MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: GTI_UK on December 02, 2012, 10:04:28 am

Title: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 02, 2012, 10:04:28 am
Hi all,

It seems I'm not the only one who thinks throttle response is not as good as it should be on the MK5 GTI... In fact I've managed to stall the car on more than one occasion as I'm not used to having to rev it so much...

I know one way of getting around this would be with a sprint booster but are they're any other ways?

Can I do anything with Vag Com/ VCDS to change the throttle response?

Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: andrewparker on December 02, 2012, 10:08:52 am
Strange, I've never noticed this at all. In fact I'd say it's almost the opposite...
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: hunt808 on December 02, 2012, 10:20:47 am
I don't have a lot of experience with the car, but on the test drives I've found myself over-revving. The throttle response seems very quick and eager. I guess it depends what you're used to. My other cars have been twenty year old Porsche and modern diesels, so maybe not the best comparison with a GTi.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 02, 2012, 10:23:09 am
I guess it's a relative thing, we all have different preferences as to how responsive the throttle should be... Generally though on sporty cars I'd expect the accelerator to be sensitive and on the MK5 (or mine at least) it's not.

As I say I've read this about other MK5 GTI's as well.

Previous car was a 130i M Sport and I would struggle to jerk or stall that. I certainly wouldn't call my GTI eager....
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: chowgar on December 02, 2012, 10:34:37 am
DSG in sport is eager!!!
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: andrewparker on December 02, 2012, 10:35:30 am
I guess I've had my GTI for 6 years and the other car I drive regularly is my wife's 320d, so I'm probably well acclimatised to needing a heavy foot, so much so that I don't even notice it!
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 02, 2012, 11:15:20 am
Perhaps needs a throttle reset or something? Can this be done with VCDS?
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GrayMK5GTI on December 02, 2012, 01:09:06 pm
Remove the pre-cat in the exhaust, that will help  :wink:
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: Alltorque on December 02, 2012, 02:03:24 pm
Mines the same,,,,

Stalled it a few times now,, it just feels 'stiffer' than my old mk4, not as responsive either, .
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: TomGTI on December 02, 2012, 03:04:46 pm
Same for me, I stalled mine a few times when I first got it.  :confused:
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: homesqueeze on December 02, 2012, 04:00:29 pm
It took a couple of times to get used to it when I first drove it all those years ago. I believe it's down to the fact that the Mk5 GTI was one of the first cars to come with an electronic throttle rather than a traditional cable type. If your coming from an older type it can feel a little strange when you first try one like this. I think there can be a fractional delay in response in comparison to a cable. Not something I notice anymore though.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: TomGTI on December 02, 2012, 04:14:09 pm
I came from a 09 Astra Sri to a 08 GTI I don't know if the Astra was cable or not but definitely feels less responsive when first pulling of but im slowly getting used to it.
Title: Re: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: Breamy1990 on December 02, 2012, 05:29:48 pm
Depending on what size engine the astra was it was more than likely cable! Thats if it was a 2.0t/1.9cdti

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: TomGTI on December 02, 2012, 05:58:40 pm
No 1.8Petrol all the 140horses
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 03, 2012, 01:18:03 pm
In a way i'm glad to see it's not just me who feels this...

Although over the weekend I noticed that at idle my cars revs sit at 800 RPM. Is this normal? I've always remembered revs on a petrol engine to be 900 RPM
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: Frenzy on December 03, 2012, 02:24:03 pm
yep that's normal, anywhere between 800 - 900. The longer it's been idle the lower on that spectrum it should be.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: Nasir on December 03, 2012, 02:35:51 pm
I've found that the MK5 has some dead pedal. Meaning the first couple of millimetres of movement don't do anything. That and the fact that very rarely there is a delay in throttle movement being transferred to engine revs makes it feel as though it lacks sharpness. Overall compared to other sporty cars the GTI's throttle sensitivity is high.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 03, 2012, 02:45:22 pm
Seems the only real answer (for me anyway) is a sprint booster. Shame they seem to have gone up in price.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: Mk5 GTian on December 03, 2012, 04:36:04 pm
Are you sure you're not getting bogged down by not having the car revving high enough when you are holding the car on the bite of the clutch prior to launch? When I first got my first mk5 GTi I found I would get bogged down like this when i released the clutch, sometimes even stalling it. I found If the car was revving at 1500+rpm, the throttle response was instant when I released the clutch and succesfully feathered in the throttle.

I was used to a V6 4Motion, where launching was a simple affair of dumping the clutch at idle, and burying the right foot in the carpet! It took some getting used to in the MK5, and was a fine balance between too few revs leading to bog-down/stalling, and too many revs/poor feathering of throttle leading to wheel-hop. More skill involved, but very rewarding once you've got the hang of it.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: 94Luke on December 03, 2012, 04:55:15 pm
I posted about the sprint booster a while ago: http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,10246.0.html
People seem to think a remap is better value for money and will help with throttle response too
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: GTI_UK on December 03, 2012, 05:09:22 pm
More cars should move with a smooth lift off of the clutch and not requiring any accelerator.

I’ve never been one to rev the car on first (partly preserving my clutch).


I defo don’t give it a lot of revs and I’m not talking about a launch as such – more about regular town driving, stop start at lights/ junctions, etc.


94Luke, I’ve had a sprint booster on two separate cars (namely BMW diesels) and can confirm it ‘livens’ the car up. I don’t think its physiological as I think I’m experienced enough a driver to be able to tell the difference. If you’ve ever experienced the “M” button on an M car (M3, M5, etc) it feels very similar.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: zerolag on December 03, 2012, 06:53:18 pm
I find 1st useless tbh, you can't open taps at all... if I'm slightly rolling, or not too much incline I'll take off in second, not slipping clutch, to decrease any spin.

Funnily enough I drove a Yaris T-Sport the other day, and the accelerator was like an ON/OFF switch, with an extremely light clutch with a small bite point, perhaps this is what the OP is gearing towards.  As soon as it's going though the lack of torque is commical... good little car in low speed corners though, good fun.
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: daddykool on December 03, 2012, 07:11:48 pm
My 05  dsg throttle response is terrible!
 You can actually be going along at 20mph and stab the throttle to the floor  and release it quickly and nothing happens except you notice the rev counter blip slightly.
 The car drives brilliantly and quick but if you go to overtake something it seems to take an age for the throttle to respond on flooring it.
  Perhaps something needs checking out?
Title: Re: Taking off in First gear
Post by: zerolag on December 03, 2012, 07:13:58 pm
My 05  dsg throttle response is terrible!
 You can actually be going along at 20mph and stab the throttle to the floor  and release it quickly and nothing happens except you notice the rev counter blip slightly.
 The car drives brilliantly and quick but if you go to overtake something it seems to take an age for the throttle to respond on flooring it.
  Perhaps something needs checking out?

I don't own a DSG, but that sounds like an old slush auto box...