Stalling with 6MT...

[meb58]

I gave the service folks an earful about how easy this car is to stall. I've driven all sorts of cars on and off track, I've logged about 3.7 million miles of driving thus far in this life and I've never had a car that stalls this easy. 31 times since I began keeping track in 8,400 miles. It's much worse with the AC on so I switch it off every time I pull away from a stop light. I consider this dangerous...an engine with so much torque so low in the power band ought no to have this problem.

I also loaned it to a track veteran in my area and although he didn't stall it during a 50 mile drive he did say the the engagement utterly lacked feel and that he could understand how easy it might be to stall this car.

...an extremely annoying attribute in an otherwise very nice car.

[nlz242]

31 times? wow!

I have had mine for a week now, i was driving a DSG for the past 2 years, so i kinda lost the feel for the clutch and i stalled 3 times so far. While i do agree it's easy to stall it, i wouldnt go as far as, turning AC off at start, instead of just giving it slightly more gas. Hill hold will def. take time to get used to, for me. I like the feature, i wont disable it, but i have had a couple of moments where i was really wondering what was holding the car in place.

Little trick ive read (that you may already know) is to use less brake pressure, as Hill hold applies the same braking force as you did to keep the car from rolling. So if you are on a very slight incline and you give it alot of break, you'll find yourself fighting the brakes for a little less than 2s, which is more than enough to stall it.

[meb58]

...it's not on the hills...just pulling away from a regular stop light or from a toll booth. No problems with the hills. The AC really bogs this thing down...otherwise I have to slip the clutch much more than I like. I put over 200K on all of my cars and have never had to replace the clutch. I'm not so sure about this car...

[nlz242]

My point was more that I noticed hill hold has a tendency to kick in even when it feels like I'm on a level surface... So I'm getting some brake hold while none would be needed. But yeah this may not be your case.

[Reichardt]

I bought a 2012 JSW tdi a couple of weeks ago and I have stalled it two or three times. My wife stalled it at lest ten times in one short test drive. It just takes some getting used to. It would be less of an issue if you didn't have to turn the ignition completely off and back on to restart the car. That is annoying.

[meb58]

Ah...hmmm, I'll have to take note of that...very interesting, because it is a hard and sudden stall...almost as if something is holding the car back.

Originally Posted by nlz242

My point was more that I noticed hill hold has a tendency to kick in even when it feels like I'm on a level surface... So I'm getting some brake hold while none would be needed. But yeah this may not be your case.

[enricoleone]

i think the biggest contributor to stalling is a major difference between the diesel and regular gas cars: when the revs drop terminally low, there is no warning 'bucking' like on a gasoline engine. it just dies. coupled with the sound isolation, the long clutch travel, and the absolute 800 rpm 'cutoff' that = stall.

[Shortshaft]

Originally Posted by meb58

Ah...hmmm, I'll have to take note of that...very interesting, because it is a hard and sudden stall...almost as if something is holding the car back.

I agree, and that's my point as well. The "hard and sudden stall", is what I have a problem with. If the ECM is shutting the fuel off too early, it can be resolved by a re-flash. The more I think about it, the more I am concerned. The hill hold feature does not affect my take-off, as it can be "timed" to engage the clutch the second it releases. I actually like it now that I am used to it. In heavy traffic, stop and go, or just pulling away...if you are too quick with the trigger it'll stall...fast and abrupt. If VW is giving us a mere 100-200 rpm to "work" with, from idle rpm of about 800 to engagement rpm, it becomes a safety issue. You should NOT have to concentrate as much as you do with clutch release as you do with this car. I have sent VW an e-mail with my concerns.

[gillie]

Practically everyone has experienced the stalling problem initially. I never had the problem with other sticks and I thought there was a defect. You will learn, as I did, that playing with the gas pedal as you engage first gear will reduce the stalling. It still happens on rare occasions but I know it's me and not the car.

[meb58]

I think it's the car; the clutch has no feel whatsoever. However, I simply have to keep my eye on the tach whilst pulling away from a stop.