[whitex6paanda]

I am currently driving a 2021 VW Polo 1.0 TSI MT. The car is a hoot to drive and the dynamics are wonderfully sorted. The car has ~30K KM on the odo on the day of writing this post.

The ownership has been trouble free since I got the car home. All I have spent till date on the car has been for the periodic annual maintenance. Every time I get to drive this car, it makes me feel like I'm driving it for the first time! The amount of punch this little 1.0 engine packs is just unbelievable.



Okay, coming to the stuff that has been bugging me for a really long time. When the engine speed is low (<2000 RPM), the gear shift is really smooth from first to second. But, when I am driving spiritedly (which happens really often, because it is almost impossible to drive this car sedately), of course within the speed limit and being extra cautious and extra responsible when doing so, once I floor it in first gear and try to shift to second around 5000 RPM, the gear shift is no longer smooth from first to second. It feels like there's something stuck in the gates between first and second. I have to put in a bit of an effort to push the stick towards the left and pull it down to second, which does not happen at low engine speeds. At 2000 RPM, I just pull the stick straight down from first to second and it is very smooth.

I've driven quite a variety of cars and I have not faced this issue in any of those cars before. But I've never driven any other VAG 1.0 TSI cars to confirm if this issue is only with my car or if this is a quirk with all 1.0 TSI MT cars.

I wanted advice from fellow TeamBHP members before I take it to the service center just to be sure that they don't rip me off. Many thanks in advance!

[vishy76]

This seems to be a synchro issue after hearing your description. If the gear shift issue was persistent irrespective of revvs, I would have suspected the gear selector or the clutch too.

The hardest that the synchro rings have to work is when shifting up or down at very high revvs in 1st or 2nd in most cars. This is because the ratio variation between 1st and 2nd is generally very high. Thus, if the synchro rings are weak, it will show when you are shifting between these gears. What I suggest is the following:

- Just to be on the safer side, have the gear shifter linkages examined once and adjusted at the ASC. Also check for excess play in the bushings that sit on the end of the gear cable and link it to the selector on top of the GB

- Drive another 1.0 TSI and check if it portrays the same behaviour. If it does, there's nothing to worry about really. Change your driving style. I personally feel it's anyway not good to take the revvs too high in 1st gear since you end up loading parts like the axle and mounts unnecessarily with no corresponding gain in speed. Take it easy in 1st and start flooring it 2nd onwards. Ofcourse none of this applies if you are launching the car

If this behaviour is indeed normal, you can practice something known as double declutching. You revv as high as you want in 1st, depress the clutch and shift to neutral. You then lower the engine speed to match what it would be in the 2nd gear. Depress the clutch again, and slot to 2nd. This will almost take all the load off your synchros and enable you to go up from 1st to 2nd smoothly if done well.

[overtaker]

Exactly. Each time whitex6paanda does this high rev gear shift, the synchronizers will be under huge stress, and there are good chances that it had already become weak.

Originally Posted by vishy76

This seems to be a synchro issue after hearing your description. If the gear shift issue was persistent irrespective of revvs, I would have suspected the gear selector or the clutch too.

The hardest that the synchro rings have to work is when shifting up or down at very high revvs in 1st or 2nd in most cars. This is because the ratio variation between 1st and 2nd is generally very high. Thus, if the synchro rings are weak, it will show when you are shifting between these gears. What I suggest is the following:

- Just to be on the safer side, have the gear shifter linkages examined once and adjusted at the ASC. Also check for excess play in the bushings that sit on the end of the gear cable and link it to the selector on top of the GB

- Drive another 1.0 TSI and check if it portrays the same behaviour. If it does, there's nothing to worry about really. Change your driving style. I personally feel it's anyway not good to take the revvs too high in 1st gear since you end up loading parts like the axle and mounts unnecessarily with no corresponding gain in speed. Take it easy in 1st and start flooring it 2nd onwards. Ofcourse none of this applies if you are launching the car

If this behaviour is indeed normal, you can practice something known as double declutching. You revv as high as you want in 1st, depress the clutch and shift to neutral. You then lower the engine speed to match what it would be in the 2nd gear. Depress the clutch again, and slot to 2nd. This will almost take all the load off your synchros and enable you to go up from 1st to 2nd smoothly if done well.

[SH1N1G4MI]

Going from one gear to the next, gearboxes have what are called synchronizers to effectively match the RPM of the input shaft to the output shaft. And the higher the difference in RPM the harder the synchro has to work which we feel as more resistance.
As others have suggested, try driving another MT 1.0 tsi car, if that too feels the same then its just a common characteristic of that gearbox and will pose no problem. Otherwise you should get it checked out.

[sadnabrina]

As mentioned above by others, it seems to be a synchro issue.
However, sometimes there is a possibility of slight delay in hand-foot coordination which may result in such gear behaviour - from my own experience of having such issue with the Polo.

Can you also check if your clutch pedal is going all the way down to the floor when you are upshifting? If not fully disengaged, the gear may refuse/resist to be disengaged.

Revving at 5K rpm on 1st gear most likely means you are trying to accelerate fast, so there is a chance that unknowingly you may be shifting gears while the clutch is not fully in yet.
If you see any difference then you need to just add a mental checkpoint to ensure clutch is fully pressed.

[ankitsharma]

Originally Posted by whitex6paanda

Okay, coming to the stuff that has been bugging me for a really long time. When the engine speed is low (<2000 RPM), the gear shift is really smooth from first to second. But, when I am driving spiritedly (which happens really often, because it is almost impossible to drive this car sedately), of course within the speed limit and being extra cautious and extra responsible when doing so, once I floor it in first gear and try to shift to second around 5000 RPM, the gear shift is no longer smooth from first to second. It feels like there's something stuck in the gates between first and second. I have to put in a bit of an effort to push the stick towards the left and pull it down to second, which does not happen at low engine speeds. At 2000 RPM, I just pull the stick straight down from first to second and it is very smooth.

Did you find a solution to this ? Was this problem resolved?

Just today during a spirited drive from Hyd - Blr, found that the gear was getting stuck in the first and there was significant amount of effort trying to get it into second. Observed this on multiple ocassions and unlike you all my gearshifts were at low revs.
Now after the drive when the car cooled down it was back to the smooth shifting.
Not sure if this is related but let me know if you found a solution to your problem.