I'll be getting a new Cupra soon, I have a question about the way the DSG box works, and saw this article about the DSG gearbox, and the best way to manage the gear changes to avoid the DSG lag.
Tip - Increase Throttle Position *Before* a Downshift, Not After.
Accelerator position is a major KEY in influencing the alternate gear selection. While there are many, many factors that go into telling the brains of the DSG what gear to switch the alternate gearbox into (And its impossible to get a handle on them all), "Intent" is a huge one. The DSG uses the throttle position to determine if you are thinking of accelerating (queues up a lower gear for performance) or not accelerating / decelerating (Queues up a higher gear for economy) -Seems pretty "Duh" right? If you are wanting to accelerate, you put the pedal down. If you don't want accelerate, you let off the throttle or hold it at minimal. Nobody would argue with that. But what you may not think about is that if you are used to driving a manual, and are now driving a DSG - your habits may *actually confuse* the DSG and make it think you want the opposite of what you are about to do. Here is what I mean. Lets look at a manual transmission driving scenario for downshifting from 3rd to 2nd to accelerate :
Let off Accelerator -> Clutch In -> Downshift -> Accelerate / Clutch Out
So now lets say you do the same thing in a DSG, so out of habit you do everything but the clutch :
Let off Accelerator -> Downshift -> Accelerate
If you do this (Which I found is exactly what I did) - This actually gives the DSG the wrong idea. If you are not on the accelerator, it assumes you don't want to accelerate. It assumes you want economy, not performance. So the alternate gearbox had a higher gear (4th) instead of a lower gear (2nd) chosen. Boom. You just caused an 800ms gear change instead of a 200ms one, and during that time you were off the accelerator during a time you could have been on it (You dont have a clutch now, you dont have to let off!) so you didnt even have propulsion the whole time you could have.
So what if you broke the habit to let off the accelerator before a shift, and instead pressed the accelerator down *then* changed gears? You're letting the DSG know you want to accelerate - It will have the lower gear ready for you because you are telling it from the pedal position you want performance - not economy. Breaking this single habit was personally a game changer for me - I realized it was simply something left over from 20+ years of pressing in a clutch. Now granted, you cant just expect to be at zero throttle position, hit the gas and downshift and expect a quick change. You have to think ahead, and already have been accelerating by the time you need the downshift. Its a habit change to not try to let off the accelerator before a downshift, or at all if you don't need to - and do the opposite. This takes some discipline, and feels odd at first, but once you get rewarded with a quick pick up - It gets easier.
If you can master this, I bet you will start noticing a substantial difference in gear availability. I noticed that I was able to start predicting when I would need the downshift a second ahead, hit the gas, pause, down shift and -Bam-. You end up not losing that second of "no power" driving during the shift due to your reaction time, momentum isn't broken, and you optimize the DSG's ability to help you out.
This mostly makes sense, but there is one thing mentioned that seems a little confusing:
“So what if you broke the habit to let off the accelerator before a shift, and instead pressed the accelerator down *then* changed gears? You're letting the DSG know you want to accelerate - It will have the lower gear ready for you because you are telling it from the pedal position you want performance - not economy”
So if you are accelerating, the DSG preloads a lower gear. What happens when it’s time to change up ? This seems a little contradictory, or am I missing something ?
Tip - Increase Throttle Position *Before* a Downshift, Not After.
Accelerator position is a major KEY in influencing the alternate gear selection. While there are many, many factors that go into telling the brains of the DSG what gear to switch the alternate gearbox into (And its impossible to get a handle on them all), "Intent" is a huge one. The DSG uses the throttle position to determine if you are thinking of accelerating (queues up a lower gear for performance) or not accelerating / decelerating (Queues up a higher gear for economy) -Seems pretty "Duh" right? If you are wanting to accelerate, you put the pedal down. If you don't want accelerate, you let off the throttle or hold it at minimal. Nobody would argue with that. But what you may not think about is that if you are used to driving a manual, and are now driving a DSG - your habits may *actually confuse* the DSG and make it think you want the opposite of what you are about to do. Here is what I mean. Lets look at a manual transmission driving scenario for downshifting from 3rd to 2nd to accelerate :
Let off Accelerator -> Clutch In -> Downshift -> Accelerate / Clutch Out
So now lets say you do the same thing in a DSG, so out of habit you do everything but the clutch :
Let off Accelerator -> Downshift -> Accelerate
If you do this (Which I found is exactly what I did) - This actually gives the DSG the wrong idea. If you are not on the accelerator, it assumes you don't want to accelerate. It assumes you want economy, not performance. So the alternate gearbox had a higher gear (4th) instead of a lower gear (2nd) chosen. Boom. You just caused an 800ms gear change instead of a 200ms one, and during that time you were off the accelerator during a time you could have been on it (You dont have a clutch now, you dont have to let off!) so you didnt even have propulsion the whole time you could have.
So what if you broke the habit to let off the accelerator before a shift, and instead pressed the accelerator down *then* changed gears? You're letting the DSG know you want to accelerate - It will have the lower gear ready for you because you are telling it from the pedal position you want performance - not economy. Breaking this single habit was personally a game changer for me - I realized it was simply something left over from 20+ years of pressing in a clutch. Now granted, you cant just expect to be at zero throttle position, hit the gas and downshift and expect a quick change. You have to think ahead, and already have been accelerating by the time you need the downshift. Its a habit change to not try to let off the accelerator before a downshift, or at all if you don't need to - and do the opposite. This takes some discipline, and feels odd at first, but once you get rewarded with a quick pick up - It gets easier.
If you can master this, I bet you will start noticing a substantial difference in gear availability. I noticed that I was able to start predicting when I would need the downshift a second ahead, hit the gas, pause, down shift and -Bam-. You end up not losing that second of "no power" driving during the shift due to your reaction time, momentum isn't broken, and you optimize the DSG's ability to help you out.
This mostly makes sense, but there is one thing mentioned that seems a little confusing:
“So what if you broke the habit to let off the accelerator before a shift, and instead pressed the accelerator down *then* changed gears? You're letting the DSG know you want to accelerate - It will have the lower gear ready for you because you are telling it from the pedal position you want performance - not economy”
So if you are accelerating, the DSG preloads a lower gear. What happens when it’s time to change up ? This seems a little contradictory, or am I missing something ?
