VR6 died on overrun in 2nd on approach to roundabout.

[craigowl 0]

My wife learnt to drive over 40 years ago and her instructor trained her to change down through the gears when approaching roundabouts, etc.

ie from 4th down to 3rd down to 2nd (so she tells me!).

 

Personally I have never seen the point - I tend to depress the clutch as I am approaching in, usually, 4th, 3rd or 5th, then slip into 1st or 2nd when pulling away.

 

The other day when we went on a 200 mile run, we approached a roundabout after a long fast unbroken run of several miles, she changed down and the engine died on the overrun in 2nd. Fortunately it started on the starter right away, but the missus lost faith a bit in the C!

 

I told her I thought it was an idiosyncracy of the VR6 having read something about this dying at roundabouts experienced by others on the forum. High revving overrun starves engine of fuel?

 

Any modern, technically informed, comments on changing down to second when fast approaching roundabout/give way etc. and on the engine dying experience, guys?

[vr6storm 0]

engine dying used to happen every blue moon(ok a bit more frequent.....forgot your a meterologist) with mine...............but since i got a new fuel pump 2 1/2 years ago not once since

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I always coast up the last few yards in neutral too.

 

Quite a few people have complained of engine cutting when slowing down after a prolonged drive....it is indeed a bit of a VR quirk. As yours has the newer OBD2 MAF, it's rarer than VRs with OBD1 MAFs.

 

No real answer I'm afraid. It's one of those issues that you can either find and fix in minutes or spend £££s chasing your tail.

 

I'd say live with it if you can't sort it with the usual checks.....doesn't sound like it does it often!

[Stan 24v 0]

Mine used to do this, and a clean of the ISV helped.

[craigowl 0]

kev said

I'd say live with it if you can't sort it with the usual checks.....doesn't sound like it does it often!

 

Only done it once or twice in 6k miles.

Cleaned ISV a couple of years ago, but no faults with car then.

[vr6corrado 0]

I used to have the same problem quite frequently but it rarely happens now and I don't know why! Possibly due to the ISV being cleaned but can't say for sure.

 

With regards changing down through the gears on approaching roundabouts etc my instructor initially taught me to shift down the gears sequentially but that was just to get an understanding of matching the car's speed to the gears and subsequently taught me to shift directly from fourth or fifth straight into the suitable gear, be it first or second. I think the main thing instructors/advanced motorists emphasise is matching gear selection to both vehicle speed and the conditions/situation, i.e. consider whether or not you're going to need some acceleration in reserve as in at roundabouts.

[craigowl 0]

vr6corrado said

With regards changing down through the gears on approaching roundabouts etc my instructor initially taught me to shift down the gears sequentially but that was just to get an understanding of matching the car's speed to the gears and subsequently taught me to shift directly from fourth or fifth straight into the suitable gear, be it first or second. I think the main thing instructors/advanced motorists emphasise is matching gear selection to both vehicle speed and the conditions/situation, i.e. consider whether or not you're going to need some acceleration in reserve as in at roundabouts

 

Thanks for that vr6corrado. I could not believe that today changing down sequentially is always required.

[was8v 0]

 

Thanks for that vr6corrado. I could not believe that today changing down sequentially is always required.

 

Got a lift of a mate who is a trained Police driver (in his new mondeo titanium x, yawn), and I noticed he was using the gears to slow the car. He says he was taught to do this on a defensive driving course because it is more efficient than using brakes and ensures you are always in the correct gear to nail it and pull away should the need arise.

 

Surely it results in much more clutch wear though?

 

I do it occasionally at the lights but probably only because the VR sounds so good (sad I know!).

[dub envy 0]

My VR has been cutting out lots lately... Quite annoying if you have any kind of volume coming from the music box in the dash as it's caught me out 2 or three times as I thought my power steering had packed up.

 

I tend to use my 'box more than my brakes when I'm driving.

[craigowl 0]

dub envy said

I tend to use my 'box more than my brakes when I'm driving

 

Sure. I use engine braking as much as possible - usually in as high a gear as is necessary to slow down, rather than diving down to 2nd such that the engine revs very highly - which the missus sometimes does.

 

Once when I went to a VAG dealer with sticking calipers on an early Polo, we were discussing wearing out of disc pads and when I told him how many miles mine lasted, he said "oh, you're not using your brakes enough".

Stone the crows!