A3 1.4 TFSI 150 - turbo lag?

[matth1j]

Hi - had my company car A3 1.4 TSFI 150 Sportback Sport for a few months now, and on the whole I'm very happy with it. Nicely put together, looks good without being OTT (flat red, standard Sport 17" alloys), and goes well without drinking too much juice.

But there's one fly in the ointment - I often have trouble pulling away smoothly. When I first press the accelerator there's typically a brief surge of acceleration, but that suddenly dies away, pushing me against the seatbelt if I'm not prepared for it. Of course it does pick up again, as you'd expect in a car with a reasonable 8s 0-60, but there's what feels like a substantial gap before that happens. BTW it's a manual box.

I've only had one other turbo car in the past - a previous model SEAT Leon 2.0 FR with the 200bhp engine. Only had it for a year, and sold it about 8 years ago, but I don't remember that having any lag. (That doesn't mean there wasn't any - just there wasn't enough for me to remember it.)

Anyone else experiencing this? Perhaps it's less noticeable if you've got DSG?

Maybe I just need to learn how to drive

Cheers
John

[james_tiger_woo]

That doesn't sound right - I'd expect a lag when you press the pedal (if you're off boost) with a surge, then a drop off as the power goes off (unless you change gear).

If I floor it in first, I will get just your symptoms if I don't change up - if, however, your experience a surge and drop off even when smoothly pulling away, I'd get the dealership to check it out, just make sure you know how to, exactly, replicate the problem otherwise there will be a "no fault found" issue

[matth1j]

Thanks James; I'll give the dealership a ring. Although getting there is a bit of a PITA as I'm in Bath during the week and Reading at weekends, and they're in Swindon...

[MrPaulus]

Mine is a DSG, and the early 140bhp variant, but I don't have this issue. You aren't in Efficiency mode are you?

[matth1j]

Pretty sure it's in Dynamic, but I'll double-check next time I'm in it; good idea.

I did have a brief fiddle with the driving mode not long after getting the car, but without DSG* and other gadgets I don't have I don't think it makes much difference. I did notice a change in the (artificial) weight of the steering, but I didn't detect much of a change in throttle response.

* Not saying DSG is a gadget; would happily have taken it but was already up to the limit on the company car allowance and couldn't justify the additional cost.