MK5 Golf GTI
All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: andrewparker on December 18, 2011, 08:31:27 pm
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I have a MK6 GTD hire car at the moment and it only allows me to start the car with the clutch in. What is the reason for this, and is it considered good practice on a regular petrol car?
The MK6 GTD is awesome by the way, I'd happily swap my GTI for one. I saw 60mpg on the way up to Waitrose this afternoon!
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Ive always started my manual cars with the clutch depressed - applies less load to the flywheel on start.
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it's just a safety feature so you can't start the car in gear. did that on a mate's car once (didn't realise he'd left it in gear, we were on a perfectly flat paved car park ffs). nearly ended in catatrophe, car lunged forward and almost smacked the car in front :ashamed:
it's been such a long time since i've driven a manual i'd totally forgotten to check it was in gear, so for muppets like me that feature would be ideal :wink:
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I was taught to do it from day 1. It saves the starter motor turning the starter motor from having to turn the gearbox as well as the engine; saving wear and ensuring quicker starting.
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I was taught to do it from day 1. It saves the starter motor turning the starter motor from having to turn the gearbox as well as the engine; saving wear and ensuring quicker starting.
+1
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I do it as force of habit. As above to prevent extra load on the starter and safety precaution incase ever left in gear.
I found Germans ALWAYs left my car in gear and am glad I'm in the habit of starting with clutch pressed!
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Ive always started my manual cars with the clutch depressed...
+1
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Im tje same always start my cars with the cluch in .its a habit now
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I have a diesel and I was told the best way to start it was:
1. Press clutch
2. Turn key one notch to start electrics.
3. Wait a second until the glow plugs light on the dash goes out - this gives them a chance to warm up before actually startng the car.
4. Once light has gone out, turn key to the next notch to start the engine.
5. Release clutch, or engage gear and drive.
Not sure if the glow plugs thing is correct or not, but that's the way i tend to start as it only takes a second or so for the light to go out before I can start the engine.
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The glow plugs don't actually do anything unless the ambient outside temp is at a certain degree I think its below 4 degrees??
Darren
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Blimey, I didn't expect it to be so conclusive. I shall adapt my routine and commence legal proceedings against the AA Driving School and my parents!
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was taught many moons ago while learning to drive, to always press clutch and check gear
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My Jeep Wrangler would,nt start unless the clutch was depressed.. As an off road vehicle I soon disengaged that.Half way up a steep hill,stuck and you want to come back down you need to start the engine in reverse..As for Cars,my Grandad nailed it into me to depress when starting..Funnily enough the worst moments I have had for incidents is with the DSG..I keep putting it in D when I want to go R.. :scared:
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Was always taught to depress the clutch and have always done it.
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Goes without say really,specially if like me you are mechanically minded,or you always got a cuff in the lug from your old man for not doing it lmao :happy2:
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Same here always depress the clutch and on diesels wait for the glow plug light to go out, on other diesels I drive where people haven't the low plug light takes forever to go out and takes a while to turn over
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over thousands of starts its gonna save you a bit of wear on the starter and flywheel teeth..its taking the 'weight' of the gearbox off the starter motor, and for me is force of habit seeing my dad doing it as I grew up and being taught the same by my driving instructor :happy2:
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The MK6 GTD is awesome by the way, I'd happily swap my GTI for one. I saw 60mpg on the way up to Waitrose this afternoon!
If you haven't already Andrew (not seen it myself), can we expect a mini review of the MK6 GTD? I'd be interested for one :happy2:
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The MK6 GTD is awesome by the way, I'd happily swap my GTI for one. I saw 60mpg on the way up to Waitrose this afternoon!
If you haven't already Andrew (not seen it myself), can we expect a mini review of the MK6 GTD? I'd be interested for one :happy2:
I've been very impressed with it indeed. Initially I was shocked at how short the gearing is. I drive a BMW 320d regularly but as it is an auto you never get caught off guard. With the GTD I constantly found myself in the wrong gear and with no power, particularly in 4th when I'd find myself having to change down to 3rd, only to find I still wasn't in the right part of the rev range and have to change to 2nd! Once I accustomed myself to it I found I could hustle is down a road very effectively. I'm very keen to try a DSG car which would negate this.
The MK6 interior has also been a very pleasant surprise. It's a total cut above the MK5 and feels like a Golf should in my opinion. It may be a placebo effect but I'm also convinced the driving position is better, even though the seats are the same.
Another thing to note is the electro-mechanical steering which adjusts its weight according to speed. Although I found it never really weights up enough at low speeds the lightness is really refreshing. The steering is also far more direct and sharp than the GTI, and the ride is more compliant.
We're planning on using the car for our trip to my parents next week so it will be interesting to see what MPG it achieves. So far I've been unable to provoke it into doing anything less than 36MPG and I'm heading towards a 500-mile tank.
So all-in-all I like it a lot and I've already found myself looking into the cost of ownership and whether one would make more sense than my aging GTI.
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Sounds like a couple of areas have been well improved from the MK5 :happy2:
The GTD certainly has an appeal to us MK5 GTI owners IMO. I've looked at them. I think it would be a good move from the GTI, given that a remap and milltek must give similar in gear and track performance to the GTI standard(?).
Surely you should see 600 miles from a tank without trying too excessively, brim to brim, mixed driving?
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Surely you should see 600 miles from a tank without trying too excessively, brim to brim, mixed driving?
I'd say so, though the majority of my driving is urban so it will be less. Still mightily impressive.
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Good write up that and answered a few of the questions I've thought as the next car will probably be a MK6 (as the shape is growing on me) but am stuck between the GTI and GTD, look forward to see what you can get out of it tank wise and what its like on the longer runs :happy2: