quick update on this thread.
im quite upset with my Malone tunes.
i just switched back to original flash file, did adaptations, took it on the test drive, and all my problems are now fixed. it drives as smooth as a new DSG (i drove one on the weekend, so it's fresh in my memory)
yes, even with my nearly quarter million miles.
i took a read of malones tune, flash back my original, took a read of that, and sent them to my new tuner. he confirmed the suspicions, the same he had for another "stage 4" user from malone.
mostly, if not entirely, tune related. adaptation maps messed up, PID control maps messed up for gear shift + clutch engagement, and a barbaric pressure increase to hold more torque. new tuner is shocked i was able to do adaptations successfuly on the malone "tune" at all!
waiting on new tune, from my new tuner. same guy thats tuning my ECU.
the issues i had before are so bad, im quite literally making the conscious decision to stay on my original VW file, with a big turbo CRTDI.
thats how big of a difference this is.
yes, i have brought these issues up with malone, they stated i should swap my mech unit.
i then reached out to a knowledgable point of contact for DSG's, maktrans. explained my situation and they said clutch pack.
this confused me, which started me down this path. and here we are. it was neither.
frankly to say im upset is an understandment. the people at malone are great, but it seems their tunes are just purely incompetent. im speaking with someone who has a stage 2 on his TDI, similar issues to me. flashed back to stock, all issues gone.
absurd.
i have gone through 3 tune revisions for the DSG with malone btw, wonder how long until i have malone worshippers come out of the woodwork for this. i used to be on the malone bandwagon, hardcore. but im not anymore. im more disappointed than anything i suppose. upset and disappointed
my advice for DSG tune: use TVS engineering, or find a competent boutique / indie tuner. APR, malone, etc tunes aren't going to help you.
the most competent "big tuner" i have seen is kerma. so add them to my recommendation list too if you so desire.