craig66

Question for those of you that Drive PDK in manual mode.


I have noticed that when turning a corner or going into a yield that sometimes the PDK goes down to 2nd and sometimes it goes into third. Many times it is fine but sometimes when I think it is still in 3rd and down shift it turns out that it was already in second and downshifts me to first and sometimes when I think it took me to second I come out of the turn in third and am in a power dead zone.
Short of looking at the number in the dash (which is distracting especially when turning a corner) is there a way I can preempt what the PDK is going to do or have more control of what it is doing.
Aside from that singular issue I am loving my PDK and as an avid manual driver I am not missing my clutch at all.

Thanks

Craig

gatorfast

I am not exactly following. You are asking about manually shifting the pdk, but, in the situation you describe it sounds like you are driving in auto mode if the car is doing the shifting for you? If you are truly in manual mode then the pdk will not select your gear as that will be up to you. As for knowing exactly which gear you are in, you will either need to look at the dash or keep the ticker in your head of knowing where you started and many times you have up/down shifted. But rather than being focused on which number gear you are in its probably easier to glance at the tach and see where the revs are and that will tell you whether you need to downshift further for a corner of if you are in the right gear already. Or just listen to the sound of the engine to gauge how low of a gear you are in.

You mentioned you are an avid manual driver - the pdk when driven in manual mode should be treated no differently and you should shift in the same manor as you would a traditional manual (albeit with no physical clutch).

craig66

Thank you for your explanation. While what you say should be correct, even in full manual mode the PDK downshifts when you slow down or come to a stop. I guess it does that to prevent the engine from laboring. If I am cruising to a corner in Say 5th and then start to slow the PDK will take me down to third or even second depending on how slowly I go.

iliveoncaffiene

It only downshifts when the RPMs get really low (like almost 1k).
Regardless, if in manual mode, do the downshifting as you slowdown before a turn (engine braking). Don't wait for it to downshift for you
You asked for a way to have better control of what its doing: well that's what the paddles are for

gatorfast

Yes the transmission will downshift for you to avoid stalling if your speed is too slow for the current gear. But other than that you have full control. Like the other poster said, you should be downshifting as you are slowing down so that you are in the optimal gear when you need to accelerate. If you dont want to downshift yourself then just leave it in auto mode and let the car do it for you. But if you leave it in manual mode and allow the car to slow such that it must downshift to avoid stalling then yea, you will always be in a high gear and not ready to accelerate quickly.

worf928

When anticipating slowing to a stop you can also 'click' both paddles at the same time and put the gear box in neutral - similar but not identical to disengaging the clutch when coming to a stop in three-pedal car - and then, obviously, the PDK will not do any more shifting for you regardless of mode.

craig66

Thanks to all. I thought that the downshifts were inevitable and was just letting it happen but glad to hear that is not the case. Thanks !!!

rich981

any one no why in spots manual gearbox the clutch is lower down like its jammed down their

rich981

drove home in sports again, gave the beans no issues , it was like the clutch was slipping to stop wheel spin, does sports mode stop the clutch lifting up or is it a sports gear change mode for quick shifting ??? really worried now

DIS295

I pull the transmission lever to the left every time I start the car. When I've lost count of my gear it will let me come to a stop in 2nd. I'm not sure if it would let me stop in 3rd. I got into the habit of clicking 3 or 4 times as I come to a stop, something acquired with my prior SMG. It works almost all the time.

The situations that the OP describes sound like they might have been in auto mode using the paddles

manifold danger

Weird that you ask this question in a thread discussing PDK, took me a while to wrap my mind around what you were asking about...

But no... I'm struggling to come up with any reason the clutch should ever stay on the floor. Get your car in for a professional opinion, and I'd do it ASAP as it may not be safe to drive.

Kancamagus

For most spirited canyon carving (at semi-reasonable speeds) you manual guys don’t shift anyway….its second gear only from 45-83 mph! At least us PDK guys get third gear at 74ish.