GTI soundaktor removal sound?

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burnyc
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GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by burnyc »

Hi all, I’ve placed a deposit on a 2020 GTI+ with a local dealer, and the only niggle is a loud buzzing in sport mode at certain rpm, which they said is most likely the soundaktor. I’ve seen it’s a common problem and the solution tends to be to turn it off, but in a 2020 with the OPF I’m worried the car might be too quiet?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge fan of fake sound but I like to hear something that sounds a bit sporty so wondered if anyone with an OPF car has removed/disconnected theirs completely, and how it sounds? Cheers!
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

I’ve not removed or disconnected mine but I use ‘Individual’ mode and set the engine sound to ‘Eco’ as I don’t like the fake engine noise. ‘Eco’ is plenty sporty sounding enough for me, but then I don’t like loud sounding engine / exhaust noises - I’m way too old for that sort of thing :D. I don’t get any buzzing or vibration issues with the soundaktor set to ‘Eco’.

These are my settings choices in ‘individual’ mode. You could set everything other than engine sound to ‘Sport’ if you wanted to and just have engine sound set to ‘Eco’ or ‘Normal’.
FDD07AAC-A17D-4F84-A54A-A47B290B1AC5.jpeg
FDD07AAC-A17D-4F84-A54A-A47B290B1AC5.jpeg (86.27 KiB) Viewed 1223 times
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OomStu_ZA
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by OomStu_ZA »

The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
My understanding is that having ‘Sport’ selected for Drive in Individual mode alters the accelerator pedal response rather than the engine RPM. I think the higher engine RPM relates to having the DSG in ‘S’ mode, when the transmission holds onto each gear for longer before changing up to the next highest gear. I don’t use the DSG in ‘S’ as it all gets a bit too revvy (is that a word?) for me. If I ever do want to hold a gear for longer for specific manoeuvres, I’ll use the steering wheel paddles rather than the DSG ‘S’ mode.

I’m assuming my fuel consumption hasn’t suffered with Drive set to ‘Sport’ as my long term average mpg is around 41-42 mpg (5.73-5.6 l/100 km) and I often see over 50 mpg on a decent length journey.
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OomStu_ZA
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by OomStu_ZA »

SRGTD wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:28 pm
OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
My understanding is that having ‘Sport’ selected for Drive in Individual mode alters the accelerator pedal response rather than the engine RPM. I think the higher engine RPM relates to having the DSG in ‘S’ mode, when the transmission holds onto each gear for longer before changing up to the next highest gear. I don’t use the DSG in ‘S’ as it all gets a bit too revvy (is that a word?) for me. If I ever do want to hold a gear for longer for specific manoeuvres, I’ll use the steering wheel paddles rather than the DSG ‘S’ mode.

I’m assuming my fuel consumption hasn’t suffered with Drive set to ‘Sport’ as my long term average mpg is around 41-42 mpg (5.73-5.6 l/100 km) and I often see over 50 mpg on a decent length journey.
Thanks for the tip, I will be testing this tomorrow.
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 8:21 pm
SRGTD wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:28 pm
OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
My understanding is that having ‘Sport’ selected for Drive in Individual mode alters the accelerator pedal response rather than the engine RPM. I think the higher engine RPM relates to having the DSG in ‘S’ mode, when the transmission holds onto each gear for longer before changing up to the next highest gear. I don’t use the DSG in ‘S’ as it all gets a bit too revvy (is that a word?) for me. If I ever do want to hold a gear for longer for specific manoeuvres, I’ll use the steering wheel paddles rather than the DSG ‘S’ mode.

I’m assuming my fuel consumption hasn’t suffered with Drive set to ‘Sport’ as my long term average mpg is around 41-42 mpg (5.73-5.6 l/100 km) and I often see over 50 mpg on a decent length journey.
Thanks for the tip, I will be testing this tomorrow.
I don’t know what difference there is in steering weight / feel between Normal and Sport as I’ve had mine set to Sport since the day I got the car. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.

There was a difference in the previous generation Polo GTI - the Sport Performance Pack was an extra cost option on that model and the functionality of the option was all or nothing - suspension, drive, engine noise and steering all in Sport or all in Normal - no ‘Individual’ profile to allow for customisation. I therefore rarely used the Sport Performance Pack because I found the suspension far too firm in Sport, and I hated the loud soundaktor. I did like the firmer, heavier steering feel though, but the ‘plus’ of the steering was outweighed by the minus of the suspension and fake engine noise.
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OomStu_ZA
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by OomStu_ZA »

SRGTD wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:28 pm
I don’t know what difference there is in steering weight / feel between Normal and Sport as I’ve had mine set to Sport since the day I got the car. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.

There was a difference in the previous generation Polo GTI - the Sport Performance Pack was an extra cost option on that model and the functionality of the option was all or nothing - suspension, drive, engine noise and steering all in Sport or all in Normal - no ‘Individual’ profile to allow for customisation. I therefore rarely used the Sport Performance Pack because I found the suspension far too firm in Sport, and I hated the loud soundaktor. I did like the firmer, heavier steering feel though, but the ‘plus’ of the steering was outweighed by the minus of the suspension and fake engine noise.
I used the Normal mode for about 6 months when I first got the vehicle and then set it to Individual mode with sterring wheel set to Sport and all others to Normal, except Engine Sound which is in Eco (even though the actual device is physically disabled). To be honest I also cannot tell the difference between Sport and Normal for the steering wheel feel, even when fully in Sport mode (gear selector, suspension, et al.)

I was unable to fully test your recommendation today because I was playing tourist guide for an expat friend who came home for a holiday but plan to investigate more soon. What I did notice when switching to Sport mode for Drive in the infoatainment is that the drive gear changes to S mode on the active dash, is that not the same as just pulling the gear selector back and placing it in Sport? Or is the latter actually placing the gearbox (not engine) in Sport? Reason I ask is because the engine still revs high no matter which version of Sport is selected.

This is my first Polo GTI and cannot compare to previous models (except the 6C, although that didnt have a true Sport mode) but have heard from others here in SA that Sport is either fully on or off, no middle ground and that the ride was extra firm too.
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

OomStu_ZA wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 7:04 pm
SRGTD wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 5:28 pm
I don’t know what difference there is in steering weight / feel between Normal and Sport as I’ve had mine set to Sport since the day I got the car. I’ll be interested to hear what you think.

There was a difference in the previous generation Polo GTI - the Sport Performance Pack was an extra cost option on that model and the functionality of the option was all or nothing - suspension, drive, engine noise and steering all in Sport or all in Normal - no ‘Individual’ profile to allow for customisation. I therefore rarely used the Sport Performance Pack because I found the suspension far too firm in Sport, and I hated the loud soundaktor. I did like the firmer, heavier steering feel though, but the ‘plus’ of the steering was outweighed by the minus of the suspension and fake engine noise.
I used the Normal mode for about 6 months when I first got the vehicle and then set it to Individual mode with sterring wheel set to Sport and all others to Normal, except Engine Sound which is in Eco (even though the actual device is physically disabled). To be honest I also cannot tell the difference between Sport and Normal for the steering wheel feel, even when fully in Sport mode (gear selector, suspension, et al.)

I was unable to fully test your recommendation today because I was playing tourist guide for an expat friend who came home for a holiday but plan to investigate more soon. What I did notice when switching to Sport mode for Drive in the infoatainment is that the drive gear changes to S mode on the active dash, is that not the same as just pulling the gear selector back and placing it in Sport? Or is the latter actually placing the gearbox (not engine) in Sport? Reason I ask is because the engine still revs high no matter which version of Sport is selected.

This is my first Polo GTI and cannot compare to previous models (except the 6C, although that didnt have a true Sport mode) but have heard from others here in SA that Sport is either fully on or off, no middle ground and that the ride was extra firm too.
That’s interesting. In my car, with Drive set to Sport in the ‘Individual’ profile (as per the picture I posted earlier in this discussion thread), D is displayed in the gear change indicator on the AID and the engine doesn’t rev high or hold onto the gears as it does if I move the gear selector into Sport.

If I remember, I’ll try Sport Mode tomorrow - i.e. steering, drive, ACC, engine sound and suspension all in Sport - and see if the gear change indicator changes from D to S or if I need to pull the gear selector back to engage Sport for the transmission for this to happen .
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by MikeDO »

"that’s interesting. In my car, with Drive set to Sport in the ‘Individual’ profile (as per the picture I posted earlier in this discussion thread), D is displayed in the gear change indicator on the AID and the engine doesn’t rev high or hold onto the gears as it does if I move the gear selector into Sport"

This is also what happens on my mk6 facelift GTI as well.
burnyc
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by burnyc »

OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
Haha fair enough! Presumably the cars natural noises sounds good enough then? Is yours an earlier model or a later one, as the later ones were a lot quieter from the exhaust it seems?
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

burnyc wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:29 pm
OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm :?
The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
Haha fair enough! Presumably the cars natural noises sounds good enough then? Is yours an earlier model or a later one, as the later ones were a lot quieter from the exhaust it seems?
The sound is good enough for me, but then I’d describe myself as a more ‘mature’ driver (a.k.a old :lol:), so I prefer the exhaust to be relatively quiet. Mine is a 2020 car - built June/July 2020 and registered in the September- so it does have a GPF (gasoline particulate filter) which I think may make the exhaust quieter than on the earlier pre-GPF models.
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by OomStu_ZA »

burnyc wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:29 pm
OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:34 pm The minute I drove off the show room floor I turned back to the dealer and had them disable the stoopid device permanently.

@SRGTD - I see in individual mode you also have Drive: Sport enabled, does that not affect fuel exonomy because the engine maintains a higher RPM?
Haha fair enough! Presumably the cars natural noises sounds good enough then? Is yours an earlier model or a later one, as the later ones were a lot quieter from the exhaust it seems?
In South Africa we dont have the particualate filter like the EU models so its a little more noisy yes.
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by OomStu_ZA »

Managed to make a short video of the Normal vs Individual settings with gear slector and uploaded it to my DropBox account, link here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/b4ab11xtd5g6d ... 8.mp4?dl=0
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by LEEA123 »

Have tested mine out. When the car is started, and my individual mode is pre-selected it will be in Drive mode regardless if I have drive sport or normal selected in the active profile. If I then go through the mode button cycling back to my individual profile the car then goes into sport mode as defined in the profile, the same as it would do if I moved the DSG selector from d to s.
As far as i can tell there is no difference between the sport drive profile on the screen and just using the dsg to go into sport mode. To me, it seems to do the same thing.

To summarise. Sport mode on screen when activated does the same as using the dsg to move to sport mode as far as I can tell, although you have to cycle through modes to activate after the start of the car as it will start in D mode regardless of what profile it is in. Basically, if it does the same as the dsg then what is the point, of it on the screen as a setting? Feel like I may be missing something, But to me, i would just move the dsg to the sport mode rather than cycle through the screen after start to activate it.

I also set the profile setting to normal and used the dsg to go into sport mode, this seemed the same as when screen setting was in sport . I just think its two ways to achieve the end result of being in sport mode .
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Re: GTI soundaktor removal sound?

Post by SRGTD »

LEEA123 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:58 am Have tested mine out. When the car is started, and my individual mode is pre-selected it will be in Drive mode regardless if I have drive sport or normal selected in the active profile. If I then go through the mode button cycling back to my individual profile the car then goes into sport mode as defined in the profile, the same as it would do if I moved the DSG selector from d to s.
I also experimented with mine on my pre-facelift model and found the same.
LEEA123 wrote: Thu Jan 26, 2023 11:58 am As far as i can tell there is no difference between the sport drive profile on the screen and just using the dsg to go into sport mode. To me, it seems to do the same thing.
I think it does the same thing as far as DSG behaviour and gear shift points are concerned. However, using the DSG selector lever to select Sport only affects the gear shift points - if you want all the other items listed under the Sport drive profile to be in Sport mode (i.e. steering, engine sound, suspension etc.) Sport drive profile needs to be selected via the infotainment screen. Similarly, Individual drive profile needs to be selected if you want to customise the settings to your own specific requirements.
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