Took the GTi to Laguna Seca

[pwe]

I'd been wanting to take the GTi out to a track day since I bought it and I finally got around to it last Monday at Laguna Seca with Trackmasters. The car is stock and I was on my street tires.

While the Lotus is of course more fun at the track, the GTi did really well. If I have complaints, it's the the brake pedal has a soft, over-assisted feel with poor initial bite and that the car is easy to upset under hard braking. I had an "OMG where are my brakes??" moment on the first green lap of our first session while braking into turn five and wound up into the ABS with the rear end wobbling around. I also had trouble for most of the day keeping the car stable while slowing down for the corkscrew. On the other hand, I was able to get the off-camber stuff through turn nine to feel comfortable, which I wasn't able to do in the Lotus on my first trip to Seca a few months ago.

While I have some complaints about the DSG on the street, it was just fantastic on the track. One of the complaints that I have is that the car automatically upshifts when you hit redline, so a few times I wound up exiting turn eleven in 3rd rather than 2nd but the transmission is so smooth that I felt comfortable making downshifts anywhere on track, including mid-turn. Since I was driving flat out, there were no problems with turbo lag or accidentally tripping the kickdown switch, both of which still vex me during every day use.

There are more pictures <a href="http://pics.scc.mi.org/2007/20070108_laguna_seca/index.html">here</a>, including a hilarious one of me being run down by a Ford GT.

<img src="http://pics.scc.mi.org/2007/20070108_laguna_seca/_G3D0735_Sm.jpg">

[James A]

Nice picture, tht must have been fun!

[Yeti]

I think I made the wrong choice in not moving to California. Cool pictures!!

[Agem]

"have some complaints about the DSG on the street,"

Hi Dave
Great DSG V Shift stick going on here, what complaints do you have ref street driving?
Cheers
A

[pwe]

Originally Posted by Agem

Great DSG V Shift stick going on here, what complaints do you have ref street driving?

Well, most of the things that I complain about are 'features', such as the kickdown switch and the automatic upshift at redline. I had no idea what a kickdown switch was when I bought the car and it took me awhile to figure out why it would downshift from low 6th to high 3rd when I jammed the gas pedal all the way to the metal at 70mph. Before I read my owner's guide and figured out how to stay out of the kickdown, I actually almost got into an accident while making a left turn in the right lane of a two lane road with another car next to me in the left lane. I was in low 2nd at maybe 2500 RPM and I floored it to pass the other car. Of course I hit the kickdown, the transmission shifted into 1st, and the front tires broke loose (I turn the traction control off) causing me to slide into the other lane. I was able to get out of the gas in time to avoid the collision, but with only about six inches to spare.

There's also the very occasional slow downshift which only seems to happen when I'm just putting around town at lower speeds. 99% of shifts in this car are exactly how VW advertises them, ~0.2 seconds and very smooth, but once in awhile (and invariably when I need a quick downshift) the car will go dead for nearly a second and then shift. It doesn't seem to be waiting for the motor to match revs are anything, there is just no power for what feels like an eternity when compared to the speed of normal shifts. Frankly, if the transmission wasn't so good the other 99% of the time, I wouldn't even notice these slow shifts and when driving hard, on the track or in the twisties, this problem goes away.

[JWA]

You should have the dealer check out that slow shift issue. My wife's GTI with DSG never does that. I don't mind the kickdown as there is the slight detent in the gas pedal to let you know when you're there. I actually find it to be a great feature. I don't really think that you can be too mad at it for the incident you described as you turned off the traction control without reading the manual to understand the potential effects. I know it's a standard thing to do, but this is an entirely new system that warrants at least a general understanding of the interplay between systems.

[Agem]

I think its something that might pay to get somebody to teach on a sort of track/road day. I hear that "Autocar" got very poor results........only to find out they had the box in the wrong mode (i heard this 2nd hand so i don't know what).

Local chap has just bought a Golf GTI with it with a view to learning before Porsche make it on the 911/Cayman/Boxster........rather find his way with a £20 K Golf rather than £50 K of Porsche.

Cheers
A

[pwe]

Originally Posted by JWA

I don't really think that you can be too mad at it for the incident you described as you turned off the traction control without reading the manual to understand the potential effects.

I'm mostly mad at myself that I keep hitting the kickdown now that I know that it's there.

[Brian 111]

I've had six VWs from an '83 GTI to a B5, and have always found the brake feel hugely improved from replacing the pads (using Porterfields now on the 3 I still have) and switching to stainless lines.