Back on the subject of sluggishness and something for first time owners of GPF-equipped GTI’s - be aware that you are likely to experience forced GPF regenerations from time to time. The frequency of these will depend on the types of journey you typically drive. If you drive mainly or frequent short journeys where the engine doesn’t have an opportunity to get up to normal operating temperature, then there’s an increased likelihood of more frequent regenerations.
Some or all of the symptoms that might be experienced when the GPF goes through a forced regeneration process are;
- a slight lumpiness, hesitancy / sluggishness of the engine
- a ‘hot’ smell (not sure if you can smell heat
)
- a louder, deeper exhaust note
- increased fuel consumption during the regen process (mpg for the journey dropped to low 20’s)
- stop start function will be deactivated
- can’t remember for certain, but the engine fan may also run
In just over two years and approx 9,000 miles of ownership of my GPF-equipped car, I’ve had one definite GPF forced regeneration when the first four of the above symptoms were certainly present; not sure about start stop as I always deactivate this on start-up, and not sure if the engine fan was running. Overall, the regen process lasted about a half an hour. On a couple of other instances I think I was aware of the GPF going though a passive regeneration as the exhaust note was deeper / louder and there was a hot smell; none of the other symptoms were present.
It’s a bit of a tenuous link to the subject of sluggishness, but I thought it was worth mentioning here as some owners experiencing a forced GPF regeneration for the first time have thought there’s something wrong with their cars.
There’s a discussion thread on GPF regenerations at the link below;
https://www.uk-polos.net/viewtopic.php?t=73177
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My mate had ventilated seats on his Lexus RCF and they really did work well.
What a waste 
