GTI feeling flat above 4000RPM

[GTIEagles]

I just gave my GTI a well earnt blast at lunch and I'm finding the performance a little bit dissapointing above 4K. The low down torque is fine and it will easily spin the wheels in 2nd but when the revs start building in 2nd it feels like it's being choked... It's running on Tesco Momentum 99 and the DV was replaced a couple of years ago by the previous owner, I have checked the PCV and the car splutters when the dipstick is removed (I assume this means it's working?)

Does this seem normal?

[lukemk5gti]

Theres a very good chance dv is gone again! Start with that first. I have a how to on my build thread.

With the right tools I replaced mine on Sunday in 30mins

[GTIEagles]

:( hopefully not as I'm going on a 700 mile round trip over Xmas! Would a fault code show up on VCDS if it had failed again?

[lukemk5gti]

Not necessarily. I believe mine showed low boost or something like that!

If you had the part ordered now you could do it by the weekend providing it was faulty

[GTIEagles]

I might just have to live with it until I get back as I have no spare time until after Xmas :( Is it definately likely to be the DV? Because it feels really punchy low down and it tails off around 4-5k right to the redline. The car drives fine with no funny noises.

[lukemk5gti]

 

I might just have to live with it until I get back as I have no spare time until after Xmas :( Is it definately likely to be the DV? Because it feels really punchy low down and it tails off around 4-5k right to the redline. The car drives fine with no funny noises.

No guarantee I'm afraid! Maybe someone else could shed some light on it but if your dv is split which would be common if it's a few years old now then that's a typical symptom.

Scan it first and see what it says I suppose then throw the results on here for people to diagnose

[TyGTI]

Mine is similar, has a dead spot around 4000rpm and picks up again at 5000rpm 

I have a gfb dv so shouldn't be that... I'd be interested to see if you can get to the bottom of this!

[Hevoshullu]

The low down torque is fine and it will easily spin the wheels in 2nd but when the revs start building in 2nd it feels like it's being choked.

Just our of curiosity, is your car tuned or are you running on really slippery tyres? There's no way my stock GTI will spin the wheels in 2nd gear (it might of course do that with cold tyres and in cold and wet conditions) on tarmac. I do however have quality rubber in good condition under my GTI. I still feel like it would need a whole lot more power to _easily_ spin the wheels in 2nd.

If the DV is faulty, it should feel especially sluggish when the boost starts to build up and would hit the max at around 3k rpm.

[GTIEagles]

The low down torque is fine and it will easily spin the wheels in 2nd but when the revs start building in 2nd it feels like it's being choked.

Just our of curiosity, is your car tuned or are you running on really slippery tyres? There's no way my stock GTI will spin the wheels in 2nd gear (it might of course do that with cold tyres and in cold and wet conditions) on tarmac. I do however have quality rubber in good condition under my GTI. I still feel like it would need a whole lot more power to _easily_ spin the wheels in 2nd.

If the DV is faulty, it should feel especially sluggish when the boost starts to build up and would hit the max at around 3k rpm.

My car is completely bog standard and the tyres on my car are cheap worn rubbish so I'm not surprised they spin up like they do especially in the wet!

I took the car out again last night and give it a good hard drive and to be honest I'm not sure if it's underperforming now. I think it might be partly due to the linear power delivery of the engine that is making me think the power is dying off at higher rpm when it probably isn't. I'm use to petrol engines which are quite peaky in that they deliver most of their power on the top end but I guess the GTI isn't like that?

I came from a remapped Audi A4 130TDi which obviously felt much quicker than it probably was due to the torque but the GTI doesn't feel that much quicker tbh...

[Hevoshullu]

I took the car out again last night and give it a good hard drive and to be honest I'm not sure if it's underperforming now. I think it might be partly due to the linear power delivery of the engine that is making me think the power is dying off at higher rpm when it probably isn't. I'm use to petrol engines which are quite peaky in that they deliver most of their power on the top end but I guess the GTI isn't like that?

I came from a remapped Audi A4 130TDi which obviously felt much quicker than it probably was due to the torque but the GTI doesn't feel that much quicker tbh...

A standard GTI is pretty much like that. The capped linear torque output makes the car feel a little underwhelming at the top end because the low end punch makes the car feel more powerful than it actually is. Nonetheless, the GTI's real life performance is awesome due to the large power band and the fact that it does still pull harder than a diesel at high revs. I really like the GTI engine the way it is - to me it feels like the power output starts "dying" after 5k rpm. Between 3k-5k revs it pulls alright regardless of which gear you're in. (And of course it sounds way nicer than a diesel, excluding idling haha.)

[GTIEagles]

I took the car out again last night and give it a good hard drive and to be honest I'm not sure if it's underperforming now. I think it might be partly due to the linear power delivery of the engine that is making me think the power is dying off at higher rpm when it probably isn't. I'm use to petrol engines which are quite peaky in that they deliver most of their power on the top end but I guess the GTI isn't like that?

I came from a remapped Audi A4 130TDi which obviously felt much quicker than it probably was due to the torque but the GTI doesn't feel that much quicker tbh...

A standard GTI is pretty much like that. The capped linear torque output makes the car feel a little underwhelming at the top end because the low end punch makes the car feel more powerful than it actually is. Nonetheless, the GTI's real life performance is awesome due to the large power band and the fact that it does still pull harder than a diesel at high revs. I really like the GTI engine the way it is - to me it feels like the power output starts "dying" after 5k rpm. Between 3k-5k revs it pulls alright regardless of which gear you're in. (And of course it sounds way nicer than a diesel, excluding idling haha.)

That's just what I suspected, it definately starts dying off at the top end like you describe, I hear the Edition 30s (KO4 turbo) are the opposite in that you loose a bit of low down torque but it's made up in the midrange and top end which suits my style of driving more  Would a remap fill in the hole at the top end or would the power delivery stay the same but with just more of it?

After owning a diesel of nearly 3 years I was itching to get back into a petrol car again and yeah sound alone, it wins hands down 

[GrayMK5GTI]

The boost delivery of the K03 turbo is typically in the low-mid range with the boost tailing off after 5k revs.

A remap will help a little at top end, but the best gains are to be had in the mid range.

K04 turbo pulls hard to 7k rpm

[GTIEagles]

The boost delivery of the K03 turbo is typically in the low-mid range with the boost tailing off after 5k revs.

A remap will help a little at top end, but the best gains are to be had in the mid range.

K04 turbo pulls hard to 7k rpm

Makes me want an Edition 30 even more  I noticed you have had a stage 1 GTI and you are now on an Edition 30. How did the performance of the the stage 1 GTI compare to a standard Edition 30?

[GTIEagles]

Quick update.

A couple of weeks ago I completed a 700 mile round journey and since then my car has been absolutely flying 

I honestly think that my car just needed a good long run to clear out the cobwebs. The previous owner was a middle aged, female teacher (excuse any stereotypical assumptions!) who didn't strike me as the sort of person to thrash a car. She owned it for 6 years, sometimes only averaging 5K a year. I reckon years of short journeys and regular unleaded were what made the engine feel choked and my recent long journey has burnt off any excess carbon, freeing the engine up and unleashing some lost horses.

Morale of the story - A long run can work wonders to a engine used for short journeys 

[JimGTI]

To be honest, coming to this as my first turbo I was a little surprised to understand that just putting it in third and planting the throttle is a little under whelming. My power too tails off to a bit of a flat after 5k and I have always been used to a hard pull all the way to the limit then a change, whereas in the GTI I seem to make better progress changing up just before 5k, if you look at a torque curve it starts to become apparent that this is just traits of the turbo i suppose