Author Topic: Review of technology in our car!  (Read 5767 times)

Offline andyb_123

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Review of technology in our car!
« on: 05 December 2017, 20:45 »
So we've had a bit of time to get used to some of the gadgets the new car came with. Here's my review!

Adaptive Cruise
Good in light motorway traffic (i.e. set your chosen speed and it eases off quite nicely if you have a rare need to slow a little). The best thing about it is it's very sensitive to big speed differential. A couple of times I was wondering why it was easing off so much but then noticed the car in front had slowed suddenly because a lorry was wanting to pull out.

In stop/start traffic, it's quite annoying because while it works, it is as stupid as the driver in front. If you end up with one of those people who just tailgates the car in front and doesn't look beyond, you'll end up lurching between accelerating and braking like they do, so I tend to leave it off even though in theory it would be nice to let it do its job.

Lane Assist
In theory I like the idea - if distracted for a moment and you get close to a line, you find out about it and it nudges the car the right way, but when going through roadworks it would decide a line I was supposed to cross was not to be crossed! Also, you have to signal before you get close to crossing a line to stop it kicking in. Most of the time it was fine, but occasionally I'd indicate a tiny bit too late to stop it doing a correction... which was annoying. So I'm not sure if I'll ever switch it on again...

Dynamic Light Assist
After spending about 3 hours trying to figure out how to go between auto mode and manual, and getting confused about when I'd left it in manual mode or automatic (apologies to some poor bloke with retinal burns in Northumberland), I finally got comfortable with it and it's actually really great. I leave it on all the time and only override it when I can see people's glow coming round a bend, or when travelling slowly through unlit villages or single track road (where it won't automatically go to full beam because you're going too slow). On A roads it was really brilliant, and I also like the swivel feature (I think all cars have that).

Driving Modes
I'm still a bit confused. I thought 'Eco' mode would be remembered from the last time you used the car, but even though it seems to be selected, the freewheel feature (DSG only?) doesn't seem to work till you explicitly cycle through the modes back to Eco. Maybe that's wrong, but it seemed that way. In the end I just left it in "normal" unless doing a boring motorway journey, and I switch the DSG into sport when I want it to be a bit more nippy. A bit of me would prefer not to have to choose any of this stuff to be honest.

Digital Display etc.
A big fan, though still getting used to all the menus. The biggest issue is that we have "satnav stress". Android Auto gives us the google maps we normally use, but I prefer the in-built maps (they look nicer). Now, when either satnav gets us stuck in traffic we end up having a row about using the other one :-)

Offline fredgroves

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #1 on: 05 December 2017, 21:08 »
Re satnav... have you got carnet active when you use the VW satnav? If you haven't it definitely won't even begin to find you a decent route because its using the (UK buggered up version) of TMC traffic data (works fine if you ever go to Europe!). Better with carnet enabled... but totally sucks compared to google maps nav. Also try loading Waze on your phone... that works with android auto and has speed cameras and more. On the gadget show last week it was rated #1. Free too!

I'm a bit of a satnav junkie as I use it all day everyday.

Lots of other sexy Android Auto stuff out there too, plus all sorts of things it can do that seemingly aren't documented anywhere. Discovered tonight it can get you news headlines just by asking!

Current: Mk8 GTI DSG, Adelaides, DCC, HUD, HK, Winter Pack, Rear Camera.. Aka "HMS Weasel"

Gone: 2017 Mk7.5 GTD,manual, NavPro
Gone: 2014 Mk7 GTD, manual, NavPro, DCC

Offline andyb_123

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #2 on: 06 December 2017, 06:51 »
Re satnav... have you got carnet active when you use the VW satnav? If you haven't it definitely won't even begin to find you a decent route because its using the (UK buggered up version) of TMC traffic data (works fine if you ever go to Europe!). Better with carnet enabled... but totally sucks compared to google maps nav. Also try loading Waze on your phone... that works with android auto and has speed cameras and more. On the gadget show last week it was rated #1. Free too!

Thanks for the tips!. We've decided to use the built-in satnav when we don't have any signal to plan a route (happens sometimes as we go to some far-flung places).

Offline Talk-torque

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #3 on: 06 December 2017, 07:10 »
The eco mode freewheel thing will be safety related. If you thought you were going to get engine braking, and didn't, you could be in trouble, or depending on the city driving anti collision system.
Roger.

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Offline fredgroves

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #4 on: 06 December 2017, 07:41 »
Thanks for the tips!. We've decided to use the built-in satnav when we don't have any signal to plan a route (happens sometimes as we go to some far-flung places).

You can actually download maps to your phone with Google Maps so you don't need internet access at all! If you have them downloaded, google regularly checks (the maps have an expiry date) and asks you if you want to update them. Much more frequently correct map data than VW...

Not sure about Waze, but wouldn't be surprised.
Current: Mk8 GTI DSG, Adelaides, DCC, HUD, HK, Winter Pack, Rear Camera.. Aka "HMS Weasel"

Gone: 2017 Mk7.5 GTD,manual, NavPro
Gone: 2014 Mk7 GTD, manual, NavPro, DCC

Offline maxie

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #5 on: 06 December 2017, 10:15 »
1 thing anoys me well two.. that's the auto hold not turning off when you try to pull off and the handbrake needing to be turned off manually when it's been activated.  i've not used the acc yet as it was only fixed yesterday.  i love the eco function cruising etc. the sat nav voice could do with an update for sure but apart from that it seems to be quite good at giving warnings etc.

my lane assist is turned off and will never be activated again, i found it quite dangerous in real world conditions as it would just jerk left right when it pleases with the uk weird road markings.  the lights are great too, just push it forward and let it do its thing, brilliant!!  as for the display i like it but still figuring how i want it,atm i have distance traveled plus mpg used since start etc :)   i don't like how the window buttons are hidden slightly beehind the door handle, and as for the mode button and the auto on off button being on the left is a no no too imho.. :) great car though. 
« Last Edit: 06 December 2017, 10:23 by maxie »

Offline I wanted a GTi

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #6 on: 06 December 2017, 10:58 »
1 thing anoys me well two.. that's the auto hold not turning off when you try to pull off and the handbrake needing to be turned off manually when it's been activated.  i've not used the acc yet as it was only fixed yesterday.  i love the eco function cruising etc. the sat nav voice could do with an update for sure but apart from that it seems to be quite good at giving warnings etc.

my lane assist is turned off and will never be activated again, i found it quite dangerous in real world conditions as it would just jerk left right when it pleases with the uk weird road markings.  the lights are great too, just push it forward and let it do its thing, brilliant!!  as for the display i like it but still figuring how i want it,atm i have distance traveled plus mpg used since start etc :)   i don't like how the window buttons are hidden slightly beehind the door handle, and as for the mode button and the auto on off button being on the left is a no no too imho.. :) great car though.

Get it into a dealer, in the thousands of miles I've done I've never had to either turn the handbrake on or off and the same goes for the the autohold. The idea of them both is that you never need to touch them. Even if you do manually put the handbrake on it should still automatically release when you drive off.

What do you mean by the window switches hidden? I can see mine no problem although like most other buttons on a car you can touch them without even looking at them.

You do seem to be having a large amount of problems with your car.
5 door GTD in night blue collected 1/3/17

Offline maxie

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #7 on: 06 December 2017, 11:11 »
1 thing anoys me well two.. that's the auto hold not turning off when you try to pull off and the handbrake needing to be turned off manually when it's been activated.  i've not used the acc yet as it was only fixed yesterday.  i love the eco function cruising etc. the sat nav voice could do with an update for sure but apart from that it seems to be quite good at giving warnings etc.

my lane assist is turned off and will never be activated again, i found it quite dangerous in real world conditions as it would just jerk left right when it pleases with the uk weird road markings.  the lights are great too, just push it forward and let it do its thing, brilliant!!  as for the display i like it but still figuring how i want it,atm i have distance traveled plus mpg used since start etc :)   i don't like how the window buttons are hidden slightly beehind the door handle, and as for the mode button and the auto on off button being on the left is a no no too imho.. :) great car though.

Get it into a dealer, in the thousands of miles I've done I've never had to either turn the handbrake on or off and the same goes for the the autohold. The idea of them both is that you never need to touch them. Even if you do manually put the handbrake on it should still automatically release when you drive off.

What do you mean by the window switches hidden? I can see mine no problem although like most other buttons on a car you can touch them without even looking at them.

You do seem to be having a large amount of problems with your car.

the switches are because i'm used to my mk5 i guess, plus i have to use my left hand to use them due to the disabillity.  regarding the handbrake/on-off just for one instance, when i picked the car up yesterday the girl parked it in the dissabled parking(reversed in) so i started it, put my seatbelt on then put in drive and tried to pull off and it just wouldn't let me(even the front end lifted slightly). the person who took me even asked if everything was ok when we got back... the auto hold isn't as bad but sometimes you can feel the brakes not releasing straight away. it only happens withing the 1st 10 mins up to now.. i'll see how it goes.

Offline I wanted a GTi

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #8 on: 06 December 2017, 11:16 »
Definitely something wrong with the braking system in your car.
5 door GTD in night blue collected 1/3/17

Offline Gnasher

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Re: Review of technology in our car!
« Reply #9 on: 06 December 2017, 11:38 »
The thing I've noticed regarding the auto handbrake (I've got a manual gearbox) is that if I don't use enough accelerator pedal (IE, just the tiniest bit to stop the revs dropping when I bring the clutch up) it doesn't always release. I'm guessing, but it might be some sort of safety thing that it needs quite a positive input to release the handbrake.

Might be worth trying it with different amounts of 'vigor'. Admittedly I don't know how this would transfer over to a DSG (both testing and how much gas you need to give it) but may be worth a try?
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