DSG gearbox and 'Sport Mode'

[jillyfish]

Just called dealer and our Cali is being shipped... so not long now. I have a feeling that we are to be on here asking endless questions for a long time to come. But finding the forum just so fantastic for so many things. When we hired cali at the weekend, having never driven auto before, asked what the 'S' was for and guy said he didnt know, but that we didnt need it. Fine. However just seen mention of it as the sport mode and understand that it might be used in testing road conditions, i.e. hills and bends, but that it is not an economical option. Being that i am complete novice, intend to just put in drive, reverse and park, not sure when would use neutral or sport. I will check out the video clip have seen on here as well. basically what i am asking is - should i just ignore these options when driving or will S help tremendously when doing bendy hilly country lanes, providing more control of vehicle? thanks.

 

[Sandyvan]

Just called dealer and our Cali is being shipped... so not long now. I have a feeling that we are to be on here asking endless questions for a long time to come. But finding the forum just so fantastic for so many things. When we hired cali at the weekend, having never driven auto before, asked what the 'S' was for and guy said he didnt know, but that we didnt need it. Fine. However just seen mention of it as the sport mode and understand that it might be used in testing road conditions, i.e. hills and bends, but that it is not an economical option. Being that i am complete novice, intend to just put in drive, reverse and park, not sure when would use neutral or sport. I will check out the video clip have seen on here as well. basically what i am asking is - should i just ignore these options when driving or will S help tremendously when doing bendy hilly country lanes, providing more control of vehicle? thanks.

I use N when in traffic jams instead of leaving in D, I have put mine in S but cant feel a lot of difference I'm sure an expert will be along soon to educate both of us. And that was not me being facieses.

 

[Calimili]

The S function is pretty useless. To remove the coast feature, this can be done through the menu on the board computer. You may need to use the S function to get ready when about to overtake somebody. But the kick down feature by flooring the gas pedal to the click, achieves the same. Basically what S does will shift gears higher than D. Now on a petrol engine this may be useful as you tend to have more torque the higher the revs. On a diesel the max torque is at lower revs, and over revving the engine past 3k-3,5k achieves nothing, you are better off shifting on the next gear...

 

[WelshGas]

Just called dealer and our Cali is being shipped... so not long now. I have a feeling that we are to be on here asking endless questions for a long time to come. But finding the forum just so fantastic for so many things. When we hired cali at the weekend, having never driven auto before, asked what the 'S' was for and guy said he didnt know, but that we didnt need it. Fine. However just seen mention of it as the sport mode and understand that it might be used in testing road conditions, i.e. hills and bends, but that it is not an economical option. Being that i am complete novice, intend to just put in drive, reverse and park, not sure when would use neutral or sport. I will check out the video clip have seen on here as well. basically what i am asking is - should i just ignore these options when driving or will S help tremendously when doing bendy hilly country lanes, providing more control of vehicle? thanks.

Sport Mode, very useful in the hills/mountains. Changes up at higher revs and down at Lower revs. Coast Mode is automatically disabled.
But if you are into " Granny " driving then you don't need it. Yes it's not the "Eco" mode but then that's not my style.
Just remember, and read up about the DSG system. It is not the same as an Automatic Gearbox with Torque Converter it is basically 2 x Gear Boxes with an automatic clutch that work in tandem.

 

[Nolan]

I rarely use sport but as I said in the other thread, in hills or mountains it can stop the uncontrolled feeling when travelling downhill through bends.

At traffic lights I always select P for safely and take my feet off the pedals.

Recently in the Pyrenees I found that in a long sequence of steep uphill switchbacks it was easier to move the gearstick to the right and use the manual setting to hold first or second gear but it's the only time I've had to do that other than trying the gearbox out when new

 

[AlanC]

Just called dealer and our Cali is being shipped... so not long now. I have a feeling that we are to be on here asking endless questions for a long time to come. But finding the forum just so fantastic for so many things. When we hired cali at the weekend, having never driven auto before, asked what the 'S' was for and guy said he didnt know, but that we didnt need it. Fine. However just seen mention of it as the sport mode and understand that it might be used in testing road conditions, i.e. hills and bends, but that it is not an economical option. Being that i am complete novice, intend to just put in drive, reverse and park, not sure when would use neutral or sport. I will check out the video clip have seen on here as well. basically what i am asking is - should i just ignore these options when driving or will S help tremendously when doing bendy hilly country lanes, providing more control of vehicle? thanks.

Sport mode changes down earlier and up later so on a hill, moving to sport will usually change down and hold that gear for longer so the engine doesn’t labour too much. If you leave the box in Drive changing down is much later and the engine can sound laboured before it finally changes gear. Useful to have but used less than Drive. Manual is useful to for holding a gear but I get confused where I should move the stick to, up or down!!! Up changes up a gear and down, down a gear. Seems logical when you say it, but not an action I have found instinctive. So I stay in auto.
Alan

 

[EddieEagle]

When driving around Basingstoke/Milton Keynes/any place with loads of roundabouts I will knock it into S when racing..... I mean "making progress" as this sharpens up the changes, holds lower gear longer and most importantly will give engine braking.
Normal mode is D with coast enabled
The S mode is very useful . in my humble opinion.
HTH.

 

[Calimili]

I've found on steep down hills and driving fast down mountains I prefer using the "Manual" mode on the DSG if the D doesn't suffice.

 

[Legin]

Got to say too much information given the OP,s minimal understanding and basic need.
Jilly , bottom line is just use PNDR and (ignore the manual and S) you will have no problems.

 

[Neilos]

I was also new to the DSG and feel a bit like I’ve had my arm chopped off when on bendy or steep terrain. The sport mode lessens that feeling of lack of control for me. So IMO it’s useful to know it’s there, just one click down. I find manual with paddles or stick annoying but again have their uses in certain situations I guess.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[willwander]

Is it just me, or does sports mode also make the brakes a bit keener and more responsive?

 

[maxandcali]

We got stuck in mud last weekend and needed a big push from four people to get out. Would putting the DSG in S mode have helped?

Also, and sorry to go off on a tangent here, I think an anti-skid mechanism was kicking in (vehicle skidding icon flashed up on dashboard). How do you turn this off?

Thanks!

 

[willwander]

We got stuck in mud last weekend and needed a big push from four people to get out. Would putting the DSG in S mode have helped?

Also, and sorry to go off on a tangent here, I think an anti-skid mechanism was kicking in (vehicle skidding icon flashed up on dashboard). How do you turn this off?

Thanks!

If you get stuck in the mud higher revs and more wheel spin is the last thing you need.
In mud I find the best thing to do with the DSG is take your foot completely off the accelerator and just let the van crawl along on it's own, as slow as possible.

 

[Wild Bob]

My new Cali has paddles for shifting gears which is handy. My last dsg didn't nice feature

 

[Meoncoast]

I tend to have mine in S mode 99%of the time time

 

[Wild Bob]

I find it handy being able to drop down a gear as sometimes I am in 7th gear doing 40 mph. I try and maintain 2 k rpm or slightly above on motorways

 

[WelshGas]

We got stuck in mud last weekend and needed a big push from four people to get out. Would putting the DSG in S mode have helped?

Also, and sorry to go off on a tangent here, I think an anti-skid mechanism was kicking in (vehicle skidding icon flashed up on dashboard). How do you turn this off?

Thanks!

I think on the T6 you can't switch off Traction Control on certain models.

 

[Wild Bob]

Is it just me, or does sports mode also make the brakes a bit keener and more responsive?

Just noticed your profile picture. We have a Border Terrier 11 months old Ted

 

[No_heroes]

When driving around Basingstoke/Milton Keynes/any place with loads of roundabouts I will knock it into S when racing..... I mean "making progress" as this sharpens up the changes, holds lower gear longer and most importantly will give engine braking.
Normal mode is D with coast enabled
The S mode is very useful IHMO.

I agree. A 199 4motion in S can really shift off the lights. Does mean the provisions and crockery cupboard gets a bit of a shake up though!!

 

[Ting Tong]

Yes S just means it will stay in eg 3rd gear for longer before changing to 4th when accelerating. Conversely, it will change from 4th to 3rd sooner when decelerating. There’s no difference in the braking. Don’t just rely on P to hold it when stopped as it just holds it stationary with a small pin in the gearbox.

 

[babble]

for me the ability to switch off traction control was an 'option' that cost about €25, so i went for it. (note:: there does seem to be another method of deactivating traction control even if you don't have the switch! by putting the hazard lights on and pumping the brakes somehow, see this thread for details: https://www.t6forum.com/threads/getting-stuck-in-the-mud.9715/)

 

[GrannyJen]

Just called dealer and our Cali is being shipped... so not long now. I have a feeling that we are to be on here asking endless questions for a long time to come. But finding the forum just so fantastic for so many things. When we hired cali at the weekend, having never driven auto before, asked what the 'S' was for and guy said he didnt know, but that we didnt need it. Fine. However just seen mention of it as the sport mode and understand that it might be used in testing road conditions, i.e. hills and bends, but that it is not an economical option. Being that i am complete novice, intend to just put in drive, reverse and park, not sure when would use neutral or sport. I will check out the video clip have seen on here as well. basically what i am asking is - should i just ignore these options when driving or will S help tremendously when doing bendy hilly country lanes, providing more control of vehicle? thanks.

I rarely use it. It's a camper and to me and that means being in not any hurry for most of the time. It is also my main car so sometimes I have to hurry but finding the benefits of "S" to be marginal on everything except the fuel consumption, which is probably not much difference either.

I find the engine output quite adequate on the 204, enough on a couple of occasions when needed to get in front of the queue at traffic lights and with a caravan on the back

 

[Craig Morrison]

I always use D when in town but always use S when out on open road and find the MPG a lot better. Have found it to be as much as 5-6MPG average better than running D.

 

[Pips Dad]

When driving around Basingstoke/Milton Keynes/any place with loads of roundabouts I will knock it into S when racing..... I mean "making progress" as this sharpens up the changes, holds lower gear longer and most importantly will give engine braking.
Normal mode is D with coast enabled
The S mode is very useful IHMO.

IHMO???

 

[Jason wallace]

Possibly meant to be IMHO (In my honest opinion)

IHMO???