts
I ve trained myself to slowly release the clutch pedal, wait till completely released, then reapply throttle, The shifter takes a firm hand, but does not like to be rushed. I also ground 2nd gear :-(
Living up north in Canada, 2nd gear will not engage under 30 F and below 2K rpm. After oil is warmed in +/- 8 minutes, things are buttery smooth. So I just skip from 1st to 3rd for the first few minutes; engine is so torquey, not a problem. Small annoyance for such a fun car!

 

[ITGUY]

have you changed the fluid at all?

 

[sergcuv]

Yes indeed, did change the transmission transmission oil without any tangible improvement. Even requested a clutch inspection by VW technician that came out fine. Guess it’s a way of life with a GTI

 

[Nineeightyone]

My experience with VW manual gearboxes has been that they just don't like being shifted quickly, but it's a small price to pay versus the result of trying to force them. Three 02Js later I had learned my lesson, and I've accepted spin the engine fast, shift the gears slow as the way.

 

[sergcuv]

Hi all,

Exactly my story. Learned manual at 15, 61 now. Owned more manual than automatics in the span. Actual owner of a 2015 GTI Autobahn 6MT. Shifting smoothly is tricky due to:
on/off clutch / clutch engages early in pedal travel / revs don t drop fast enough between shifts
I ve trained myself to slowly release the clutch pedal, wait till completely released, then reapply throttle, The shifter takes a firm hand, but does not like to be rushed. I also ground 2nd gear :-(
Living up north in Canada, 2nd gear will not engage under 30 F and below 2K rpm. After oil is warmed in +/- 8 minutes, things are buttery smooth. So I just skip from 1st to 3rd for the first few minutes; engine is so torquey, not a problem. Small annoyance for such a fun car!

Chilly 48 degrees this morning in Montréal Canada and 2nd gear has started acting up again. Was so smooth this summer, such is life with GTI

 

[Ghawk]

Gearbox on this car is extremely quirky. What you're describing is totally normal, you'll just need to build up GTI muscle memory and you'll pull off more seamless shifts. It's never going to be amazing all the time unless you're the god of shifting.

Heel toe almost certainly requires modifications, there's a bunch of kits available if you do some research. The gas pedal being so much lower than the brake makes it really tough to manage the stock set up without giant shoes (feet)

Even large feet don’t work. My foot barely fits between the brake pedal and the he tunnel on the right. Also I have to be very accurate with the clutch. The wheel well on the left can prevent total clutch disengagement. Only size 13.

 

[cbenjes]

At the risk of being chastised, I will make 1 comment. I switched to RedLine MTL years ago in my TDI New Beetle, Mk6 and Mk7 GTIs as well as my Jeeps and Honda Civic. I have had great success with smoother shifts. Some nay-sayers think MTL is too viscous and causes notchier shifts, but even in the coldest of Maryland winters with temperatures in the low teens, my shifts are smooth as silk.

 

[Ghawk]

At the risk of being chastised, I will make 1 comment. I switched to RedLine MT90 years ago in my TDI New Beetle, Mk6 and Mk7 GTIs as well as my Jeeps and Honda Civic. I have had great success with smoother shifts. Some nay-sayers think MT90 is too viscous and causes notchier shifts, but even in the coldest of Maryland winters with temperatures in the low teens, my shifts are smooth as silk.

I always attributed notchy shifting to the shift mechanism, both at the gear lever and the top of the transmission. Any other thoughts?

 

[R0dzilla7]

I’ll add my comments as I agree with most of what’s been said in this thread. It also matters your hand placement on the shifter. Hold your jokes till the ends folks lol. Seriously though, if I place my hand squarely on the top of the shifter it shifts smoother. Try if out people and see for yourself.

 

[golfdave]

For the MQB platform, VW replaced many metal parts with plastic in the gearshift linkage between the gear stick & the top of the gearbox...swap them for metal & the shift is way better...