2010 Golf Shudder on Stop

[bapmia]

Hi Guys,

I just bought a 2010 Golf TDI automatic and am a first time diesel owner. I have a question concerning the driving characteristics of the car. When coming to a complete stop, I can feel what I think is the transmission downshifting through the lower gears into into first gear. This causes a slight shuddering sensation that feels amost like the ABS is activating--slight, but noticable. It occurs literally as the car is in the last second of rolling to a stop, so we are talking under 1/2 mile per hour speed. Does anyone else out there with a 2010 experience this? I may be crazy, but I swear that the car I test drove (not the same one I bought) did not have this because it is something both me and my wife immediately noticed when we drove this car off the lot.

Other than that, awesome car! Gray, 4 door, Xenon, Dynaudio, Golf Mat Kit, Heated Seats, Sunroof.

 

[lordscarlet]

It is common. Read up on the DSG transmission -- it is not actually an automatic. Some have also said this goes away as the car "learns" the way you drive. But unlike a typical automatic transmission, the DSG is downshifting. You can notice this in several ways, one is the shudder. The other is that there is clearly some engine braking going on when you left off the pedal -- this does not happen in an automatic transmission.

 

[ultranaut]

Mine does this as well. It's funky but normal. Or apparently normal. Pretty much anytime I'm going really slow or expecting to coast in drive like in an automatic I'm in for a reminder that DSG is different. I'm getting better at easing off the pedal to minimize the jerky aspect.
Another weird one, a cold car + sport mode. Drive it for 5 minutes and it's fine, but until it gets warmed up it just feels weird. The engine is a lot louder too, makes me worry a bit but is as far as I can tell totally normal. I'm always gentle with her when she first wakes up.

 

[Pelican18TQA4]

Diesels will always be louder after a cold-start and the DSG will sometimes behave awkwardly until the transmission fluid comes up to temp. My last DSG-equipped car ('08 R32) would actually have rather abrupt shifts in Tiptronic mode after a cold-start. After a few miles of driving, the shifts were perfectly smooth. If left in Drive after a cold-start, shifts were smooth as usual.

 

[AusTexRocker]

Ditto on the shudder. At first I thought it was the brakes also, but it is so slight. Good to know this is normal behavior for the DSG.

 

[JNEZ]

Just wondering what effect all this shuddering will have on the engine mounts over time.

 

[ultranaut]

My shudder is really minor, I can't imagine it having any significant effect on anything. I'm no mechanic though. I do think it is lessening as the engine breaks in, I'm nearly at 2000 miles now.