# Low Speed Vibration or Lugging?



## X204 (Jul 7, 2017)

Hello all. I have a 2017 V6 Sport. The engine/transmission combo is generally smooth but at low speeds (25 mpg and below), in rush hour traffic, the engine or transmission vibrates. It is only when slowing down and when the car is close to downshifting to next lowest gear,. Once it downshifts, it's fine. And I can make the vibration stop by hitting the gas. So its like a "lugging" to me. We have lots of fast then slow roads here. So like 70 mph, then down to stop and go traffic. Upshifts are perfect. It's just low speed downshifts (or lack of) that make the car lug/vibrate.

Would this lugging concern you? Can it be damaging something? I have tried the transmission reset and it didn't do anything. I don't see how it could anyway. I think the driving around here would confuse any transmission that is supposed to adapt. Going 70 then down to 25 then up to 70 then down to 30 all in 20 minutes surely confuses the computer.

Should I take it in to dealer, or is it "normal" for the Touareg? Thanks!


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## Yeti35 (May 17, 2006)

You are still under warranty, take it back and see if they find anything wrong with it. Unless it is throwing some sort of code all anyone here is going to be doing is guessing at what is wrong with it.


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## vw_service_advisor (Aug 10, 2017)

When your slowing down and this happens are you braking or just holding your foot off the gas pedal?


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## X204 (Jul 7, 2017)

From what I can tell, it's when you lift off the gas, but not necessarily pressing the brake pedal. Giving the car some gas stops it immediately. Best way to describe is a lugging or reverberation type of "feeling" - it is not noisy.


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## X204 (Jul 7, 2017)

*update, sort of*

Btw, as someone on another site mentioned, and I confirmed with an experiment - it's not the transmission. The engine gets rough and fluttery at 1200-1400 RPMs. This happens in DRIVE in the lower gears but also in Neutral or in Park. You can make it do it all the time in Neutral or Park, just hover the revs at 1200. But even though it "feels" like a misfire, it throws no CELs. 

Some says its a characteristic of the VR6. My last VR6 was a 12v 2.8 back in an MKIV so I can't really remember.


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## aj2 (Oct 6, 2006)

This sounds pretty similar to what I get in very slow traffic in my ‘14 V6. I think it just let’s rpm get too low before downshifting. I use “sport” in bumper to bumper traffic and it goes away due to the higher shift points.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## ChicagoT5 (May 11, 2008)

*Mine does the same*

My 2016 does the same thing, along with several other annoying and odd behaviors at slow speed, decelerating, or coasting. I am guessing that this is more of a software problem than a hardware problem. Either the computer is trying to maximize MPG or possibly the adaptive transmission software gets messed up. My habit of coasting to red lights or coasting to time the lights green seems to worsen the problem. I have found that the transmission reset seems to help for a while.



The following is the transmission reset procedure (copied from this thread) 
1: Car off.... key in the ignition 
2: Car on.... engine NOT running 
3: Press gas pedal all the way to the floor.... hold for 10 to 15-seconds. 
4: Take foot off gas pedal 
5: Turn off car --- take key out of ignition 
6: Open driver's door Close the door...


Note: I am not 100% sure the trans reset is not urban myth, but I have seen it on several forums for cars with Aisin Warner transmissions. There is no indication from the car that the procedure has worked, which makes me question the validity of the procedure.


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## X204 (Jul 7, 2017)

I don't think the transmission reset works. I've tried it twice. But I also think it wouldn't work anyway for this particular issue, since it's an RPM issue, even when the car is in Park or Neutral. To me, this is an engine "issue" vs. a transmission issue.


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## ChicagoT5 (May 11, 2008)

*Just Tried The Reset*

My car's drivability problems have been so bad lately that I started researching other makes and models as I am fed up. This thread got me thinking about the transmission reset, so I tried it again before leaving for home after work tonight. I feel like it was a night and day difference on the way home tonight after the reset. 

Here is a list of the issues that my car exhibits (that the trans reset seems to fix, and gets worse as time goes on after a res)
1). No throttle response after coasting. If I let off the throttle and coast for a bit, when I get back into the throttle, there is no response for several seconds. Tbis issue is really driving me nuts and is close to being a deal breaker for my Treg.
2). Reluctance to downshift. It seems like the transmission has a goal of staying in the highest gear that is mathematically possible, regardless of throttle position or load.
3). Goofy shifts at low speed - the transmission seems to make odd decisions at low speed, under low throttle. Hard to describe, but it is just odd at times.
4). Engine shudder at low speeds (what I believe this thread is about).

The transmission reset seems to fix the above (including the engine shudder/lugging, and these issue slowly creep back into play after the reset. The engine and transmission just seemed so much more responsive tonight. I wish I could capture empirical data on this, or at lease find documentation on the reset explain what things it covers and why.


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