Another positive review of the new update from the VW guys...

 

Attempted to schedule for the AKB6 campaign for next week since being informed here of an availability date date and of course they won't schedule it since part availability is nil. Only part I need on my 2016 is software. Added my name to the list...

What's sad is that my dealer didn't even inform me of a date when items would be available, to which I responded with the expected date posted here. Their excuse was essentially "well, we expect to receive parts by then but that's not a guarantee".

Only one Porsche dealer in this town so I don't have the option of finding a more reputable dealer unless I want to take a road trip.

 

Same here - 'waiting on parts.' I have an appointment to bring it in on the 7th. They will let me know if I should keep it.

 

Well, had the AKB6 flash done today. Haven't had a lot of time with it, but my initial impression is that is, indeed, an improvement. My sport mode seems to be back. Lag - based on just a few miles, so far - seems less. And the cold (what I call) transmission hunting and bucking seems to be gone, too. I'll get a better read on that after it spends a full night in the garage cooling to ambient.

I'll go test the lag in a bunch of conditions tomorrow.

I'm still going to go at least a week before "proclaiming" it a success, though. And before taking the '14 in to be flashed.

 

That's encouraging. Hopefully it stays that way. I feel like my CD drove great for a while after the fix and gradually degraded as the summer heat came but, that may have just been the honeymoon phase coming to an end. I need to wait a few weeks for my work schedule to settle down before I'll have a chance to bring mine in.

 

Definitely encouraging.
Love to hear these positive reviews: Porsche and VW diesels.

 

Good call on letting the new tune "soak" a bit. But still definitely encouraging.

I just messaged the service manager at my dealer to check in since the D-bag service writer I dealt with last time has a history of NOT doing what he says he's gonna do (which was put me "on the list" and call me "as soon as we can start taking appointments.")

 

Guys, can anyone post an actual letter for the latest campaign on emissions?
My dealer says they don’t have an update yet. I’m not sure we’re referring to the same campaign. TIA.

 

Well, didn't get out much today. May go out later on, after dinner and put some miles one.

But I did make two cold start trips. Yes, it still holds RPMs high to accelerate warmup. I have no issue with this, since I know it's normal behavior. And hit 35mph and it shifts and goes into what appears to be a more normal shift schedule.

The "bucking" I was experiencing seems to be gone. It was only with a cold engine, so the two drives today were very encouraging. For me, about 30mph, sport mode (because I always ran in Sport because Normal was so bad), let off the throttle to just the point you were applying fuel. Then it would hunt to figure out what to do. It didn't change gears, but the TC would lock and unlock or engage and disengage until applying a definitive amount of throttle. That seems to be all but gone. Maybe an initial hesitation as you lift off then reset the accelerator position, but smoothly. Then it's fine. So that's a very good thing with this flash if it holds.

Initial tests on lag. It's still there, but not nearly as bad. Maybe 1 second now, in stead of 2-3. And instead of pressing the accelerator, engine revving and then transmission slamming in, RPMs do come up and the transmission locks, but much more smoothly. And quickly. But that's a very small sample size, so far. In normal, maybe 1.5 seconds, Sport just 1.

Driving in Normal mode now appears to be no longer driving a Yugo. It's what I'd expect from the CD based on the fix manual we all got. And Sport, then, is better. My '15 has basically not had a Sport mode for 2 years, so this is good, so far.

Gear selection seems to be much better already. And I don't have to fight to get it to shift out of the highest gear possible. Now it still shifts to get the lowest RPM, but at the slightest hint of a torque requirement, it pops down a gear. This is in Normal mode.

Again, just a couple of short trips today, both with cold engine starts, so very limited data set so far. But promising!

 

Thank you for the detailed review

No callback from my dealer today...

 

I still haven’t gotten a letter. Are they still being sent out or are there CD’s that are somehow exempt from this update?
Is it possible the positive effects people have seen with the new update are temporary as the computer relearns driver habits?

 

Very encouraging to hear about the V2 flash. It sounds like my current car performance except with the lazy gearbox lock when cold once in a while.

 

Ok I stopped by the dealer today for a free car wash - and popped into the service department to talk to the non-D-bag writer (nice guy). As I suspected, I was not on any "list" from my last visit to get in line for the software update. Good writer knew exactly what I was talking about, and told me, "I can get you in right now actually, if you have time to wait..."

So I tossed him the keys, went upstairs to the sales floor and grabbed a free Starbucks, chatted with the sales manager a bit, surfed the Twittersphere for a bit.... but it's done. Took them a little over an hour including a re-wash (plus interior vacuum.)

I've only driven the ~25 miles home but so far my impressions mirror Skiahh's. I noticed it starts downshifting as soon as I get on the brakes. It's definitely quicker to downshift when you tip into the throttle. It's definitely overall more responsive - whereas before, you'd get that "dead pedal" sensation when rolling into it - now it does something. Still some turbo lag but at least it's doing something. From a dead stop now, it reminds me of my 2014 - the converter doesn't instantly lock in 1st anymore (to where you'd get get lag-lag-lag-BOOST-shift.) Seems the converter stays open in 1st, so you get revs (and actually get MOVING!) and it grabs 2nd pretty quick and THEN the converter locks. By that time with the revs and load you've built some boost. Overall power delivery is a lot smoother.

I also noticed when rolling around the neighborhood, and rolling a no-stop corner, the torque converter unlocks in 3rd and you get revs now. Before it would just lug itself along at 1000rpm.

My guess is they changed a LOT in the calibration. Likely had a calibration engineer working on it this entire time and FINALLY came up with something, and basically buried these drivability changes under the guise of "transmission shudder". Probably raise a lot more eyebrows if they branded this fix how we seem to be experiencing it.

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed this doesn't "burn in" and revert to the previous behavior over time. I drive ~600 miles a week so I'll be paying close attention. But initial impressions - it's a big improvement. Anybody with a "fixed" CD - you want this update.

 

 

Nice.

Mine said I was the first one to get it done there, so they wanted to take ample time to test drive and whatnot.

So they gave me a brand new (200 miles) Panamera 4 to drive for the day. Very nice... and sleeker than the original Panny.