Anyone got a new Audi/VW? How do you turn off Cruise Control?

case_sensitive

Hi,

I've rented an Audi A1 for work, couple of days in the UK. When I got out to it at the back end of the car park, I discovered it had a funny-looking gear lever and just two pedals. Despite clearly being faulty, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I'll preface my question with some potentially mitigating facts:
Though 32, I only got my full license in March, after 9 months of learning, so I'm not worldly in driving experience terms.
I drive a 10-year old Ford Puma 1.7, and I learned to drive in a 10-year old Yaris, so all I know is old tech, none of this fly-by-wire nonsense.

The car is an A1 1.4TFSI S-Tronic with most of the trimmings.

Once started and in 'D', I was little shocked to discover the car drive away by itself, with no help from me and won't take no for an answer. With your feet off the accelerator, the car maintains a steady 1000 rpm or so, good for 6-10kmph in 1st, or Cruise Control Lite in any other gear. I came off a roundabout, and came off the pedals altogether in 4th (of 7) and it maintained 2000rpm and about 60kmph. Thankfully, it only sort of does this is reverse. Engage R and it stays still like a proper car should, it's only after you give it the first bit of accelerator (and come off) that it locks in this cruise control. As far as I can see, the car doesn't have Cruise Control (with controls on a stalk) as found in the Nissan Qashqai for instance).

It could be my lack of experience with new cars (this is only the 3rd new car, all rentals I've driven), but how the hell do you get it to stop doing that?

The Scirocco (2.0TDI) I had last week did something similar, foot off the pedal and it cruises along in a semi-cruise-control state. I say semi, because it does slow down eventually, just not at the rate I'd expect to in a car with engine braking. Do new cars not do that anymore? I don't recall it from the Qashqai I had, but that was months ago.

By way of mini-review of the S-tronic system, it's nice if you can't be bothered changing from neutral to 1st then 2nd, then neutral again in perpetual traffic, but as soon as the road opens up, the gutless upchanging at 2k rpm makes it feel like a grannymobile. Even when you whack the gear level into 'M' it still changes down on your behalf.

The Scirocco didn't have this, having a proper gearbox, and would stall the moment you slowed below a speed it deemed appropriate for that gear. My Puma (bless) will happily come to a stop in 5th, and start from 3rd if you really work it.
The whole affair is great for fuel efficiency, either of these cars would embarrass mine in mpg terms, but given the lend of either or my own car, I'd take mine for anything other than a motorway journey.

Short version of my rant: can you turn off this CC-lite, and if so, how?

Sub-text whine; why don't ze Tchermans want us to drive their cars anymore?

Nissan doctor

That's not cruise control at all. All standard autboxes and most semi auto/dsg etc type transmissions do this.

Its why you can't put the can in drive without having your foot on the brake. You mention having to change up and down and back to neutral to stop...just leave it in auto mode then you won't have to do any changing.

As for the sirocco you drove, Diesels have very high torque levels so will be able to maintain drive when in gear even when your not pressing the accelerator. In all diesels you can pull away and change through most gears(depending on the power of the engine) without touching the accelerator. Petrol engines have, like for like, much less torque and so can't do this.

mickdw

Sounds odd. Shouldnt do anything more than creep in D I would think without a press of the accelerator. Does it still do this when properly warmed up after a journey?
Also, did you try mashing the pedal to the floor to try to accelerate faster. Should use higher revs that way I would think.

case_sensitive

Sorry, I should have been clearer, the comment about gearchanges was a reference to a positive over a manual, in which you have to do that.
So that's a feature of DSG-manuals too? I thought I wanted one before you said that, yuck yuck yuck.

Nissan doctor

case_sensitive wrote: »

Sorry, I should have been clearer, the comment about gearchanges was a reference to a positive over a manual, in which you have to do that.
So that's a feature of DSG-manuals too? I thought I wanted one before you said that, yuck yuck yuck.

DSG's basically act like a normal auto unless you use the manual mode to change the gears yourself.

case_sensitive

Yeah, in auto-mode, you can floor it and it'll hold a gear change longer, but accelerate normally and it changes very 'early'. Mathematically, to get the optimum motion per cc of petrol, I'm sure it's great, but I'm renting it, and I'm not paying the fuel bill, so I've set it into manual for most driving, and only the real dull stuff gets auto. I will give it one thing though, it's a very smooth transition if I decide to go auto and back again, very little fuss.

Agree with ND on the diesel, but more in the Nissan for some reason, the Q pulled away very quickly, and was a joy to drive (and it was only the 1.5). The Scirocco looks great, but didn't feel as urgent somehow. Probably the funky gearbox (DSG).

On my next trip I'll get a new Ford, see how that is, because honestly if I'd paid €35k for a Scirocco I'd feel a bit cheated. Definitely a no to the Audi too, exactly the same HP as my car, but I know which *feels* faster. Now, if only my yoke didn't let so much of the road noise in..

Zubeneschamali

case_sensitive wrote: »

It could be my lack of experience with new cars (this is only the 3rd new car, all rentals I've driven), but how the hell do you get it to stop doing that?

When you want to slow down or stop, press the brake pedal.

Matt Simis

OSI wrote: »

I'm amazed they even let you rent a car with only 9 months driving on a full licence!

Lets hope they dont read his post then!

R.O.R

OSI wrote: »

I'm amazed they even let you rent a car with only 9 months driving on a full licence!

If it's on company business, it may be on the OP's company insurance rather than the hire company insurance.

If that's the case, as long as the insurance will pay for a written off car, the rental company won't care how long the licence has been held for.

case_sensitive

@Zubeneschamali: did you read the whole thing? Or you just trolling? It's a genuine question, I wanted to know how to stop the car from creeping when I'm not accelerating.

kazul

case_sensitive wrote: »

@Zubeneschamali: did you read the whole thing? Or you just an unfunny troll? It's a genuine question, I wanted to know how to stop the car from creeping when I'm not accelerating.

Zubeneschmali gave you the right answer. The pedal on the right is "go", the pedal on the left is "stop". All autos creep, you're making a big deal out of something perfectly normal.

MetzgerMeister

@ Nissandoctor - In all the cars I've had, all petrol, I was able to put the car in gear and have it drive on its own with no use of accelerator. Granted it was a fairly slow pace, it happened nonetheless.

Leonard Hofstadter

DSG is designed to 'creep' like a proper automatic gearbox does, even though technically speaking it is a computer controlled manual gearbox with two clutches.

case_sensitive

@captainspeed; that was my understanding, the DSG has two clutches; one for even and one for odd gears, and that it was still essentially a manual. The auto-like behaviour (on the Scirocco) was new to me.

My problem with the creeping is that you can't control it; (and please, bored-troll-people with nothing useful to contribute, don't suggest I use the brake pedal), in a manual you can creep with the clutch.

Another, I think potentially separate issue, is that while in full flight, lets say 110kmph in 7th on the motorway, if you take your feet off all pedals, the car doesn't really slow down. To come to a complete stop from 110 would take, I think, several km. In an old car, engine breaking will slow the car rapidly if the accelerator is released completely, so my second question was whether cars no longer do this. I have the consistent use of 3 cars, two 2001s and one 2003, all of which feature the engine braking I learned to drive on.

kazul

case_sensitive wrote: »

My problem with the creeping is that you can't control it; (and please, bored-troll-people with nothing useful to contribute, don't suggest I use the brake pedal), in a manual you can creep with the clutch.

You use the brake pedal to stop an auto from creeping-how else would you?
If you creep by riding the clutch on a manual you'll burn it out.
Nobody is trolling you, you asked a question, it was answered.
May I recommend that you don't hire an auto if you don't know how to drive it.

krissovo

[QUOTE=case_sensitive;75911308 I have the consistent use of 3 cars, two 2001s and one 2003, all of which feature the engine braking I learned to drive on.[/QUOTE]

I expect these cars had 5 gears to your current has 7, engine braking is only effective with high rev's. The more gears the lower rev's so at a non technical level you have less engine braking. You also need to factor possibly better bearings, improved suspension and the technical features of a modern gearbox.

kazul

krissovo wrote: »

[QUOTE=case_sensitive;75911308 I have the consistent use of 3 cars, two 2001s and one 2003, all of which feature the engine braking I learned to drive on.

I expect these cars had 5 gears to your current has 7, engine braking is only effective with high rev's. The more gears the lower rev's so at a non technical level you have less engine braking. You also need to factor possibly better bearings, improved suspension and the technical features of a modern gearbox.[/Quote]

Engine braking is not really a feature of autos, you engine brake in a manual by changing down. On full auto with a torque converter you don't normally have the option to do this - so you use the brake pedal to slow down and stop.

Leonard Hofstadter

krissovo wrote: »

I expect these cars had 5 gears to your current has 7, engine braking is only effective with high rev's. The more gears the lower rev's so at a non technical level you have less engine braking. You also need to factor possibly better bearings, improved suspension and the technical features of a modern gearbox.

+1, also because DSG is designed to feel like an automatic (even though it is really a manual), engine braking is never going to be all that good anyway unless you set it in manual mode. Engines have a greater resistance to motion at higher revs, which is why when you go down a gear the car slows down unless you put your foot sufficiently far down on the accelerator.

If you've ever noticed you have to put your foot far further down on the accelerator if you're doing say 5,000 rpm as oppposed to 2,000 rpm just to maintain the same speed (on the flat, not on a hill where you need more power!).

The same principle is the reason why modern cars are getting more and more gears, so they can run at lower revs on the motorway to reduce fuel consumption. Lower revs also makes a car quieter and reduces engine wear (unless of course it is labouring, in which case lower revs is very bad for the engine).

krissovo

kazul wrote: »

Engine braking is not really a feature of autos, you engine brake in a manual by changing down. On full auto with a torque converter you don't normally have the option to do this - so you use the brake pedal to slow down and stop.

DSG is a dry clutch so does not have torque converter

Zubeneschamali

case_sensitive wrote: »

My problem with the creeping is that you can't control it; (and please, bored-troll-people with nothing useful to contribute, don't suggest I use the brake pedal)

If you are determined not to use the brake pedal to slow down, you could use other slower moving cars, or fixed objects like lamposts, signage, crash barriers or walls, but these methods involve significantly more wear and tear on the car.

case_sensitive

kazul wrote: »

You use the brake pedal to stop an auto from creeping-how else would you?
If you creep by riding the clutch on a manual you'll burn it out.
Nobody is trolling you, you asked a question, it was answered.
May I recommend that you don't hire an auto if you don't know how to drive it.

I ordered a Manual car, as I always do, but when I got to the back of the Hertz lot where my car was, it turned out to be manual. I retrospect, I could and possibly should have marched right back and demanded what I asked for, but it was pissing down and 3.5 degrees out, and I had 4 days luggage with me.

Without being rude, I asked how to turn off a feature of the car I didn't like, not how to stop the car, so I don't believe my question was answered. Is there really anyone participating in this thread that believes I could pass an Irish driving test without knowing how to use a brake pedal?

Unless the answer that question is 'yes', then either Zubeneschamali and later you didn't understand the question I asked, or more likely, was trying to be funny. The thread is called "...How do you turn off Cruise Control?"

The discussion on DSG on the other hand, is to my mind, very interesting, as I mentioned in my original post, rental cars aside, I don't have any experience of anything other than old manual transmissions.

@OSI: yeah, me too! It was a real concern, as I need to rent cars in the UK for work a good bit. The mother's 307SW broke down there (all the lights died on the M2 at night!) and she's had to rent a car; Budget refused to insure her on their crappy Micra, insisted she transfer her insurance from her car onto theirs. She passed her test at the end of March this year, but has been driving around for 30 years (!).

case_sensitive

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

If you are determined not to use the brake pedal to slow down, you could use other slower moving cars, or fixed objects like lamposts, signage, crash barriers or walls, but these methods involve significantly more wear and tear on the car.

See, at least that was funny.. If you must be negative, you can get away with it if it makes people laugh, which that did.

whippet

@case_sensitive .... you are asking a question that can't be answered.

You want to know how to turn off the cruise control .. however, what you are trying to do isn't anything what-so-ever to do with Cruise Control.

The reality is that you are obviously uncomfortable driving an automatic, modern car. I would suggest taking some of this discussion on board and use it to your advantage.

él statutorio

case_sensitive wrote: »

@captainspeed; that was my understanding, the DSG has two clutches; one for even and one for odd gears, and that it was still essentially a manual. The auto-like behaviour (on the Scirocco) was new to me.

My problem with the creeping is that you can't control it; (and please, bored-troll-people with nothing useful to contribute, don't suggest I use the brake pedal), in a manual you can creep with the clutch.

Another, I think potentially separate issue, is that while in full flight, lets say 110kmph in 7th on the motorway, if you take your feet off all pedals, the car doesn't really slow down. To come to a complete stop from 110 would take, I think, several km. In an old car, engine breaking will slow the car rapidly if the accelerator is released completely, so my second question was whether cars no longer do this. I have the consistent use of 3 cars, two 2001s and one 2003, all of which feature the engine braking I learned to drive on.

what you're describing sounds like a standard automatic gearbox.

Zubeneschamali

case_sensitive wrote: »

Is there really anyone participating in this thread that believes I could pass an Irish driving test without knowing how to use a brake pedal?

I'm sure you know how, but you seem to have a problem with why and when.

case_sensitive

case_sensitive wrote: »

Without being rude, I asked how to turn off a feature of the car I didn't like, not how to stop the car, so I don't believe my question was answered. Is there really anyone participating in this thread that believes I could pass an Irish driving test without knowing how to use a brake pedal?

Its not a feature that can be turned on and off, its the normal way an automatic car behaves. I don't see why its causing you so much trouble, if you want to slow down and stop you press the brake, you lift off the brake and the car moves on again no different to how you would drive a normal manual except for the fact that conceptually you are braking and clutching with the same pedal in the automatic compared to using two pedals in the manual.

Matt Simis

He has been told about 7 times now thats how the car is meant to work.

@OP - stop digging the hole and put it down to experience. You now know that autos creep forward in drive, by design. Its not a feature and its not "shocking", its a basic fact that wasnt revealed to you one way or another during your driver training.

rebel.ranter

Just to note that a BMW with SMG gearbox does not creep forward, at least mine doesn't anyway. My BMW with the auto however does, it is a bit strange moving from one to the other. SMG is a little like DSG, i.e. a manual box pretending to be an auto. Or the other way of thinking about it is that there's "a little man" down there pressing the clutch for you!

cadaliac

case_sensitive wrote: »

....Without being rude, I asked how to turn off a feature of the car I didn't like, not how to stop the car, so I don't believe my question was answered. Is there really anyone participating in this thread that believes I could pass an Irish driving test without knowing how to use a brake pedal?

... The thread is called "...How do you turn off Cruise Control?"

(!).

Read Matt Simms reply.
It is not a feature of the car that you can turn on or off.
It is a characteristic in all Automatic gearboxes. Fact.
It has nothing to do with Cruse Control or the name of this thread.
Auto boxes have cluches that are engaged constantly and roll the car forward on the flat. This also (helps) you on hill starts.
Its really not that big a deal.

Big Nasty

This thread is great craic!

jackofalltrades

captainspeed wrote:

+1, also because DSG is designed to feel like an automatic (even though it is really a manual)

No, it's an automatic.