Random thoughts on first long trip

[kevinkar]

I went from Los Angeles to San Francisco this past week for the first long trip in the R and have some random observations about the trip.

Trip up - Fill up 1 - 325 miles, 28.4MPG, 71MPH.
Trip back - Fill up 1 - 352 miles, 29.6MPG, 61MPH
Upon return - Fill up 2 - 203 miles, 30.4MPG, 64MPH.
Final tally for entire trip - 880 miles, 28.7MPG, 65MPH.

Computer MPG was off .4MPG overall. Accurate enough. Car reported varying ranges of 320 miles to 420 miles depending on when I filled up as the computer seems to use the most recent numbers to calculate. If I pushed it I probably could have gone a bit over 400 miles I guess.

Lane assist could be better. I found the car hitting the lane marker bumps when it was showing it had the lane "locked" so I was a bit disappointed in that. Happened on long stretches of the I-5 with no one around and I was looking at the radio longer than I should have. Good lane markers too so it should have worked better.

Adaptive cruise control was OK and worked reasonably well but I found it seeming to fight me when I needed to accelerate past some slower cars. Gradually pressing the gas took too long to activate acceleration and the car did not seem to want to *go* unless I really pushed farther. But I adapted to that. Still could have been a bit more responsive. It's better if I downshift manually and then press the pedal.

I found I missed fog lights up in the Bay Area. Previous 4 cars had them and were quite effective. The lack of them in the R was definitely noticed in the foggiest areas.

Lastly, and at the risk of waking a dead horse, the Auto Start/Stop feature which for the last 6 months or so has been entirely off started to do the dreaded "shut the engine off when shifting to park" again. Only thing I did was drive a very long distance and use ACC. Damned thing shut off when I stopped at a rest area to pee. Now it's doing it every time again. Annoying.

But the car worked well and was pretty comfortable. Wish I had gotten better mileage on the very flat I-5 but at least I got a bit over 30 which is a bit better than spec.

I hit 120 at one point so it goes at least that fast.

 

[Tac]

If you have VCDS/OBD11 you can rectify a few of those issues.

Lane assist could be better. I found the car hitting the lane marker bumps when it was showing it had the lane "locked" so I was a bit disappointed in that. Happened on long stretches of the I-5 with no one around and I was looking at the radio longer than I should have. Good lane markers too so it should have worked better.

You can code in early activation of lane tracking/correction that'll do a much better job of actually keeping your car centered in the lane.
Module A5, change Intervention moment to “early (setting via menu)”, then enable it in the infotainment menu.

Adaptive cruise control was OK and worked reasonably well but I found it seeming to fight me when I needed to accelerate past some slower cars. Gradually pressing the gas took too long to activate acceleration and the car did not seem to want to *go* unless I really pushed farther. But I adapted to that. Still could have been a bit more responsive. It's better if I downshift manually and then press the pedal.

Which drive setting you have ACC in affects this, if you're putting along in Eco it'll take its time to accelerate. I found normal to be a good mix between acceleration speed and distance it kept. Additionally, enabling Overtaking Assistance via VCDS makes passing a lot easier. When you put on your blinker the car will go ahead and start accelerating instead of you having to wait until you're completely over in the lane with no car in front of you.


Module 13, in Long Coding find Overtaking Assistance and change it to activated.

Lastly, and at the risk of waking a dead horse, the Auto Start/Stop feature which for the last 6 months or so has been entirely off started to do the dreaded "shut the engine off when shifting to park" again. Only thing I did was drive a very long distance and use ACC. Damned thing shut off when I stopped at a rest area to pee. Now it's doing it every time again. Annoying.

What was your process to having it disabled originally? If you didn't use VCDS to turn it off I wonder if you just previously had your car in a setting that wouldn't allow it, e.g. Race Mode, transmission in S, etc.

 

[only1harry]

That was very informative Kevin, at least for someone like me who is hoping to get an R one day, hopefully a '19 MY in the Spring. The gas mileage is pretty good I think for such a quick car. I get 27-28mpg with the 335i averaging 70-75mph, but around town I am lucky to get 19. Also as soon as I get off the highway, I watch the avg. mileage rapidly drop while I take the 3-4 mile back roads to get home, by as much as 4 mpg

Sorry to hear the Auto Start/Stop issue reared its ugly head again. Does VW not have a TSB or fix for this yet?

After a few month break from searching for a car (family members getting very sick so my priorities changed), I have been busy test driving different cars this month such as: VW GTI, Stinger GT, Mustang GT, TLX SH-AWD A-spec, Lexus IS350 among a few. Not too happy with any of them really except for the Mustang GT with Perf Pack 2.

The Mustang would be about at least a 3-4 month wait if I ordered one today (at $5K below MSRP through a friend who is a Ford salesperson) with the options I want. It was the most fun car for me and most thrilling during hard acceleration and in the twisties during spirited driving. Unfortunately that car would be a cop magnet and they would hear me coming a mile away with that loud exhaust. After a lot of thought about all those cars, I came full circle back to the R (!). I must admit I came very close to buying the Stinger today, but that's a conversation for another topic or forum.

So now it's a waiting game again, and this time around, I probably won't get so PO'd when dealers ask MSRP for the R, because I am not waiting another year I only wish VW had added 20-30hp to the R by now or more torque - something a bit more substantial than a couple of hp since 2015, which I believe was only to counteract some added weight of the 7-sp. DSG.

Anyway it sounds like you are still enjoying your R, and that's all that counts. The Auto start/stop malfunction would bug me too. I would personally annoy the heck out of the dealer to fix it, but that's just me. BTW, is there a fuse you can pull to disable it permanently? I would ask the dealer to disable it if they can't resolve it.

Have fun with your R!

Harry

 

[only1harry]

Speaking of Lane assist, I can't even begin to describe the issues with this feature on other (entry) luxury cars I test drove. So after the first couple of cars, I would just get into the new car and turn pretty much everything off immediately, like ACC, Lane Assist, and Auto start/stop.

For example the Stinger GT would start almost shaking and move left-right quickly when it got on the lane marks or near them. The Q50 would jerk and beep, etc. Also speaking of the Q50, I could not accelerate at all to pass cars with the ACC on! It was driving me crazy until the salesman turned it off. I can go on & on.

The R seems to handle those features better than most cars I mentioned. The Acura TLX 3.5 SH-AWD A-Spec was probably the best behaved one when it came to Lane Assist and ACC, but that car lacked traction badly because of average A/S tires, and braking was pretty average, although it had some of the best steering, ride, low noise, and interior.

I think some of these safety features have not been perfected yet by most manufacturers, and I can honestly do fine without them, at least until I get older

 

[kevinkar]

You can code in early activation of lane tracking/correction that'll do a much better job of actually keeping your car centered in the lane. Module A5, change Intervention moment to “early (setting via menu)”,

Yes, this was already done a few months ago. To be honest, I'm not sure I really noticed a difference around town at all anyway. Maybe a slight improvement but nothing spectacular.

Which drive setting you have ACC in affects this....
Module 13, in Long Coding find Overtaking Assistance and change it to activated.

Yep, did this one too. Though I'm not in any other mode than Race and, on the trip I didn't touch a thing. Just started the car and drove. Again, to be honest, I hardly use ACC and this was the first time in several months I've used it. That might have something do do with it and over-wrote or changed something I don't yet see.

What was your process to having it disabled originally?

I have not used OBD11 to turn off start/stop although I'm now considering it. Rather I ended up putting the car in "Custom" and set everything to "Race". The auto start/stop has not been active for 6 months or so and the car stays on when shifting to Park. Been that way until last Saturday when I drove up to San Francisco.

I'm wondering if the 5 hour first stage (prior to the first stop) cleared out something in the ECU. My trips around town and to/from work are usually a short duration and this is the first multi-hour trip.

 

[kevinkar]

That was very informative Kevin, at least for someone like me who is hoping to get an R one day, hopefully a '19 MY in the Spring.

Not too happy with any of them really except for the Mustang GT with Perf Pack 2. After a lot of thought about all those cars, I came full circle back to the R (!).

BTW, is there a fuse you can pull to disable it permanently? I would ask the dealer to disable it if they can't resolve it.

Thanks Harry.

Yes, there are ways to disable the auto start/stop but I've left it alone since it's actually been off on its own for several months. Figured it was not bugging me so I'll just live my life but I guess not!

I think of all the current cars out there, the Mustang is likely the best choice. All the others are too chunky for my tastes. And the Corvette is going in a direction I don't really like (way too angular.) Good luck with your decision. I think the R is sill the right choice and would still buy one if I was still in the market. In fact, I'm trying to get the wife to ditch her 12-year-old Accord and get a GTI!

Speaking of Lane assist, I can't even begin to describe the issues with this feature on other (entry) luxury cars I test drove.

The R seems to handle those features better than most cars I mentioned.

Yeah, the R seems to be the most un-intrusive so far. Good thing you're trying different brands so you have a really good sample size and know what you want and don't want. Keep us posted on your decision.

 

[only1harry]

Kevin, I think as much as I love the Mustang GT, and was impressed driving it, it's going to be a very tough decision. I am really looking for a car to fit the family (1 or 2 grown up kids in the back seat 5'10-5'11) on long trips and the Mustang will probably be a cop magnet. I know the ones around me are. There are 2 or 3 that are always driving around town revving the engine with a super-loud exhaust (sounds cool though, hehe) and sometimes race at the light. The cops are always on the lookout for them. They basically ruin it for everyone else that wants to own one. I already have the 2-door 335i, and was actually looking for a 4-door sports sedan, but could not resist test driving the Mustang GT

You have no idea how badly I want a Mustang GT, but I am holding back The wife was not happy when I told her I want to get one, and she said "then sell the Bimmer" (argh! I like the 335i a lot - when it's not in the shop..). The back seat in the Mustang appeared to have little leg & head room, but I was very surprised how good the ride was driving around town and on crappy roads. It can be a pretty decent tame daily driver, and when you want it to it instantly becomes a beast. The 10-sp. auto tranny is amazing and one of the best in any car I have driven so far and the traction was equally good launching the car with the auto. I also test drove a 6-sp. manual GT and that one was tough to get traction from a light to go fast. If you tried to take off at low RPM's it bogged like a 4-cyl. until you got the RPM's up! The auto tranny is superior to the manual gear box.

Anyway, my other choice is definitely the R and is probably the logical and more practical one. The others I test drove (have not test driven Audi yet - price goes way up once you start adding options) did not feel as solid with a buttoned down suspension and I didn't like the heavy and sometimes floaty feeling (they were somewhat heavy) they gave off, and believe it or not I did not like how noisy the cabin was in most of them. Only thing that really stinks about the Mustang or the R is that I have to wait 4+ months to get one.

 

[VDubberinDE]

The auto shut off when putting in park is related to many factors when the car decides to do it or not. So it seems random but it is not.
Outside Temp, Inside Temp, Battery Level, Incline angle, etc. The car decides if it needs to stay running or if it can shut off when put in Park. This is NOT the same as auto start/stop (when you come to a stop light). Everyone mixes these up. The Auto shut off actually shuts down the engine. Touching the pedal won't start it up again. That is NOT auto Start/Stop. So there was some factor the car decided it did not need to stay running when you pulled in and shut down.

Just one example - If you live in a cold climate and use the rear defroster, it will stay running if it sees the defroster needs to stay on. But then you drive for vacation to a warm climate. Then it will auto shut down when put in park. Seems random, but it is not.


I notice if I pull into a parking space and the front distance sensors beep (which means there is an obstacle in front of me) it always auto shuts off when putting in Park. So it knows I parked and shuts down.


Unfortunately VW made the algorithm too complicated (too many factor combinations)so people keep thinking its random.


Could they refine it more? Well Yes. But it is not a defect. All that will happen if you take it to a dealer is they won't have any clue, probably overwrite all your software and maybe even cause all kinds of issues in your car.


Is it really so awful that the car shuts off when your put it in Park?
I find it kind of cool.

 

[kevinkar]

Is it really so awful that the car shuts off when your put it in Park? I find it kind of cool.

It actually is pretty awful as this is the ONLY car I've ever been in that *sometimes* shuts off when shifting to Park so that makes this one an anomaly and an annoyance especially due to the fact I can never be sure when it will happen. Has anyone here ever pointed out any other car that shuts off when moving to Park? I don't think there is (maybe another VW?)

If I pull to the side of the road to check something or make a call, I'll stop and put it into Park. If I don't notice and then shift into Drive, nothing happens since the engine is not on. What should happen is I take my foot off the brake and drive away. Instead I have to think "WTF?? Oh, car's off," and start the car, THEN drive away. Not the end of the world but annoying nonetheless.

The only thing that should shut off the engine is the Engine Start/Stop button or an ignition key.

You may recall from months ago I initially posted I thought it was a pretty cool feature (big brouhaha in that thread) but over time I've decided it's not. Except for the lame auto start/stop feature (which you are right - not quite the same) the car should not shut off the engine on its own.

 

[kevinkar]

Kevin, I think as much as I love the Mustang GT, and was impressed driving it, it's going to be a very tough decision.

All of what you said here is definitely accurate and makes this a really tough choice. Two tall grown kids will never feel comfortable in the back seats. And if you've got goofballs in your community giving Mustangs a bad name, you'll always be looking over your shoulder and never really fully enjoy driving it around.

I'd venture to say your decision is actually already made! You're right though - you really want that Mustang. I don't blame you.

 

[only1harry]

VDubb: I understand what you are saying but is any of this you talk about in the R manual?

If the car shuts down when going into Park then it is a form of "Auto Shut". It didn't do it in his car for 6 months, and now it started up again. That could be a software bug too, or entirely what you described, but still doesn't make sense to me why it took 6 months to decide to shut the engine when going into Park.

Putting a car into Park does not always mean you are parking the car and want to get out of it. Programming those kind of assumptions into the ECU is a bad idea IMO, and it seems to occur with only very few people's R's. Not everyone's. I am beginning to think there is an "experimental" (Beta) feature in the Programming that is enabled on only a few R's, like they forgot to disable it because it's work in progress sort of speak. There is coding in today's cars that is not enabled, and only a few mechanics know about it and only if they covered it when they are sent out for special training for that specific model at the manufacturer's facility.

 

[Strange Mud]

the Stang is a two seater if you are over 5'11"...I find the practicality of the GTI trups all. Note I came from a V6 Stang (full suspension) to a GTI. I know on the track the Stang is a bit faster but on the street the GTI feels faster. How fast do you need to go on the street and will the sensation of speed be better from some standpoints.


the two things the Stang wa better for me were road trips as hwy miles flew by, and I appreciated all the jealous eyeballs the Stang got.


Mud

 

[Tac]

If the car shuts off when you put it in park, it should start right back up when you put it in drive/reverse and try to drive away, mine does. Are you leaving the car at that moment? If you open the door the car will actually shut off, which seems ok to me as to avoid confusion from absent minded drivers thinking their car is off and walking away.


If its turning off and staying off even if you put it in drive and try to drive away, I'd take it to the dealer and have them look at it, that is not normal.


Otherwise, if you hate auto start/stop so much, just code it off with vcds or get a small module that plugs in and auto toggles it off.