Delayed Acceleration

[bamatide]

Hi.  I just purchased my Tiguan last week and I love it so far.  This is my first VW, so I don't have much to compare to.

I have an SE, FWD and I have noticed that my acceleration is a bit delayed when hitting the gas from a stopped position.  I does not do it when I am using the manual tiptronic shifter though.

The engine also seems a bit loud and it seems to stay on a couple seconds after I turn the car off....or maybe it is just shutting/cooling down.

Can anyone tell me if these things sound normal?

Thanks.
Matt

[NewVWDriverON]

I am also a new VW driver, but I have had my Comfortline 4Motion for 6 weeks now.  I have also noticed a little bit of transmission delay when stopped for a short period of time ie stop sign.  But not if stopper for a longer period, ie red light. 

The engine noise was a big shock for me, used to drive a lexus, but I have read lots of comments and it seems like that is the standard for the 2L turbo.  I actually like it now.

Good Luck!

[CNJ_Tiguan]

This also is my first VW and it's taking some getting used to with the engine noise.  I'm used to a 6-cylinder, but the 4-cylinder makes more noise like my wife's 4-cylinder Honda...but a much, much better car!  I love this car!

[ybslow]

I have noticed the delayed acceleration you are referring to.  When coming to a slow roll versus a stop the transmission will stay in second gear, therefore when you accelerate  the engine may not have the power you are accustomed to when starting from a stop.  To avoid this you can put it in sport mode in which the engine will downshift to first when doing a slow roll.  The problem with this is that the downshift is a little jerky.  I like the fact that the engine doesn't normally downshift in regular mode in this situation as it makes the ride a little jerky.  You just have to be aware that if you are going to want a fast acceleration you will either want to slip it down into sport or give it a lot of gas initially to trigger it to go into first.  Acceleration from a slow roll in second gear lags with the 4 cylinder engine in combination with the fact the turbo is not spooled up at low RPMs.

I often drive the car in sport mode as I find it suits my sometimes aggressive driving patterns.  This car is a blast to drive and I often prefer to drive it over my corvette.  I do however never use sport mode when I have passengers as the aggressive shifting and higher RPMs are too jerky for passengers.

Bamatide - The delayed acceleration you are noticing from a stop is most likely the turbo lag.  The turbos need to spool up before they can provide the extra boost to the engine.  The time this takes is dependent on many things such as the size of the turbo, the number of turbos, engine displacement, RPMs, throttle position, etc.  Seeing that this is a small 4 cylinder engine there is significant lag at low RPMs.  A sacrifice most of us are willing to make to have the fuel efficiency of a 4 cylinder with the power of a V6.

[xylem]

Yes, that acceleration delay in slow corners is a combination of turbo lag and being in 2nd gear.

I have managed to reduce that delayed acceleration through three solutions:

1) Easiest Solution: use premium grade 93 octane fuel.  I was amazed at the difference in improving the throttle response by doing this simple thing.  If you can't find 93 octane, then find the best local 91 octane as a second choice.

p.s. for us Canadians, the 93 octane choice is Mohawk/Husky 94 ethanol blend (no, it will not eat your rubber seals), followed by 91 octane Shell V-Power gas.  The price is 10 cents more per litre, or $6.40 more per tank.  Absolutely worth it!

2) Drive in Sport or Tiptronic shift mode, and downshift to 1st gear for slow turns.  Just as ybslow posts above: this is more aggressive and deliberate driving, not for carrying passengers.

3) Consider getting APR remapping for your 2.0TSi ECU computer.  As you perhaps know, the 2.0TSi engine is very under-tuned for stock delivery  (perhaps operating at 60% of its capacity off the showroom floor).  APR remapping will change three things in your engine:  fuel-air mixture, ignition timing, and boost pressure, increasing your engine performance to perhaps 85% of its torque and hp capacity. 

APR remapping is a serious step, but it is a proven software mod with years of history with VW owners. It will not void your warranty  (despite stories to the contrary), and it will improve your gas mileage because it removes purposeful inefficiencies.

I hope these three suggestions help.  Definitely try the gasoline change I recommend above, and let us know how it goes.