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Disappointed in amount of turbo lag in my 2020 GTI

MarkGibb

New member
Location
League City, TX
Car(s)
2020 Mk 7.5 GTI
Hi y'all. Newbie here, I just got my Mk7 GTI in June. I searched the forums for "turbo lag" but didn't find anything.

As the subject says, I'm surprised by the amount of turbo lag I experience. When it gets into the power band, it's sweet. But in second gear, it doesn't seem to start pulling hard until after 2700 rpm. My point of comparison is my son's 2009 Mk5 GTI. The throttle response seems much more immediate in that car. Also, the turbo in my car makes an obvious whooshing sound that I don't hear in the 2009 nor in another turbo car I had. In whatever gear I'm in, it doesn't pull hard until that whoosh gets really going, which makes sense.

Has anyone noticed this? I apologize if there is already stuff about this. Please direct me to the right place if so.

BTW, I have nowhere near the expertice of many of you, and have never done any mods to my cars even though I would love to.
 

dcgtimk7

Go Kart Newbie
Location
DC
Hi y'all. Newbie here, I just got my Mk7 GTI in June. I searched the forums for "turbo lag" but didn't find anything.

As the subject says, I'm surprised by the amount of turbo lag I experience. When it gets into the power band, it's sweet. But in second gear, it doesn't seem to start pulling hard until after 2700 rpm. My point of comparison is my son's 2009 Mk5 GTI. The throttle response seems much more immediate in that car. Also, the turbo in my car makes an obvious whooshing sound that I don't hear in the 2009 nor in another turbo car I had. In whatever gear I'm in, it doesn't pull hard until that whoosh gets really going, which makes sense.

Has anyone noticed this? I apologize if there is already stuff about this. Please direct me to the right place if so.

BTW, I have nowhere near the expertice of many of you, and have never done any mods to my cars even though I would love to.
There is lag because the is20 turbo is a fair amount larger than the stock turbos found in the mk5 gti. You lose some immediate low end response but you gain a lot more in the top end. A fbo stock turbo mk5 gti makes around 250whp. A stock turbo fbo mk7 gti can make upwards of 300whp.
 

PowerDemon

Autocross Champion
Location
Richmond, VA
Car(s)
Golf GTI, Camaro ZL1
It’s not instantaneous but it’s certainly not laggy imo. A bit of lag is the trade off for a small displacement relatively high output turbo motor. You could do an IS12 swap and see if that does the trick for you ;)

I agree with Navi. Mine doesn’t spool till 3700rpms. Even then if you’re in the right gear it only takes a second to spool.
 

maxwell

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Pitt
Car(s)
2018 GSW 6MT 4motion
Don't put the pedal to the floor below 3k rpm.

????

Profit.

This.

Everything you are mentioning OP is completely normal. Enjoy what is an awesome all around car and keep the pedal down in. the. power. band. Lugging below 2.5k rpm's isn't ideal.
 

MarkGibb

New member
Location
League City, TX
Car(s)
2020 Mk 7.5 GTI
don't talk to me until you have turbo lag at 3600 rpm. 2700 is great.

Right ok. When I wrote that, I thought, hmm that doesn't seem that bad. But by seat of the pants I notice it much more than on my son's GTI. Even my 2011 Kia Optima SX had barely noticable lag from its turbo.
 

MarkGibb

New member
Location
League City, TX
Car(s)
2020 Mk 7.5 GTI
This.

Everything you are mentioning OP is completely normal. Enjoy what is an awesome all around car and keep the pedal down in. the. power. band. Lugging below 2.5k rpm's isn't ideal.
I'm sure I'll learn to drive it better. The long clutch travel is less than ideal. (I'm going to fix that)

It's just such a difference between my son's GTI and the Kia Optima SX I had before my GTI. I hadn't thought about turbo lag at all for a long time, until this new one brought it back to my attention.

Out of college I bought one of the ealiest mass-produced turbo cars, a 1991 Dodge Daytona. With its automatic, it had so much lag that it was actually almost dangerous. After less than a year I couldn't take it and went out and bought a Nissan Sentra SER.
 

Faceman

Autocross Newbie
Location
Long Island
Car(s)
'17 GSW 4Mo
Right ok. When I wrote that, I thought, hmm that doesn't seem that bad. But by seat of the pants I notice it much more than on my son's GTI. Even my 2011 Kia Optima SX had barely noticable lag from its turbo.
Keep in mind, that motor is 20% larger.
 

IanCH

Autocross Champion
Location
MA
Car(s)
'20 GTI
Not seeing the problem here with torque... You are at 90% of the peak torque value at 2100rpm according to the dyno sheets of stock cars I'm looking at. Maybe I'm spoiled since I get to pick my gear more readily with the DSG but the car has functionally no turbo lag in my 162 miles of experience.
 

riceburner

Autocross Champion
Location
nice try PPNT
Car(s)
MK5 Best GTI
get your throttle response maxed with obdeleven (vagcom). the stock settings (yes even if you change throttle 'engine' input through the infotainment system) literally feels like there is hella lag and no power, like you need to floor it to go anywhere. its your throttle. these turbos do not 'lag' in any sense of the word, related to turbos.

but also as others said - yes, don't floor it so low in the power band.
 

shovelhd

Autocross Champion
Location
Western MA
It's the TSI. Love that car.

I was driving the same car before I traded it for my current 2018 GTI (2009 TSI GTI). They are both DSG cars. The 2009 is actually heavier than the 2018 but it felt lighter. There are two main differences that I noticed that made the 2009 feel faster and more nimble. First, the 2018 DSG programming is a lot more economy oriented. It is slow to shift and wants you in 6th gear at 30mph. The 2009 was less aggressive in this regard. Also, the 2018 felt like a slug going hard through turns until I upgraded the rear sway bar to a 25mm ST bar. Now I can throw it around like the MkV.

If you can get into the throttle and be pushed back in your seat, it's not a turbo spool "issue", it's gearing. Try driving both manually and compare again.
 
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