GTD+

[Buddy]

MH: not sure about regens. How would I know, is it obvious?

[monkeyhanger]

MH: not sure about regens. How would I know, is it obvious?

You'd notice the regens most by seeing that the car is idling at 1000rpm when stopped at a roundabout or junction rather than 800rpm. Your indicated mpg would take a dip too.

[monkeyhanger]

Never got the chance to test the marker mph out this morning. Where has all the extra traffic come from? Been leaving for work 10 mins earlier than was the norm and there are about 30% more cars. Flow is good, but it’s hard to get the opportunity to do more than 60-70mph.

The lack of box is noticeable today, but not massively so in the conditions I have been driving in that would have limited my use of the extra power. I think the biggest thing I have noticed with the stock GTD is that it feels a little laggy compared to my Scirocco. The turbo on the 170TDI Scirocco was always ready to go and seemed to pull more strongly in the upper gears than the GTD – you seem to have to work your way through the gears a lot more on the GTD to get the most out of it. Put your foot down in 6th after being sat in that gear and that speed and nothing seems to happen for a short while. Work your way through the gears and change to 6th at 60mph to carry on accelerating and the car acts completely differently.

Economy this morning was abysmal. I didn’t even crack 44mpg indicated. Chances are though it probably wasn’t far off my consistent actual mpg of 42.3-42.5mpg that I have achieved on every fill up.

Really struggling to decide whether to keep the box or not, even though it seems more and more difficult to be driving in a situation where I can take advantage of the extra power as my commute gets busier.

Apart from the car feeling more solidly built and slightly better equipment (most notably the Xenons), I think I’m missing the Scirocco that I could hammer all day and get an easy indicated 50mpg.

[mcmaddy]

maybe something wrong with you gtd? Mine definitely isnt laggy and feels spritely and lively. Different power delivery to the 170 engine but i still think its far superior.

[monkeyhanger]

maybe something wrong with you gtd? Mine definitely isnt laggy and feels spritely and lively. Different power delivery to the 170 engine but i still think its far superior.

If my mpg was considerably worse than most here who have been using V-power, I would definitely think my GTD was defective as potential performance and mpg go hand in hand.

It just doesn’t seem as willing as the Scirocco was – it will get the same performance, but with a lot more throttle being used. It could be that the extra refinement of the GTD blunts my perception of the performance.

Maybe my GTD is still extremely tight. I don’t really delve into the clicky zone of the pedal as it feels a bit weird for me to do so, maybe then I’m restricting myself to only ¾ throttle.

Maybe I had a Scirocco at the high end of the natural variation between engines and have a GTD at the mid to low end? I definitely haven’t felt my GTD loosen up in the same way as the Scirocco did. On the other hand I haven’t really pushed it too hard in a vain attempt to increase my mpg to “reasonable” levels (I’m thinking about 50mpg actual, on average).

Still haven’t made my mind up about the box, £80 on my insurance doesn’t seem that high a price to pay for the extra performance even if higher mpg isn’t in the equation.

[KyleB]

It sounds like you're already noticing the difference without the box mate, and surely with having to press harder on the throttle for longer it'll worsen your MPG. £80 is not a lot at all over the course of the year, plus you've already made the outlay for the box.

As soon as I can get the cash together I'll be installing one in mine. Although will need to check with Admiral first about the implications.

Thanks for keeping this thread updated with such detail. Think you, mcmaddy and I should organise a meet up if you do keep the box to see how much faster the box is

[monkeyhanger]

It sounds like you're already noticing the difference without the box mate, and surely with having to press harder on the throttle for longer it'll worsen your MPG. £80 is not a lot at all over the course of the year, plus you've already made the outlay for the box.

As soon as I can get the cash together I'll be installing one in mine. Although will need to check with Admiral first about the implications.

Thanks for keeping this thread updated with such detail. Think you, mcmaddy and I should organise a meet up if you do keep the box to see how much faster the box is

You might have to change insurers to get the box if Admiral don't like you having the box. Brokers are generally the way to go with mods. Get your lowest quote on a comparison site without and then get brokers to come as close to that as possible. If it ends up doubling your premium you might think twice about having it (or declaring it).

Less throttle used with the box doesn't mean less fuel used as it uses more fuel at any given throttle pedal travel than without the box. The delivery of the whole stock throttle range seems squeezed into the first 3/4 of the throttle when you have the box on, with much more power to extract beyond. The box makes a hell of a difference to your power and torque, but no mpg gains using it normally, in my case.

Maybe I need to treat my GTD a little meaner. I hoofed it home today and literally lost 1mpg (indicated) for my troubles vs taking it easy yesterday. Driving a bit meaner might keep the active DPF regens at bay by raising your exhaust temp for a larger proportion of your journey.

If I saw the mpg increases their website claims trade on, I wouldn't even think about sending it back.

[KyleB]

Definitely think treating it mean is the way forward. I've been pootling home in Eco mode, getting about 46mpg. Today I thought I'd go for a bit of a blast in Sport mode, and managed to get 47mpg. Go figure.

[mcmaddy]

I haven't really gone over 3000rpm yet although it's been very tempting. nearly 700 miles  on it now so over the next two to three weeks will be giving it some more beans to see what it's like.

[KyleB]

To be fair I think most the power comes between 2-3000rpm anyway and after that it starts to die out so don't think you're missing out on too much