Passat TDI Shift points

[Blain]

This is our first European car (2015 Passat TDI) and we were surprised at how early the car was recommending that we shift (Manual Transmission obviously).

Sure enough I read in he manual that it is basically recommending to shift at every 10 kph.
I don't have the manual in front of me at the moment but 6th gear was basically 60 kmh (36 mph) according to the manual.
5th was 30, 4th was 25, etc.

Is anyone following this? If I went by feel, it would be something more like every 10 mph instead of kph.

Going by the recommendation in the manual and the cars prompts, it sometimes seem to be bogged down. I often find myself downshifting just to make it feel more natural.

 

[sloinker]

I noticed the same thing with my '15 Passat. It will lug if you are on anything approaching uphill at the recommended shift points. Flat or downhill it seems ok. I just ignore the arrows now. I usually won't shift until I get to 2000 rpm. No lugging.

 

[Jump62]

For my manual TDI I shift at the max torque RPM that for an ALH engine is 1900 RPM. Your cars max torque is 1750 RPM, if you shift at this point your car will warm up faster and get to a higher gear and better MPG and not get rear ended by a Prius. And where in Texas do you use KPH?
Jump62\aka Paul

edit: Oh you are cursed that that "shift now" arrow Thingie, ignore at will

 

[Blackjedi]

I shift when it hits the redline

 

[Blain]

For my manual TDI I shift at the max torque RPM that for an ALH engine is 1900 RPM. Your cars max torque is 1750 RPM, if you shift at this point your car will warm up faster and get to a higher gear and better MPG and not get rear ended by a Prius. And where in Texas do you use KPH?
Jump62\aka Paul

edit: Oh you are cursed that that "shift now" arrow Thingie, ignore at will

Haha. Sorry, I don't use KPH, I was just saying that the VW shift points were based on KPH according to the manual (20,30,40,50,60).
I didn't have the manual in front of me, so I only guessed at the MPH speeds. I remember that 6th gear was 36mph I think. And the others I guessed on.

 

[turbocharged798]

You should not be shifting until 3K RPMs to prevent turbo problems, clogged dpfs, and stuck rings. These cars love to be run hard.

 

[UhOh]

I'm sure that they're pushing those numbers/points in order to obtain optimal fuel mileage and minimal emissions. Of course, we're talking stuff that's NOT reality based, our cars aren't driven in lab (or a nice flat track).

Driving situations vary greatly. To say that any particular shift point(s) is what one should use is, um, ridiculous.

My continuing education has me, at this point in time, believing that it's best to try and obtain a cruising speed as rapidly and safely as possible (w/o smoking tires). This serves to help exercise engine components and, if one agrees with the theory, delivers better fuel mileage as one gets in to cruise state sooner: my limited testing (I've always been a slow-poker up until recently) seems to support this theory; right now I'm trying to parse out my abnormally extra heavy right foot that's due to a new tune with this basic theory/concept.

Many will squawk at running at lower rpms, calling it "lugging,." Depends. If you're not putting on any real load, such as slowly decelerating (more likely in stop and go travel), then, IMO, it's fine. Of course, you're not going to be driving all over the place like this, so, when you go to accelerate from your inevitable next stop (or slow-down) then drop down in a gear that puts you in the heart of your torque range and throttle it, briskly, shifting as necessary, up to the target/cruising speed.

 

[Wilkins]

The CR is a different animal than the earlier engines. Economy suffers significantly if it is run at higher rpm than necessary for the load on it. Ride in a car with a DSG and see where it shifts! Normal driving on level ground I bet it never reaches 2000 rpm in the lower gears.

I try to shift so the higher gear engages at about 1400 rpm, unless I need more power or the engine feels like it is lugging. Of course the engine should be run harder on a regular basis to keep the DPF happy, I just don't think it is necessary to do it constantly.