[Epic]

Voted : I got the update done & it was good / neutral

Make: 2015 VW Jetta 2.0 TDI DSG
Engine: 2.0 TDI
Experience in words:

I am possibly one of the few to be going against the tide here but post the software update I have not felt any alarming change in the car. I found the car to sound smoother and there is definitely an increase in fuel efficiency of around a kilometer or so. In terms of power; to be honest, I have not found any increase or decrease in the same. Yes, the pick up has become more linear than before and I have no issue with it really. The car is performing well and I definitely do not hate it post the update. I was told that maybe I do not drive my car enthusiastically enough to know the difference. Frankly, I have never needed to drive any of my cars enthusiastically to know whether they are performing well or not.

Verdict - I am neither happy nor sad about the update. I get the power from it whenever I demand it and I am still very happy with the car and enjoy driving it post the update.

OT - Based on the poll, majority of our members are unhappy with their car post update. Unfortunately, as far as I know; till now in India, there is no concrete evidence to show that there is a decrease in performance of the car post update which I believe is due to the lack of availability of a four wheel dyno. If this can be proved, can we all not get together and take on VW for this?

[Crank]

I got my update done last Sunday. Initially I felt really uncomfortable. It was jerking a bit while entering or leaving coasting - particularly in 2nd and 3rd gears. It took a while for me to realize that the ECU has lost all its memory and I need to redo all my driving again to regain the previous driving experience. Just in next 2 days, I saw the car well behaving, smooth and in fact with better fuel economy. Performance-wise I have not seen much difference in the city. However will confirm after testing it on the highway. As others pointed out the gear suggestion also comes up at lower RPMs than before. Will vote once I had done a highway trip this weekend so that I have inputs on performance as well.

[anandharamanp]

Voted: I got the update and i am unhappy about it.

I went in to get the strud mounting replaced under warranty and my Kun VW madras updated the Emission fix software without any information to me. When questioned on why did not they inform me before doing the emission software update, the manager said it is mandatory and i cannot avoid it - when i told him they cannot do this without my consent, he was kind of not listening

Following are my observations, on Emission Software Update.
1) Driveability has improved especially at first gear - before update the torque was very low in 1st gear in such a way that i could not move the vehicle forward in bumper to bumper traffic and hence i will engage second gear immediately, to and fro with half clutch.This changed after the the software update and now i can pull the vehicle in first gear.

2) I missed the sudden surge that we all have enjoyed so far with a grin on our face when Turbo kicks in. Turbo kick in this update is tuned to deliver linear power when compared to the sudden surge earlier. I could feel that the engine is gasping for more air when you push the vehicle hard on the highway. unlike earlier i need to plan any overtaking - earlier all i did was to press the throttle without any plan for overtake and the beast will behave like a leopard but it is not the case anynmore.

3) increase in engine noise especially when i release clutch in low gears - there is a kar kar tractor noise audible in the cabin which got settled to certain extent after 1000 kms of run in but still it is louder than the engine sound during pre update times.

So Overall i am not happy with the update.

[RMB]

Can we plan to sign an online petition to VW/Skoda and send it them? I got my update done during first service on my Rapid 1.5MT and I hate it. I complained to Tafe and they had me get the car in and have technician check it again. But absolutely no use as the folks in India have zero knowledge about it. The update comes directly from Germany. They did agree many folks complaining about same issues. So service centres will not be able to help in any way once the update is applied. There is no way to reverse it. We should sign a online petition and send it to the company to see if any response.

[pankajthere]

Make: 2011 Škoda Superb DSG
Engine: 2.0L TDI
Vote: I got the update & I'm unhappy with it

My car was due for the yearly maintenance and change of front brake pads plus some minor paint job. Škoda updated the Emission fix software without any information to me even after me intimating them not to do so. When i told the service guy that the new software has a lot of issues and i have read about it, he first said that there's nothing like that and the new software will improve things. He also supported this by again and again saying there's no new part added and it's just a software update. After insisting too much he said that if we don't update this, then we are not going to be responsible for any harm caused to any part and any issues will be there so on. In a way they wanted me to know that its compulsory to get the car updated if it has come to the authorised service station. Had no option but to get the car back with the update. Even i was given the Car Care pack as a freebie.

Well, my thoughts & observations as of now:

1) The engine idles at 1K RPM. Earlier as far as i remember it wasn't at 1K. The noise also has changed and is on the louder side. Not really happy with it as it was silent before.

2) The engine feels little more smooth & refined while driving on low speeds as the power delivery is much linear than before. Gear change pattern also has been changed and Downshifts & Upshifts both have been tweaked it seems.

3) The worst part : the punch is gone. Hit the highway and you don't feel it's the same Superb. It drives more in the manner of an Octavia now. The engine, gearbox, turbo everything seems to work in such a different manner altogether now and there's no sudden kick. It almost feels like that you're driving some other car. Even if you're using Sports mode or the paddle shifters the car refuses to deliver that sudden acceleration it used to give.

4) Fuel Efficiency has dropped around 10-15% to 9KM/L in city conditions. Have managed to get around 10-11KM/L always in the city and almost double of that i.e. 18-20KM/L in a fully loaded car on highways. Shall update the highway FE next month as have a trip due.

5) Sometimes there's a sudden slight jerk in the first and second gear.

6) I suppose the the dual fan setting also has been changed. This is strange but i have noticed that while turning the engine off, it has the same loud sound even if you let it breathe in P mode for a minute after a short 5KM or 25 minute drive. Earlier one of the fans used to turn off and the noise changed.

I just hope that with time more serious issues don't arise. Though, it's very tough to accept these changes as it has drastically affected the driving pleasure, acceleration and fuel efficiency.

[manson]

Make: 2011 Skoda Laura 2.0 Ambiente DSG

Engine: 2.0L TDI

Experience in words: The car went in for its annual service (6 years / 70K) early last month and I was only informed of the software update at time of picking the car up. Apart from a short commute or two around the block, I did not get a chance to really spread its legs until this morning.
As many others on this thread have suggested the surge / torque wave has almost vanished. The power delivery is restricted and extremely ordinary, very contrasting to one of the prime reasons we bought the Laura back in 2011.
Ofcourse the service advisor charged made a big fat 29K bill (inclusive of transmission oil replacement and some pointless rubbish), and we also got the free car care kit.
The service advisor needs me to send him a copy of the registration copy enabling him to update their record. I think I am going to restrain from doing that as a tiny mark of protest.

Couple of quick questions that come to mind:
Is it legal of VW / Skoda / Audi to remap the cars without the owner's consent?
Is it worthwhile paying big fat Euro service bills for extremely average / mediocre performance?
Would a remap be reliable?

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by manson

Make: 2011 Skoda Laura 2.0 Ambiente DSG


Couple of quick questions that come to mind:
Is it legal of VW / Skoda / Audi to remap the cars without the owner's consent?
Is it worthwhile paying big fat Euro service bills for extremely average / mediocre performance?
Would a remap be reliable?

1: From my discussion with the VW service guys, it is a government mandate. They need to disclose that they have completed the upgrade and provide a list of cars

2: Obviously no, the problem is that the new remap assumes your injects/ EGR are new and working well. In reality, these are worn/ part worn and may not work well with the new parameters

3: If the tuner knows what he is doing, yes, but again see point 2

[pankajthere]

Originally Posted by ajmat

2: Obviously no, the problem is that the new remap assumes your injects/ EGR are new and working well. In reality, these are worn/ part worn and may not work well with the new parameters

True. There have been cases of EGR failure after some KMs post this fix. Should i go for injectors and EGR cleaning check-up just to be on the safer side?

[no_boundaries]

Over 2000kms of driving after the ECU update, its disappointing to drive the car to say the least. The car has become noisier and NVH has gone up.

The in-gear acceleration per gear has come way down and the ECU intervenes by suggesting an up-shift sooner and limiting the acceleration.

Remap is imminent to get the car back to its character.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Make: VW Polo TDI 2014
Engine: [Cubic capacity] 1.6
Experience in words: Told service centre not to apply update.

They seem to have a formula: wrote on the paper "Customer has not consented to update" or something close. Just saw this thread after having left car this evening for service tomorrow.

[gopi_rm]

My German colleague is driving previous gen Skoda Octavia 1.6 TDI and his odo reading is above 2,00,000 kms. He went for a road trip to Scotland and before the trip he went for service and they updated the ECU SW for Dieselgate fix.

After the SW update during his road trip he experienced sudden loss of power with MIL. Every time it happened he restarted the car and error went off. He had done like this for more than 20 times during the trip. After initial error, he checked the car in Skoda service centre in Scotland and they informed that there is some issue in EGR and DPF after ECU scan.

After coming back to Germany he went to Skoda service centre, he explained the situation. But Skoda guys informed him that he has to pay €150 for ECU scan and problem analysis and further for part replacements if required. He disagreed with it and told Skoda should resolve the issue at their cost since it came up only after SW update but service centre said since the car is old and ran more kms Skoda won't bear the cost. He didn't proceed and now waiting for filing case against Skoda. Until now his car is running without any other issues and he is still driving with his original clutch plates.

[sourav2688]

Make: VW Vento TDI 2013
Engine: 1.6L
Service Centre: Imperial Auto, Jamshedpur
Experience in words: Instructed service centre not to apply update.

My Vento was due for its 60k / 4 year service. Thankfully, had come across this thread before sending my car in for the scheduled service.

Going by the volume of negative responses here, I decided not to have the update applied to my car and confirmed with my service advisor a day before the scheduled service that they WILL NOT apply the update, no matter what.

SA, while trying his best to ensure I do for the update citing official reasons, agreed to not update the car if I so wished. Nevertheless, I went down to the service bay myself and had a word with the technician working on my car to ensure the message/instruction had reached him as well. That turned out to be a good move as I came to know the SA had never really informed the technician of not going ahead with the update and in such a scenario, the technician would have had gone ahead with the SOP.

Gave a piece of my mind to the SA, who was admittedly quite apologetic. Was offered a free water wash and wheel alignment as a goodwill gesture thereon, which I decided to take them up on.

Not sure if the update is mandated legally if the service centers are willing to forgo the update at customer's request.

[lamborghini]

Skoda Laura 2.0 TDi DSG

Well, everyone has talked about how disappointed they are with the fix, so I won't add to it. However, my issues with the fix & way it was carried out are:

1) DPF Regen comes on more frequently - anyone facing this issue?
2) Skoda did not ask me or inform me when they made this change. Imagine how disappointed I was after my tuned & freshly serviced car struggled to keep up with some vehicles that it would've eaten alive otherwise.
3) Map was a little peaky and less linear so city drivability was average
4) Fuel economy has dropped considerably according to the MID.

A big concern for me though is that the engine seems to be making an odd noise when in the turbo range. Kind of like a mix between a turbo whistle & an air intake whooosh.
Any one know what it could be, or anyone experiencing the same?

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

I thus sent it in to be remapped, and we've lived happily ever after, with me into my fourth year of owning the car now.

I went the same route to get the above two issues fixed (DPF, Turbo whoosh noise) - but even then, the car isn't feeling as good as it did pre-fix (it was remapped then too, and got it remapped by the same guys again after the 'fix').
Was your car remapped before?

Personally, given that the usage of the car has become more chauffeur driven as compared to self driven since around the time of the 'Fix', I wouldn't have liked to get it re-remapped but the increase in engine noise, peaky power delivery, and poorer fuel economy along with the DPF issue - just pushed me towards getting it remapped again.


PS: Dad & Wifey are really keen on picking up an Octavia to replace the Etios (honestly there is no better all rounder for our requirements in that size), but I am waiting it out because I do not want a car with this engine state & tune. Not after experiencing the true 2.0TDi & a remapped one at that.

[iliketurtles]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

DPF Regen comes on more frequently - anyone facing this issue?

Now that you mention it, my ride is idling a lot more between 900-1000 RPM than earlier. Telltale signs of DPF regen...

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Was your car remapped before?

Nope, I got it remapped after the update. The remap was my fail-safe in case I was displeased with the update.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Make: VW Polo TDI 2014
Engine: [Cubic capacity] 1.6
Experience in words: Told service centre not to apply update.

They seem to have a formula: wrote on the paper "Customer has not consented to update" or something close. Just saw this thread after having left car this evening for service tomorrow.

The car is quieter and smoother, as one expects after a service. But... am I getting paranoid? Am I imagining it? Not instantly accelerating when putting the foot down in 2nd?

I told them not to. But did they?