Driving Tips Wanted - MK 8.5 GTI

[WebRoP]

Hi All, not had the pleasure of a GTI before and not had the pleasure of the DSG. Any tips welcome of how best to run it in from new and also what the difference is between Drive mode and Sport for the DSG (is one manual input with the paddles or can you use both?).

Also interested to know how the get the best out of it handling wise.

Thanks 

[JoeGTI]

Drive mode is for very sedate relaxed driving. Car doesn't hold onto revs, you'll be in 6th or 7th gear by the time you hit the speed limit.
Sport mode, the car holds onto the lower gears and revs longer, car feels more eager and more urgent, much nicer for more spirited driving. You'll also notice it blip and overrun on down-changes.

Personally I find D mode in the MK8 generation far too lazy, to the point of being dangerous. It caught me a couple of times when e.g. pulling out of a junction and car seems slower than you'd like to get moving.

And Sport mode in the MK8 is much easier to live with day to day than it was in the MK7, where in that generation the car used to hang onto low gears all the time needlessly... MK8 is much better in this regard. So I tend to always drive in S mode.

Manual (paddles), you're controlling the gear changes yourself (but the car will still override you in certain situations).

[WebRoP]

Drive mode is for very sedate relaxed driving. Car doesn't hold onto revs, you'll be in 6th or 7th gear by the time you hit the speed limit.
Sport mode, the car holds onto the lower gears and revs longer, car feels more eager and more urgent, much nicer for more spirited driving. You'll also notice it blip and overrun on down-changes.

Personally I find D mode in the MK8 generation far too lazy, to the point of being dangerous. It caught me a couple of times when e.g. pulling out of a junction and car seems slower than you'd like to get moving.

And Sport mode in the MK8 is much easier to live with day to day than it was in the MK7, where in that generation the car used to hang onto low gears all the time needlessly... MK8 is much better in this regard. So I tend to always drive in S mode.

Manual (paddles), you're controlling the gear changes yourself (but the car will still override you in certain situations).

Thanks bud, that's really useful to know.

[sipj]

I fine in my 8.5 that the Comfort mode is great for most driving requirements.  Kicks down really well when needed and moving to Sports mode when you want to have fun.  In comparison, my old 7.5 PP was much less enjoyable in the Comfort mode, with unpredictable changes etc., which made it a pain at times.  So pleased with the 8.5 improvements.

[DrivenToDistraction]

Hi All, not had the pleasure of a GTI before and not had the pleasure of the DSG. Any tips welcome of how best to run it in from new and also what the difference is between Drive mode and Sport for the DSG (is one manual input with the paddles or can you use both?).

Thanks 

Yes, you can use the paddles when in either mode; the car just switches to manual (M) mode in either case. Like JoeGTI, I also tend to most of my driving in Sport mode. Selecting this from the infotainment display sets a number of things to ‘sport’, including the DSG gearbox. The car just feels more alive and the ride is still good. You have other driving modes too (Eco, Comfort, Individual). Unless you select Sport (or specifically change the DSG setting within Individual), the DSG box will be in regular auto (D) mode.

One long standing annoyance (for me) with Drive (D) mode in VWs (and Audi's?) is that you don't know what gear you are in. This is another reason for using Sport (then you get the gear displayed as S1, S2, S3 etc on the digital dash). Obviously, you also get the gear number displayed when in manual mode. I don't think you will find any need to use the paddles when in S mode. You can, of course, also knock the gearbox into Sport (S) mode (using the drive selector knob) even if the overall driving mode (set on the infotainment display) is set to Comfort. Have a look through the Individual settings and this will make more sense.

[fredgroves]

Don't believe the hype... Unpopular opinion incoming...

Drive is perfectly fine for normal or even rapid daily driving. It's never sluggish at junctions or traffic lights unless you are a F1 driver for your day job, in which case you might feel it slower than your tastes. That drive mode doesn't show you gear numbers... Its an auto box.. Why do you care?

Flick the chicken nugget to S... And hit the gas. Yeah it goes quick. Into the no driving licence zone pretty fast. Fun for traffic light grand prix vs chavved up corsas. For a few goes. Make sure it's not an unmarked police car you are racing though..

[JoeGTI]

Don't believe the hype... Unpopular opinion incoming...

Drive is perfectly fine for normal or even rapid daily driving. It's never sluggish at junctions or traffic lights unless you are a F1 driver for your day job, in which case you might feel it slower than your tastes. That drive mode doesn't show you gear numbers... Its an auto box.. Why do you care?

Flick the chicken nugget to S... And hit the gas. Yeah it goes quick. Into the no driving licence zone pretty fast. Fun for traffic light grand prix vs chavved up corsas. For a few goes. Make sure it's not an unmarked police car you are racing though..

I’ve never disagreed with a post on here more than this one. In D Mode, the car is absolutely geared to be much more sedate. Markedly more so than the MK7 or any predecessor was. It’s even observable whilst cruising - the car backs off and goes into Eco mode (revs drop off). So i am sure that this is all quite deliberate by VW, to keep emissions down, EU regulators off their backs etc.

And as a consequence of this, in my direct experience, it is more hesitant to get moving at a junction than I feel is ideal - it’s got nothing to do with traffic light Grand Prix or impressing Corsa owners.

I also like to think most GTI drivers probably like to drive their car on a bit occasionally and it’s also nice to see the old school gear indicator with the actual selected gear displayed on screen. We do buy these cars because most of us still like vroom vroom noises, right?

We will be long enough in single speed EV’s before too long. 

 But you did preface it by saying it’s unpopular 

[fredgroves]

Joe,

In D mode it's still faster away from junctions than anything I've ever driven or anything else my family owns by a long way...

It's definitely not a problem... Nobody is going to die.

[JoeGTI]

Joe,

In D mode it's still faster away from junctions than anything I've ever driven or anything else my family owns by a long way...

It's definitely not a problem... Nobody is going to die.

 

[WebRoP]

Thanks chaps, interesting. Looking forward to the experience next week