What have you done to your mk8 today?

[fredgroves]

Discovered that when my car refuses to connect to randomly Bluetooth (almost certainly a VW software bug), if I go onto my phone and connect to the car's bluetooth it does indeed connect.

No actual idea why the hell it does that, but I do know that driving along trying to find my reading glasses and look at my phone to do that is a massively dangerous thing.

Have created two more MacroDroid macros to try to fix it:

1) Triggered by disconnecting from house wifi (should happen at the end of the drive), connects to my car's bluetooth

2) Triggered by wireless charging starting, connects to my cars bluetooth.

#2 is useful if either I don't start my journey from home and also jamming the phone into the wireless charging slot I don't need my glasses!!

Anyway, just some more tips you might like (to ignore!)

[fredgroves]

Talking of glasses, I wonder if my car doesn't need some... travel assist on, breezing along at 70mph coming into a pile of 50mph signed roadworks my car decided the first sign it saw read "30", which was an interesting braking manoeuvre for me, much more so for the transit van up my @ss at that point.

Then it spotted the second one and it was back to 50mph.

VW, should have gone to SpecSavers!

[Exonian]

The MacroDroid stuff went so far over my head it’ll need a space suit.
My Bluetooth (touch wood) seems to be behaving ok thankfully.

Does the car actually read the road signs or does it get info from the highways people via the media system?
Yes, I really should take more interest and read up on these things but...

I’ve noticed my speed limit icon in the AID will often pick up the speed limit of the bridge I’m going under or cross-roads I’m passing so maybe that’s not going to end well if I actually try out Travel Assist one day!

[fredgroves]

I guess it could have spotted another sign - but thats a route I've travelled a few times before and its not seen any other weirdness before.

The other one that I've realised I need to watch out for is using travel assist down a motorway off slip... depending on the design of the junction it sometimes fails to appreciate that 70mph might not be a sensible speed to try and negotiate it.

I know the manual is full of vague legal comments like "its not magic and VW aren't responsible" but if you are going to use this tech its vital you understand the sorts of things it cannot cope with....before the last second.

[Watts]

And that's exactly why fully autonomous vehicles should never be allowed.

On the subject of speed recognition, my 7.5 regularly tells me the wrong speed, on dual carriageways and local roads (insists they are a 20 limit and there aren't any signs).

[Sootchucker]

I think that's probably down to an error in the map database, because as I understand it, if the front facing camera can't detect any traffic signs (i.e. there aren't any), it default to the speed set in the Navigation database.

[fredgroves]

I think that's probably down to an error in the map database, because as I understand it, if the front facing camera can't detect any traffic signs (i.e. there aren't any), it default to the speed set in the Navigation database.

In the manual it says:

"If a speed limit is announced on the basis of the navigation data but is not detected by the Dynamic Road Sign Display function, the announced speed will be reset to the last-stored speed"

It really shouldn't have got this one wrong, its a dual carriageway straight off of a motorway that after about 1 mile had got some roadworks on it..... 70mph on the motorway, 70mph down the A road.... into the roadworks. Absolutely no 30mph at all to be seen anywhere!

[fredgroves]

And that's exactly why fully autonomous vehicles should never be allowed.

At the moment the systems the Mk8 has are quite primative, there is a long way to go before these things are truly capable.

Ironically the Mk8 has the start of it - Car2x is part of that future... once that has some more widespread uptake it should start to improve things.

Additionally, in just a few months time you will start to see MY22 spec cars started to be produced.... those will have mandatory speed limiters based on the same tech as I am describing, except you can't turn them off.

Once you get a critical mass of speed limited vehicles on the road, actually things become easier for everything else to work - not least of which is that even a Mk7 with DSG/ACC will be able to follow a speed restricted car quite happily, letting it do the work and you just keeping a safe distance back and at the speed limit - thats older simple tech.

On a slightly associated note, will madatory speed limiters kill the idea of a performance car? I think it might...

[Kenis]

Reading this thread, I don't think I'd buy a Clubsport. I'd buy a 245 manual ( and possible add stage 1 if I felt it lacking) if I wanted a car to enjoy driving, or I'd buy something else ( bmw3 for example) if comfort and ease of use were a priority.

And lastly, I don't remember similar complaints with the mk7 dsg, or did I miss that?
[/quote]

Exactly this - literally hovering over two DTD quotes, a manual 245 or a CS, was convinced on the CS until these concerns over DSG. Had a Mini Cooper S ex display car that was auto before my mk6 and couldn’t stand the gearbox decisions. Also parents had a £12k bill after main Audi dealer didn’t put oil back in the dsg on their Q5 and even after complaints still had to pay £6k to get the car back (not helped by them dropping the first replacement box when unloading from Germany so had to get a second!). Made me dsg wary but really wanted the CS..... at least it’s a nice dilemma to have!

[fredgroves]

I want to say the DSG complaints started with the DSG-7 (DQ380/381) box, which came on the Mk7.5. I don't think the previous 6 speed box was perceived as quite so annoying.

Its all to do with programming strategies to chase CO2 emmissions - a thing which has become vitally important to manufacturers because of the massive fines they stand to pay.

They aren't about to do anything themselves that will risk that.

Could they have a "middle" setting? Well yes I guess they could, but nobody has done that yet - I suppose its a redesign to facilitate 3 settings not two (both in terms of software and the physical switch to accomodate a third setting) and would that be met with howls of derision when a user has too many choices? Would it sell one more VW car by having it? I doubt it.

What is interesting is that the reviewers never seem to talk about this, yet the owners.... the internet is full of it. If you google it you will see discussions about TCU remaps on every VAG forum on the internet, for the same reasons we are talking about here.