MK7 "Random / "Stupid" Questions Thread"

[Vorne Au hinten Weh]

Alignment Complexity

Have an 18 SE PP. All of a sudden my front tires were cupping from the middle of the tire to the inside edge. Both fronts wearing the same. The dealer says I need a 4 wheel alignment to correct it. I have automatic collision braking also and VW says that I will have to get the front camera calibrated because of the alignment. Cost is $840. Is it necessary to calibrate the camera?

I just had an alignment done under warranty on my five month old 2019 Rabbit GTI. One of the rear wheels was tracking on an off-angle and the toe-in was off on both front wheels. This came about as the car had been delivered with the steering wheel off-centre. The Rabbit has lane assist, automated cruise control and collision avoidance breaking (rear cross traffic alert etc, as well).
The VW dealer has a Hunter brand alignment machine which comes with two targets. One to calibrate the camera and one to calibrate the front radar. The tech explained that camera or radar being off just by a degree or two can wreak havoc with the lane assist feature and the ACC. Since the car would go in a different direction than the computer thinks it is, and the radar may pick a car in a different lane as the one "in front" and set the wrong following speed. The work took 2 1/2 hrs of dedicated tech time. The new dealership has glass walls to the shop and I could observe the process from the waiting area. From what I learned calibrations are necessary. The $840 seems high for 2.5 hrs plus machine use, but I did not get a $ figure for the warranty effort.
I heard from a few GTI drivers that to prevent cupping they rotate wheels every 6,000 miles or so, especially if they do a lot of highway driving. Alignment alone seems to go only so far. The tire brand/thread will also play a role in how sensitive a wheel is to cupping.

 

[jimlloyd40]

I just had an alignment done under warranty on my five month old 2019 Rabbit GTI. One of the rear wheels was tracking on an off-angle and the toe-in was off on both front wheels. This came about as the car had been delivered with the steering wheel off-centre. The Rabbit has lane assist, automated cruise control and collision avoidance breaking (rear cross traffic alert etc, as well).
The VW dealer has a Hunter brand alignment machine which comes with two targets. One to calibrate the camera and one to calibrate the front radar. The tech explained that camera or radar being off just by a degree or two can wreak havoc with the lane assist feature and the ACC. Since the car would go in a different direction than the computer thinks it is, and the radar may pick a car in a different lane as the one "in front" and set the wrong following speed. The work took 2 1/2 hrs of dedicated tech time. The new dealership has glass walls to the shop and I could observe the process from the waiting area. From what I learned calibrations are necessary. The $840 seems high for 2.5 hrs plus machine use, but I did not get a $ figure for the warranty effort.
I heard from a few GTI drivers that to prevent cupping they rotate wheels every 6,000 miles or so, especially if they do a lot of highway driving. Alignment alone seems to go only so far. The tire brand/thread will also play a role in how sensitive a wheel is to cupping.

Thanks for corroborating that. And I do rotate every 6000 miles.

 

[Strange Mud]

so stupid question time.....although I haven't seen any coolant loss I know these are prone to leakage. Has anyone tried Bar's in one that leaks? Wonder how bad idea this is. I've used it in old cars with success more often than not.

 

[Strange Mud]

Oil level is about 1/3 of the way above minimum on the dipstick. Is that fine? Or add more until it's at the max mark? I'm thinking it's fine but my first oil change on the mk7 and want to be sure I'm doing it right.

get in the habit of measuring in the same space (driveway/garage) this gives you a good starting point. I know with mine after a fill of 6 qts when I park in my garage pointing slightly downhill it's at the 5/8 mark. I also did science and I get the same level after warm & 5 minutes off and AM cold. w/o insulting check it several times after a fill no matter who does it and at least 1x month.

 

[dunkelweizen]

Tire inflation is fine. It's a 4 wheel alignment. It's because the rear wheels need to be aligned that the dealer said the front brake assist camera has to be calibrated. If it was just the front wheels being aligned they said the camera calibration wouldn't need to be done. Same thing if you have ACC.

I'm pretty sure at least one of those four alignments had some rear adjustments. I will double check my paperwork.

And as the other poster mentioned, $840 is super high either way. Find different dealer.

 

[KyACRASH]

I'm pretty sure at least one of those four alignments had some rear adjustments. I will double check my paperwork.

And as the other poster mentioned, $840 is super high either way. Find different dealer.

After my last alignment from a brake shop, they told me I needed to have the radar recalibrated because the suspension changed. I didn't do it and it works fine. There is a code if I scan it that says alignment misadjusted - but it still works.

Some may not want to gamble with something that may be potentially dangerous, but I know from experience that if the sensors are too far off they will not work at all. That happened to me once when I accidentally broke the radar bracket. I tried to repair with JB weld for plastics, but it wasn't good enough. I got a persistent error "front assist not available" and it was not even possible to turn it on. Took it to the dealership for realignment, cost $500 and took about 5 hours. That was just the radar, not sure how much different it is for the camera.

 

[robmarktoo]

Hello everyone! Just got a 2016 GTI SE DSG. Loving it already! I’ve searched and I haven’t seen anything about this, but I’m looking to move my brake pedal to the left and maybe forward a couple of inches. I use my left foot to brake and the pedals are crazy close to each other in the stock configuration. Does anyone know a way or mod to move the pedal? Thanks!

Uh is there something wrong with your feet that you need to do this?

 

[robmarktoo]

Tire inflation is fine. It's a 4 wheel alignment. It's because the rear wheels need to be aligned that the dealer said the front brake assist camera has to be calibrated. If it was just the front wheels being aligned they said the camera calibration wouldn't need to be done. Same thing if you have ACC.

Wow I'm glad I don't have those extra completely necessary gizmos in my S.

 

[imthanick_a]

I use my left foot to brake

Um what.......

 

[cb1111]

Um what.......

Assuming no disability that precludes using the right foot for braking, left foot braking is usually the sign of a brand new driver who is "self taught" and is quite dangerous. Do we know where that poster is so that we can give him a wide berth?

 

[KevinC]

I use my left foot to brake and the pedals are crazy close to each other in the stock configuration. Does anyone know a way or mod to move the pedal? Thanks!

 

[Wrath And Tears]

Maybe he's an F1 driver. You never know.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Wow I'm glad I don't have those extra completely necessary gizmos in my S.

The emergency braking is nice to have until you need a rear alignment.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Assuming no disability that precludes using the right foot for braking, left foot braking is usually the sign of a brand new driver who is "self taught" and is quite dangerous. Do we know where that poster is so that we can give him a wide berth?

I've driven over 3 million miles and I occasionally brake with my left foot so obviously I'm not a new driver. I don't know why you would consider that dangerous. If my left foot is ready to hit the brake pedal my reaction time is quicker than yours because you have to take your right foot off the accelerator and then brake.

 

[Subliminal]

Um what.......

It's not clear if he's referring to daily driving or not, but left foot braking is actually a useful technique to learn in FWD cars for track/autocross