Brand new 2012 6 speed automatic - Experiencing Transmission Issue

[hawaiivr6]

We just brought home a new Tiguan 2012 Automatic and when we are in Drive (D) and going about 26-30 mph the transmission stays in a high gear (5th) and makes a vibrating hum.

It happens on a flat road when someone is in front of us and forces us to stay in the 26-30mph range.

It feels like it wont drop back to 4th at this speed and is overloaded in 5th. When we give it some gas it will hum and lag even more then finallly downshift.
Tiptronic and Sport seem fine but Drive does not feel normal in this range.

When we took back to dealer at 130 miles on the odometer, the tech sat in on the drive and experienced the symptom. His conclusion was that the car is in its "Adaptive Learning" phase and it should work itself out after about 600+ miles.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO AT THIS POINT TO GET THE CAR TO DRIVE BETTER?

PLEASE COMMENT THANK YOU

[NeedsMoreBoost]

HOW ABOUT ROLLING ALL THE WINDOWS DOWN AND REFLECTING FOR A SECOND THAT YOU ARE BREATHING THE CLEANEST AIR WHILE LIVING IN ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES ON EARTH?

Nothing is wrong with your transmission. In Drive, the trans will up shift sooner, even at a low speed to save you gas, which the 2012 is exceedingly good at doing. Learn to appreciate it.

The behavior of any turbocharged engine/trans is the same in a high gear at low speed. It will feel like its bogging down but it's really fine. Don't forget that your engine makes it's power via a turbocharger that has to SPOOL with exhaust gases before it can make power. It can't spool efficiently in a high gear at low rpm when the exhaust gases are moving slowly. The ECU will do it's job and determine, based on throttle position and more importantly LOAD, when it's necessary to downshift.

If you want more responsiveness, put the trans into Sport Mode, then it will stay in a lower gear, thus higher rpm and your turbo will be making boost. Every turbocharged engine/trans combo has some form of "lag", even the most advanced variable geometry turbine systems have a little. The 2.0TSI has very little lag compared to my 944 Turbo due to the smaller size of the turbocharger in the Tiguan. Get used to it.

[hawaiivr6]

No thanks -
I'm not the only one with this specific concern.
See
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthrea...gram-is-HORRID!!!!

It is a real issue that VW is going to have to address if they want to keep there loyal customers.
IMO

Thanks for the info on the Turbo tho

[shawng]

I don't buy the 'live with it' solution. If VW has recoded the transmission as a way of bumping up mileage numbers and now it is not behaving well, then a change will need to occur. i just responded to Ryan in his thread.

I do agree with the point that the transmission is learning, but that typically happens over a span of 2 weeks, not 600 miles. this is my experience after disconnecting the battery and wiping the transmission's learned response as a result.

[todddr]

I hated my wife's new 2011 SEL after we got it in June. Similar issues, plus dealing with
the "break-in/learning" turbo lag had me wondering how on earth we even got off the
dealer lot with the Tig after 2 rather long test-drives.
After a few weeks and about 1000 miles, the trans seemed to have "learned" what made us happy.
I liked my wifes Tig so much I went and bought a CC...so I've now "broken-in/trained" two VW 2.0TSI/trans vehicles.
I think you need to atleast get to the 1000 mile mark...I know, I didn't want to hear it either.

[hawaiivr6]

Thanks todddr
I just hope that the changes to the 2012 for mpg doesn't put the gearing so far out of wack that the computer can't correct it.

It is good to hear that there is a chance it will work itself out.

[hawaiivr6]

UPDATE / BUMP

We'll were at about 600 miles and not much has changed with the transmission.

Are all 2012 Tiguans like this?

Any new perspectives?

[Shaka]

Last Friday I purchased a 2012 Tiguan SEL 4mo. I too have noticed that it jumps to higher gears more swiftly than you may desire, as someone stated above the newer ones do this more. I've had my share of VWs before, many of them newer 6spd vehicles (auto, DSG, etc).

From my experiences VW and most mfg's have become more aggressive trying to post good MPGs and in doing so the car up-shifts quicker to achieve this. The problem then is there is definitely some resonance in the 2.0T motor at sub-desired RPMs. Your description of your 'situation' has happened to me a few times, but a little more gas usually gives the car reason to resolve itself.

On the flip side, it does seem to adapt. I tend to be a bit heavier footed of a driver than many, and have found that being "in" the gas on this car takes more "foot" depth than say our 2006 Jetta 2.5 -- that is to say to get the same 'gusto' in the Tiguan is more pedal pressure / deeper pushing down than the 2.5. At first that seemed odd to me, since the 2.5 should make less torque than the 2.0T ... but after reading your post and thinking about it, I truly think it is just the transmission trying to fight the power, literarly LOL

I'd say try to drive a bit more aggressively and see what happens. Come off the gas pedal LATER than usual, see how that does. And also, see if the car adapts. My 2012 only has 400 miles of which it had ~300 at pick up (was a dealer trade I requested to get me the color/trims I wanted) so I've only driven ~100 of my own miles. Till I get more seat time, I'm going to chalk up the 'issue' to driving style, and transmission learning.

(EDIT -- ADDED MORE BELOW)

One thing I also noticed is that when going up a hill, the car does a GREAT job holding the lower gears when it needs. This is something I can't say about our 2.5 Jetta, where I am constantly switching to S (sport) mode on the shifter. It does seem to take a bit of prep, when I see a chance to punch it, where I'd love paddles, instead I just have learned to press the gas a half-second sooner than I need the power, even if just hitting 50% throttle, to give the car a chance to allow me what I want. But overall, I've been pretty happy with the transmission. It seems happiest driven either VERY swiftly, or very grandpa-style, but either way, no real 'complaints' here ... hope my reply helps somehow!

[hawaiivr6]

Your description of your 'situation' has happened to me a few times, but a little more gas usually gives the car reason to resolve itself.

On the flip side, it does seem to adapt. I tend to be a bit heavier footed of a driver than many, and have found that being "in" the gas on this car takes more "foot" depth than say our 2006 Jetta 2.5 -- that is to say to get the same 'gusto' in the Tiguan is more pedal pressure / deeper pushing down than the 2.5. At first that seemed odd to me, since the 2.5 should make less torque than the 2.0T ... but after reading your post and thinking about it, I truly think it is just the transmission trying to fight the power, literarly LOL

I'd say try to drive a bit more aggressively and see what happens. Come off the gas pedal LATER than usual, see how that does. And also, see if the car adapts. My 2012 only has 400 miles of which it had ~300 at pick up (was a dealer trade I requested to get me the color/trims I wanted) so I've only driven ~100 of my own miles. Till I get more seat time, I'm going to chalk up the 'issue' to driving style, and transmission learning.

(EDIT -- ADDED MORE BELOW)

One thing I also noticed is that when going up a hill, the car does a GREAT job holding the lower gears when it needs. This is something I can't say about our 2.5 Jetta, where I am constantly switching to S (sport) mode on the shifter. It does seem to take a bit of prep, when I see a chance to punch it, where I'd love paddles, instead I just have learned to press the gas a half-second sooner than I need the power, even if just hitting 50% throttle, to give the car a chance to allow me what I want. But overall, I've been pretty happy with the transmission. It seems happiest driven either VERY swiftly, or very grandpa-style, but either way, no real 'complaints' here ... hope my reply helps somehow!

It helps to hear someone else feels the same issues. One thing I cannot figure out how to do is drive more aggresively when there is always a car/stop sign/streetlight ahead of me.

Youre right about going uphill, with the slightest incline the tranny is PERFECT. It's just the flats where it weirds out. If I give it a little more gas it get it out of the funk it falls right back into it once I let off the gas to maintain my speed because of other cars......

So it ends up being an irritating accelerating to get out of funk/coasting to slow down because of car in front/ and then repeating. That's when I start asking myself WTF.

[Old Dogg]

To help boost fuel economy in the S5, there is now an efficiency setting in the Audi Drive Select system. This setting softens the throttle response, cuts the air conditioning’s run time and forces the transmission to upshift earlier. Driving with the efficiency activated, the drop in performance is noticeable — no matter how hard you tromp on the gas pedal, the engine responds in a nonchalant manner until the desired speed is reached. For the performance-minded, it will likely be a redundant addition in spite of the overall drop in fuel consumption.

If you want to read the full review here is the link: http://www.driving.ca/First+drive+20...819/story.html

[glennm]

Same thing here. I will not own it out of warranty so not going to stress. I have more of an issue with the feeling it disengages while driving and my tack runs up.

I think you missed "Needsmoreboost" was saying you are lucky to be where you are, in Hawaii, so really what do you have to complain about lol

Personally. I would be happier in Northern Minnesota. Or Canada when it becomes our 53 state in the future

[Old Dogg]

Or Canada when it becomes our 53 state in the future

You wish, lol.

[Shaka]

It's just the flats where it weirds out. If I give it a little more gas it get it out of the funk it falls right back into it once I let off the gas to maintain my speed because of other cars......

What speed are you driving when this occurs? For me it seems to be at certain speeds only, and ones that I rarely travel at (ie: 27mph, which is what I do in a 25mph zone). When in a 35mph zone, I'm usually driving closer to 40mph to keep up with everyone else. I rarely see this happen then.

My theory is this: at lower speeds, the car is shifting up to say probably 3rd gear, and the car isn't producing enough power (the load exceeds what you expect, so the car feels anemic). However, at higher speeds, even though the car is up-shifting same thing, the fact that the car is already in motion at a higher speed, the same conditions dont "feel" (seat of pants) as bad.

One way to test this their would be to press the throttle to a certain position, and time how fast it takes to get from your starting speed to your ending speed (ie: a pull from 25mph to 40mph). Then, do the same thing, same throttle input, but first manually (tiptronic) shift down ONE gear. Obviously we know it'd be faster with the downshift, but then you may also feel it is better.

FWIW, the DSG motors seem to be more "shift happy" (read: will down shift quicker/better) ... really makes me wish our 2.0T Tiggys had the DSG. It is such an amazing trans...

[hawaiivr6]

What speed are you driving when this occurs? For me it seems to be at certain speeds only, and ones that I rarely travel at (ie: 27mph, which is what I do in a 25mph zone). When in a 35mph zone, I'm usually driving closer to 40mph to keep up with everyone else. I rarely see this happen then.

My theory is this: at lower speeds, the car is shifting up to say probably 3rd gear, and the car isn't producing enough power (the load exceeds what you expect, so the car feels anemic). However, at higher speeds, even though the car is up-shifting same thing, the fact that the car is already in motion at a higher speed, the same conditions dont "feel" (seat of pants) as bad.

One way to test this their would be to press the throttle to a certain position, and time how fast it takes to get from your starting speed to your ending speed (ie: a pull from 25mph to 40mph). Then, do the same thing, same throttle input, but first manually (tiptronic) shift down ONE gear. Obviously we know it'd be faster with the downshift, but then you may also feel it is better.

FWIW, the DSG motors seem to be more "shift happy" (read: will down shift quicker/better) ... really makes me wish our 2.0T Tiggys had the DSG. It is such an amazing trans...

Thanks for your input on this Shaka,

As I said in other threads the town we live in has a 25 and 30 mph speed limits that people follow annoyingly. All flat roads. This creates a grey area for the transmission IMO.

When I'm going about 27-30 in Drive it will try to stay in 5th gear (resonating, booming, lagging, or what ever you would describe a car in the wrong gear struggling).

If I go to Tiptronic (T) it will drop to 4th right away, and the funny thing is in T it wont let me go up to 5th at this speed.

If I put it back in to D, it immediately goes into 5th and back to ressonating. If I try to get it out of this, by accelerating, I end up going 33+ mph and end up having to slow down cause the car in front or upcoming light/stop sign. FRUSTRATION....

In Sport it will try to stay in 3rd which ends up a little to rev'd up when all i am doing is following a car or maintaining 28-30.

It will also do this at the 5th - 6th gear transition but it is so minor that I don't notice or I just don't spend much time at this speed so it doesn't affect me as much.

When I have the road to myself the car is great to drive, fun and sporty. And I love the boost when I bottom out the peddle.

And yes, I do appreciate the fact that I live in Hawaii. It aint easy tho.

[NeedsMoreBoost]

And yes, I do appreciate the fact that I live in Hawaii. It aint easy tho.

Sorry to hear you're still having trouble, but I think it will put a smile on all our faces if you snapped a cool pic of your Tig next to some sick Hawaii scenery, like lava or a waterfall, etc. for everyone here to set as their desktop background.

[Old Dogg]

Just finished reading an article on the Mercedes C-Class where it mentioned the following about the C-250:

"Even the transmission is calibrated for fuel economy. In its economy mode, the 7G-Tronic Plus upshifts early, particularly in the lower gears. The end result is that you have to push the throttle pedal harder and, by the time the tranny does shift, it’s quite abrupt. The Sport mode is actually quite a bit smoother and I could detect very little difference in fuel economy. And, unlike other manually shifting automatics, the C250’s paddles are quite useful."

Sound familar.

Audi is going the same route as my previous post mentioned:

"To help boost fuel economy in the S5, there is now an efficiency setting in the Audi Drive Select system. This setting softens the throttle response, cuts the air conditioning’s run time and forces the transmission to upshift earlier. Driving with the efficiency activated, the drop in performance is noticeable — no matter how hard you tromp on the gas pedal, the engine responds in a nonchalant manner until the desired speed is reached. For the performance-minded, it will likely be a redundant addition in spite of the overall drop in fuel consumption."

Haven't seen anything on BMW yet.

Cheers!

[hawaiivr6]

Working on a pic (NeedsMoreBoost).

(Old Dogg) Sounds like all the manufacturers are jumping on the MPG train.

I just got back from the dealer after reaching 720 miles on ODO. It appears the booming/lagging has gotten a little better but I still wanted to go to the dealer and have the diagnostics ran just to be sure. Of course all was good on the reading.

The good thing about what happened is now there is a claim with VW regarding this transmission issue. I would encourage anyone who feels that their car isn't delivering a good driving experience to go to the dealer and make a claim. The tech said that occasionally enough reports come back to VW and they put out updates to reflash the ecu to correct the problem.

In this case, it may never happen because what I percieve as an uncomfortable driving experience--- VW see's as MPG gains, and that is the trump card these days.

Time will tell...

[smart56]

Another FRUSTRATION Here, I have the same problem on my 2012 Tiguan.... Just purshased last Friday.

The dealer don't want to understand the problem.....



Thanks,
N:

[piston]

Love the automatic tranny engine breaking when you're going around 40mph or less down hills.

Tiguan: "Hey, you're going down a hill. Let me assist and throw the car into 2nd or 3rd gear to make sure you don't go down the hill to fast."

Engine reving to 4-5K for engine breaking is ridiculous.
I end up throwing it in to manual mode and shift up to get my revs back to around 3K or less.

I'm glad it doesn't do this at high speeds going down steep hills in the mountain pass or it would be annoying or almost dangerous.

[smart56]

Please anyone who has the same problem call customer care at the following phone number 1-800-822-8987 to submit his complaint. Dealers doesn't escalating this issue (your complaints) to VW America or Canada.
Yet for all new prospective buyer of a 2012 Tiguan test drive it a longer time to feel the problem and wait until the resolution of that issue.


I am not comfortable to recommend this model to anyone at the moment.


Thank you.

[cbs19862]

I purchased our 2012 Tig SE about three weeks ago. It had 31 miles when I took it off the lot, and I'm about to hit 900 miles, including two all-highway road trips. When we picked out the Tig, we ended up having to get a second one due to a major issue with the on-board computer and the doors, etc. Anyway, I ended up getting to drive a 2009 Tig with about 40k miles on it, and did not notice the noise others have described. However, in each of the Tiguans I test drove, along with the one we purchased, at slower city street speeds (and in traffic) we notice the loud noise of the tranny (esp between 30-40 mph). Initially the dealer indicated the noise was a flat spot on a tire- however, with each of them doing it, that was not plausible. It doesn't bother me that much, but, if it continues too long after I hit 1000 miles, I'll start voicing concern about it.

[vw_nc_dude]

Any update on your tranny issue guys?

[vw_nc_dude]

OK guys, here is the latest from VW. This is the message I received today:

Dear Mr. T:

Thank you for your e-mail inquiring about updates for the transmission for the 2012 Tiguan.

At this time we are aware that Volkswagen recognized the dissatisfaction some of our customers have with the performance of the transmission for the 2012 Tiguan. And we are working on an adjustment that addresses this concern and allows the Tiguan to still comply with Federal emission standards.

[ElSupremo]

OK guys, here is the latest from VW. This is the message I received today:

Dear Mr. T:

Thank you for your e-mail inquiring about updates for the transmission for the 2012 Tiguan.

At this time we are aware that Volkswagen recognized the dissatisfaction some of our customers have with the performance of the transmission for the 2012 Tiguan. And we are working on an adjustment that addresses this concern and allows the Tiguan to still comply with Federal emission standards.

"Working on it" is pretty vague, no guarantee they'll ever get there... but one can hope.

[vw_nc_dude]

"Working on it" is pretty vague, no guarantee they'll ever get there... but one can hope.

We have similar messages from owners in Canada and China. So it really looks like they are working on this.

[C Jayhawker]

I don't like the early shifts of D or the 3k RPM shifts of Sport mode when I'm going through town with all of the lights and traffic. Because of this I usually use the Tiptronic which I dont mind manually doing, and love having a bit of control. In the owner's manual under "Break in" VW actually tells you to avoid letting the RPMs get too low and to downshift if the RPMs do get too low. Apparently they are instructing us to use Tiptronic to break in the engine!
I believe there is another thread that claims VW is coming out with an updated shift program for D.

(Sorry if I'm repeating other posts, I am at work and don't have the time to read through each post )