Concern about 2012 Tiguan auto transmission

[TIGSEL]

This is not TRUE. There is no adaptive learning phase in the 2012 new transmission. The transmission changes include the use of two overdrive gears, a lowered idle speed and this cannot be adapted or changed unless they do a Programming refresh through your VW dealership.

Not sure where you get your info. The NON adaptive tranny would be a DSG (not available in US on Tig's), which has set patters of shifting. Our regular 6 speed transmissions are adaptive and will learn your shift patters. But don't take my word for it call any WV dealer and ask them that questions, in fact I did that this morning just to reassure myself

[vw_nc_dude]

Not sure where you get your info. The NON adaptive tranny would be a DSG (not available in US on Tig's), which has set patters of shifting. Our regular 6 speed transmissions are adaptive and will learn your shift patters. But don't take my word for it call any WV dealer and ask them that questions, in fact I did that this morning just to reassure myself

Even if it trains, I strongly believe that the training is very limited so that the advertised higher MPG values hold. Having tried to "train" our Tiguan for the past four to five months, I was pretty unsuccessful.

[Ween]

Not sure where you get your info. The NON adaptive tranny would be a DSG (not available in US on Tig's), which has set patters of shifting. Our regular 6 speed transmissions are adaptive and will learn your shift patters. But don't take my word for it call any WV dealer and ask them that questions, in fact I did that this morning just to reassure myself

The dealer...pffffffffff. My dealer said the '12 Tig had DSG...

[Fishblmp]

Am I the only person here who actually doesn't mind the transmission? Dont hate me! Maybe it's because I do 85% city driving so I don't really notice the difference. I had a Prius before I had the Tig. The shifting actually seems comparable and I remember being told (on the Prius) that the low rumble means you're achieving great gas mileage. Ha.

[vw_nc_dude]

Am I the only person here who actually doesn't mind the transmission? Dont hate me! Maybe it's because I do 85% city driving so I don't really notice the difference. I had a Prius before I had the Tig. The shifting actually seems comparable and I remember being told (on the Prius) that the low rumble means you're achieving great gas mileage. Ha.

The problem is with city driving! Around 35 mph the transmission shifts to the 6th gear!

[vw_nc_dude]

Dear TIGSEL and reneestan,

Don't rely too much on your dealer's information. My dealer told me that we have a DSG in our Tiguan. When I told him we do not, he was really surprised!!!

[TIGSEL]

I too got my information from the VW Dealer. In the US, on the automatic, when not in D or S (sport mode) there is DSP (dynamic shift program) which allows you to shift like a manual. My dealer told me with the changes in 09M 6-speed automatic Aisin gearbox, which now uses a 2nd overdrive gear to reduce engine revs at cruising speeds. The transmission in non-Sport mode now shifts at slightly lower revs, making greater use of the turbo engine’s considerable torque. And the idle speed of the 2.0T engine has also been lowered to a (diesel-like 600 rpm.) Doing this has achieved an improvement in EPA-estimated highway economy from 25 mpg to 27 mpg. They told me it will NEVER learn my shift patterns. The only fix is a chip reflash/refresh to the programming???? Not sure which is correct but I have done the steps to refresh posted on youtube for VW's and your suggesstion of once in Drive just go as fast as possible and neither have helped.. I think I will be getting a chip from APR Stage I-II-III etc......

Boy oh boy you make me work. I just got off the phone with VW NA and they also confirmed that 2012 Tiguans DO have an adaptive transmissions. If that's not good enough for you I don't know what is. As a friendly reminder, please do your homework from now on before disputing any type of info posted especially if don't have a solid source to back it up.

[shawng]

All the automatics are adaptive, but they do have limits. They will never adapt to eliminate the problem occurring on the 2012s. and an APR flash will not change the behaviour of the transmission. At this time there is no aftermarket flash for the transmission. The only ones that can fix the problem is VW.

[vw_nc_dude]

All the automatics are adaptive, but they do have limits. They will never adapt to eliminate the problem occurring on the 2102s. and an APR flash will not change the behaviour of the transmission. At this time there is no aftermarket flash for the transmission. The only ones that can fix the problem is VW.

Do you have a time-machine? From where did you get the 2102 Tiguan??

[shawng]

LOL, I got it from poor typing. Post fixed now. Maybe by 2102 they will have fixed the issue

[hhaller]

After the first 2k miles on my 2012 Tig, I have to admit that some of the posters on here are right: it is a choppy ride. It just seems like this thing is constantly shifting, especially going up and down hills. Not sure how I feel about that or if it takes away from the rest of the Tig, which is put together so well.

[TIGSEL]

We can go back and forth all day regarding this.... You can call VW of NA and talk to 3 different people and get 3 different answers on the same question, same will happen when you speak to a VW mechanic, and just like we did with our own VA dealerships.

Just wondering has your Tiguan adapted to your driving yet?

I just don't understand why are you trying to prove something that you have no direct knowledge of especially if it's incorrect. You keep quoting some online magazine which vaguely stated something about transmission which by the way did not even know that SEL's have a sport suspension and blamed firm ride on wheels alone. Do you really think that this poor Joe Blow (who hopefully has a degree in journalism) knows anything about transmissions? I really wish that some people here would get their info checked and double checked before posting and confusing the heck out of other forum members.

[vw_nc_dude]

Got a call from VW today regarding this issue. I had filed an online complaint at the below link. They take it seriously. So if you have a concern about the automatic transmission, let VW know using the below link. The more complaints there are the more likely it is that there will be a possible re-programming of the transmission:

http://web.vw.com/templates/Service?...e=customercare

[bradsvw]

Got a call from VW today regarding this issue. I had filed an online complaint at the below link. They take it seriously. So if you have a concern about the automatic transmission, let VW know using the below link. The more complaints there are the more likely it is that there will be a possible re-programming of the transmission:

http://web.vw.com/templates/Service?...e=customercare

So what did they say?

[vw_nc_dude]

So what did they say?

They first tried to set me up with my dealer but I told them there is nothing the dealer can do at this point. I told them that all the Tiguan's drive this way and that we actually knew this when we did the test-drive. I also indicated that this concern is raised on many forums by Tiguan owners. They said they got the message and will address this as more information is coming in. This is why I suggest that every Tiguan owner who is not happy with the current transmission programming to raise their concern. If you do not tell them, they will not do anything.

[ryan mills]

Yup. I guess the more people making noise, the better. I still hate my wife's Tiguan for the transmission alone. This is my 23rd or so VW, and this is really the only one both my wife and I have been disappointed in. Cars should get better as they progress, not worse. I would love to get my 2009 back.

[reneestan]

I just don't understand why are you trying to prove something that you have no direct knowledge of especially if it's incorrect. You keep quoting some online magazine which vaguely stated something about transmission which by the way did not even know that SEL's have a sport suspension and blamed firm ride on wheels alone. Do you really think that this poor Joe Blow (who hopefully has a degree in journalism) knows anything about transmissions? I really wish that some people here would get their info checked and double checked before posting and confusing the heck out of other forum members.

Okay... not trying to be right or get the last word or anything like that. YOU WIN!!!!

Can you tell me if your transmission has adapted to your driving yet???? Is your Tiguan lugging or short-shifting into the highest possible gear or have you trained it??????

[reneestan]

This information is from www.vw.com 2012 VW Tiguan Press Kit
Mark Gillies Manager, Product & Technology
703-364-7104

Corey Proffitt
Product Communications Specialist
703-364-7672

Engine and Transmission
The 2012 Tiguan comes with the soul of the iconic Volkswagen GTI—the award-winning 2.0-liter TSI® turbocharged four-cylinder engine. This technically-sophisticated powerplant features double overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, direct fuel injection, and variable intake timing. Turbocharged and intercooled, the compact, in-line 1984cc four-cylinder produces an impressive 200 horsepower and 207 lb-ft. from just 1700 rpm.

As in the GTI, the 2.0T is mated to a precise-shifting six-speed manual transmission, which is standard on the Tiguan S model. The rest of the Tiguan line-up comes standard with a six-speed automatic with Tiptronic® manual shifting, Sport mode, and Dynamic Shift Program (DSP).

To support its far-reaching ‘Think Blue’ initiative, Volkswagen engineers have optimized the new 2012 Tiguan to give worthwhile fuel economy improvements.

Changes to the six-speed automatic transmission include the addition of a second overdrive gear to reduce engine revs at cruising speeds. The transmission in non-Sport mode now shifts at slightly lower revs, making greater use of the turbo engine’s considerable torque. And the idle speed of the 2.0T engine has also been lowered to 600 rpm. Doing this has achieved an improvement in EPA-estimated highway economy from 25 mpg to 27 mpg.

To provide added traction for the 2012 Tiguan, Volkswagen’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system is offered on all models. The electro-hydraulic system delivers drive to all four wheels without any buttons to press or levers to pull. A Haldex® center differential can continuously vary the driveforce between the front and rear axles, depending on the traction available.

In most driving conditions, 90 percent of the drive goes to the front wheels, which saves fuel. But when accelerating hard from standstill, for example, front-wheel slip is controlled by the Haldex® coupling’s ability to progressively direct nearly 100 percent of the drive torque to the rear wheels.

The 4Motion system also offers a high standard of active safety, providing sure-footed traction over virtually all surfaces—that rough road to the lake or a snow-covered driveway in winter—as well as optimum straight-line stability, even in crosswinds.

[Plasticar]

I don't have one yet, but will be replacing my A4 Avant with one later this year, so I've been trolling the boards to get informed.

I understand that people may not like the current state of the transmission. What I don't understand, however, is the insistence on complaining for a re-programming, as if it were a mistake. The transmission works this way ON PURPOSE. They changed the gearing to make both 5th and 6th overdrive gears. They also revised the stock shift points and idle speed. This is to bump up the fuel mileage by an estimated 2mpg across the board.

Now you may not like it, but VW is not going to say, "well, some people think it is noisy, so we are going to replace the gearing and revise the programming to give worse fuel mileage." No amount of complaints or letters or emails to customer service is going to do this. Like it or not, it's how it is.

[VR6Now]

I don't have one yet, but will be replacing my A4 Avant with one later this year, so I've been trolling the boards to get informed.

I understand that people may not like the current state of the transmission. What I don't understand, however, is the insistence on complaining for a re-programming, as if it were a mistake. The transmission works this way ON PURPOSE. They changed the gearing to make both 5th and 6th overdrive gears. They also revised the stock shift points and idle speed. This is to bump up the fuel mileage by an estimated 2mpg across the board.

Now you may not like it, but VW is not going to say, "well, some people think it is noisy, so we are going to replace the gearing and revise the programming to give worse fuel mileage." No amount of complaints or letters or emails to customer service is going to do this. Like it or not, it's how it is.

I hear you but I'm not 100% sure I agree. Sometimes perception is reality. If this create doubts regarding the performance and durability of the tranny along with a feeling of discomfort while driving the car, it could affect sales and the perception of the brand. If VW takes too many black eyes, there is an incentive to correct the problem.

The real reason I have doubts that the situation will be addressed is the vehicle emmisions and fuel mileage have already been certified using this premature shift program. Programming changes that don't affect mileage and emisions are fairly easy to make. The necessary shift point modifications may be significant enough to blow the EPA certified mileage ratings and I don't know how easy that would be without recertification at this point. There's a fairly good chance that this problem will never be addressed with the sold units or this model year so if you can't live with it, I'd suggest that you should be prepared to dump the Tiguan for something else.

[TIGSEL]

Okay... not trying to be right or get the last word or anything like that. YOU WIN!!!!

Can you tell me if your transmission has adapted to your driving yet???? Is your Tiguan lugging or short-shifting into the highest possible gear or have you trained it??????

This isn't about winning or loosing, this is about posting facts not fiction or rumors. To answer your question, yes car feels better (as per wife) since its her car. I'll be taking it to a 3 hour trip in a few weeks and will report my findings.

[vw_nc_dude]

I hear you but I'm not 100% sure I agree. Sometimes perception is reality. If this create doubts regarding the performance and durability of the tranny along with a feeling of discomfort while driving the car, it could affect sales and the perception of the brand. If VW takes too many black eyes, there is an incentive to correct the problem.

The real reason I have doubts that the situation will be addressed is the vehicle emmisions and fuel mileage have already been certified using this premature shift program. Programming changes that don't affect mileage and emisions are fairly easy to make. The necessary shift point modifications may be significant enough to blow the EPA certified mileage ratings and I don't know how easy that would be without recertification at this point. There's a fairly good chance that this problem will never be addressed with the sold units or this model year so if you can't live with it, I'd suggest that you should be prepared to dump the Tiguan for something else.

One solution that has been suggested is to reprogram and make the S mode "less" sportier; i.e., instead of shifting around 3000 RPM, it could shift around 2000 or 2500 RPM. That would solve the certification issue since the D mode will not be affected. So anyone who is not happy about the D mode, could shift to this less sportier S mode.

[VR6Now]

One solution that has been suggested is to reprogram and make the S mode "less" sportier; i.e., instead of shifting around 3000 RPM, it could shift around 2000 or 2500 RPM. That would solve the certification issue since the D mode will not be affected. So anyone who is not happy about the D mode, could shift to this less sportier S mode.

That would work.

[atherton213]

Thought i would come over here to see if anyone else had this issue and looks like lots of people do....

my mom just bought a 2012 tig and noticed the noise as well, she took it to the dealer who test drove it and then other ones that all did and told her it seems to be in all of them and was normal. She took it back the other day for her 90 day check up and told the svc guy about it and how it just doesnt sound right. He drove it and others and said... well they all seem to do it. They got the svc manager on the case as well, he drove my moms and others and said yeah they do it all... but this sounds pretty bad and shouldn't be happening its not acceptable in his book. The dealer and my parents have put word in to VWoA as well as it looks like a lot of you have.

I know that just reprogramming the car to not change gears as low is a fix... but what i was then thinking is wont that throw off the MPG of the car as well... driving a car at 2-3rpm vs 1000rpm will change the MPG.... even by 1-2mpg will be different than advertised and i dont remember what car make it was but there was a huge lawsuit about a car being advertised with X mpg and getting Y mpg (worse) in which the person won.

(edit... didnt read EVERY post here but looks like people have already talked about the mpg possible issues)

[shawng]

Yes it will affect mpg, but I bet if they come out with a fix, they will clearly outline that to the customer to cover their ass. And it is Honda and their civic hybrid that are headed for a class action suit on advertised mileage. But in their case it was not 1-2 mpg, but closer to 20.

[jsjjnbrunk]

One data point:

I have an '09 SE 4-Motion with ~55K that I've driven since new. I like the way it shifts and I've been following this thread with interest as I'm always thinking about what my next car will be.

We recently rented a new FWD auto Tig while at our our vacation home in Florida. It had just over 1000 miles on the clock. We did ~200 miles of hwy driving as well as a ton of local errands during a 10-day stay.

I realize the rental was not a 4-Motion, but FWIW I did not hear or feel anything significantly different or objectionable compared to my '09. I commute with mine and am generally pretty soft-footed in the interest of buying less $3.70 Premium, so perhaps mine has adapted to a conservative pattern.

Biggest things I noticed, frankly, were the low-budget rental fleet interior and the tires that weren't as sticky as I prefer.

j.e.b.

[VR6Now]

One data point:

I have an '09 SE 4-Motion with ~55K that I've driven since new. I like the way it shifts and I've been following this thread with interest as I'm always thinking about what my next car will be.

We recently rented a new FWD auto Tig while at our our vacation home in Florida. It had just over 1000 miles on the clock. We did ~200 miles of hwy driving as well as a ton of local errands during a 10-day stay.

j.e.b.

I don't notice it either....unless I am cruising at the speed it lugs at.

[Ween]

VW is in a real pickle with this because bad word of mouth (from owners, car reviews, etc.) will kill the reputation of the Tiguan, and after talking with my service manager about bad glow plugs VW experienced a couple of years ago, it will take upwards of a year and a half to get re-certified with the EPA since this will affect emissions/environmental stuff. My guess is VW will just choose to let it ride and entice buyers with shiny new re-designed 2013 models instead.

The noise doesn't bother me (since I've always got AC/DC blaring through the speakers), but I definitely feel the bog of the transmission going through gears 3-5 and when I'm cruising at 30-50mph. Sport mode has helped some, but doing that forces it to shift late, so you get higher RPMs (which I realize that's what it's supposed to do).

[VR6Now]

Yes it will affect mpg, but I bet if they come out with a fix, they will clearly outline that to the customer to cover their ass. And it is Honda and their civic hybrid that are headed for a class action suit on advertised mileage. But in their case it was not 1-2 mpg, but closer to 20.

A disclaimer to the customer will not absolve them of compliance to an EPA cert. No fix can be made that circumvents the vehicle emissions and mileage certification without approval. I doubt any such approval could / would be granted without re-certification.

If they change the sport mode as a alternative, it requires no re-certification or customer CYA activity.

[shawng]

you have a good point there. Interesting on how this plays out.

[TIGSEL]

Well, when Audi rolled out their 8 speed auto tranny it shifted like crap too, but guess what, less than a year later Audi came up with a new software and fixed the problem. So I'd say for those who are not happy there may still be hope.

[jsjjnbrunk]

I don't notice it either....unless I am cruising at the speed it lugs at.

Let me put it a little differently. We drove that car almost 500 miles -- half of it around town -- so we pretty much covered the range it could be cruised at. It was not doing any booming or lugging of any kind.

Again, it was FWD, FWTW.

j.e.b.

[VR6Now]

Well, when Audi rolled out their 8 speed auto tranny it shifted like crap too, but guess what, less than a year later Audi came up with a new software and fixed the problem. So I'd say for those who are not happy there may still be hope.

Manufacturers change engine and transmission mapping all the time and they are free to do so at will within limits.

[bradsvw]

I don't have one yet, but will be replacing my A4 Avant with one later this year, so I've been trolling the boards to get informed.

I understand that people may not like the current state of the transmission. What I don't understand, however, is the insistence on complaining for a re-programming, as if it were a mistake. The transmission works this way ON PURPOSE. They changed the gearing to make both 5th and 6th overdrive gears. They also revised the stock shift points and idle speed. This is to bump up the fuel mileage by an estimated 2mpg across the board.

Now you may not like it, but VW is not going to say, "well, some people think it is noisy, so we are going to replace the gearing and revise the programming to give worse fuel mileage." No amount of complaints or letters or emails to customer service is going to do this. Like it or not, it's how it is.

Plasticar...I disagree with your statements, here is why: The noise you hear is the engine lugging and "knocking" from detonation which could easily damage the engine.

The torque converter in these tranny's is a "free wheeling" one which allow the rpm's to drop to idle rpm's (600), to save gas, when your foot is off the gas pedal doing 25-35mph.

The tranny should still shift to a lower gear like 2nd or 3rd in anticipation of your foot back on the gas pedal and acceleration.

Instead, you end up accelerating from 25-35mph in 6th gear, RPM's are too low at that point for acceleration and you get potentially damaging detonation and that's the noise everyone is hearing.

Why don't you take a 2012 Tig out for a test drive and see for yourself...but until you have one pls save your comments...

[vw_nc_dude]

Let me put it a little differently. We drove that car almost 500 miles -- half of it around town -- so we pretty much covered the range it could be cruised at. It was not doing any booming or lugging of any kind.

Again, it was FWD, FWTW.

j.e.b.

Are you really sure you rented a 2012 Tiguan (the one which has the face lift and whose exterior looks different than your 2009 Tiguan)? I test-drove a 2012 Tiguan with FWD and also my wife has a 2012 Tiguan with FWD and both do the lugging.