DSG shift hesitation

I picked up my first new car (2011 Golf TDI) and our second TDI this February. In general it has been an awesome car to drive; kind of like making love to the road, whereas the PT Snoozer they loaned me recently was more like trying to thward an unwelcomed advance. Aside form the general awesomeness of the ride and the dash full of goodies, I have noticed that the DSG will sometimes get confused between which gear to select at low-to-no acceleration and will shift up-down-up before it settles into a gear. The first couple of times I noticed it, it was between 1st and 2nd and it only jumped the one time. I had it happen recently between 4th and 5th and this time I left my foot at the same position for a few seconds and the transitions happened about 5 times. Being that this is a manual transmission with two clutches constantly engaged, I knew the only issue this would cause is wear on the clutches. I wanted to see if it was an isolated hickup with the shifting logic or an actual deadspot in the acceleration band that left the transmission "confused." I'm curious if anyone else has seen this happen with their DSG.
Thanks in advance for the help,
Ray

A lot of people seem to be reporting this I'm guessing it comes with the territory of DSG ownership. a lot of people like the sport mode but sometimes it holds shifts a lot longer than necessary for certain situations.

I have the same car as you, never had that happen to me.

Gergg,
Which do you use more often; Sport, Drive, or the paddles.
Ray

gergg said:

I have the same car as you, never had that happen to me.

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DSGs just sometimes have some odd behavior, some folks notice it, others do not. I have probably driven more different DSG-equipped cars than most, and I cannot say I have ever been in one for any length of time that did NOT in some way do something goofy at some point.

I would not worry too much about it, and this subject is brought up again and again (and again, and again, and again) here and on many other VW forums.

I would, however, learn to reset the adaptation at every service as this really does help keep the M-unit's logic from getting too strange.

oilhammer said:

... this subject is brought up again and again (and again, and again, and again) here and on many other VW forums.

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I've seen all the listings on hesitration at launch, but I haven't been able to find anything on the hesitation during the shift transition. I guess I'm not using the right search key words.

oilhammer said:

I would, however, learn to reset the adaptation at every service as this really does help keep the M-unit's logic from getting too strange.

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I have the Vag-Com connector and we have used it on the 2002 Jetta for all of the timing belt changes. Can you point me to the link for instructions on resetting the adaptation on the 2011 Golf TDI?
Thanks,
Ray

Not sure poll is valid. Doesn't include option. "Hey, pick a gear already". Have said that a few times. Doesn't bother me. I just acc or decelerate until it shifts and it goes away. I find it happens if I suddenly change gear direction. I just assumed it selected the next down gear and then I stepped on it.

www.ross-tech.com has all the info regarding 02E adaptation resets.

I have no idea what he is asking

Thanks OilHammer.

TDiSkater said:

"Hey, pick a gear already".

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Yeah, I realized I was shortsighted after I tried to narrow my selection down to three. Thanks for the feedback.

In S or tip, if you slow down to below 10mph, the trans will shift on its own from 2nd to 1st. If you don't accelerate or pause then accelerate when it happens, the shift will be smooth. If you slow down below 10mph then accelerate, the trans will jump to first then go back up to 2nd and jolt the car.

When I had the VW engineer in my car and showed him this, his reply was "Huh". When I told him if the shift point was dropped from 10mph to 5mph on decel most of the rough shifting complaints would disappear, his reply was " ".

El Dobro said:

In S or tip, if you slow down to below 10mph, the trans will shift on its own from 2nd to 1st. If you don't accelerate or pause then accelerate when it happens, the shift will be smooth. If you slow down below 10mph then accelerate, the trans will jump to first then go back up to 2nd and jolt the car.

When I had the VW engineer in my car and showed him this, his reply was "Huh". When I told him if the shift point was dropped from 10mph to 5mph on decel most of the rough shifting complaints would disappear, his reply was " ".

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That is because I bet that same German engineer was thinking in his head "Why the heck didn't you just get this car with a proper manual transmission and stop complaining?"

Gergg,
Which do you use more often; Sport, Drive, or the paddles.
Ray

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I use them all at times, yeah the DSG is quirky and different than most other transmissions, I happen to like it, and can't recall ever having the problems mentioned here, maybe it's just my driving style, I do feel I understand how this thing works and I might be allowing it to do it's own thing without me interferring.

I would like to add that the newest DSGs behave much better than the earlier ones. The 2004 units behind the BEW were awful.

I think APR has a new DSG software remap available, but it is kinda pricey.

oilhammer said:

That is because I bet that same German engineer was thinking in his head "Why the heck didn't you just get this car with a proper manual transmission and stop complaining?"

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Actually he was thinking "How dare this American impugn the integrity of this fine example of German engineering. The swine!".

I love my DSG. The only time I've experienced any strangeness is when I go to pull away, then change my mind right about the time it shifts into second gear. That tends to confuse it. It's really no different that acclerating with a manual in first gear, clutch out, then backing out of the throttle and getting back on it. It will "buck" a bit. Only difference is the DSG has no clutch to push in to put a stop to things. You just need to mash the pedal or put on your brakes to help the DSG make up it's mind.