VW Budack Cycle 2.0T - hugely unimpressed.

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So the ongoing saga with the leaky sunroof on my 2012 VW Sportwagen continues, had it back for 1 day and we had a rainstorm that soaked the drivers side headliner and drivers A-pillar and had water leaking down onto my feet from the dash. This time no Enterprise rental but a dealer loaner - 2020 VW Tiguan S 2.0T.

With how well regarded VW 4 cylinder turbos have been over the past 20 years dating back to the original 1.8T I figured this "new" 2.0T Budack cycle would be even better than the various 1.8T's I have had seat time in my time dating back to the 2002 Passat and Jetta.

Nope - this thing is awful. It is a gutless wonder unless you have your foot to the floor and sounds like a tractor engine. VW somehow made a turbo 4 banger that is worse than their 1.8T from 20+ years ago. They really need to retune this thing, it will rocket off if you mat it but anything up to about ¾ pedal will leave you in the economy Budack cycle just watching 3-4k RPM hit without much push to your back.

Other than the terrible engine the Tiguan is actually a VERY nice vehicle. Rides and handles very well, nice interior and is very handsome. I guess one bright side is that after 4 days and about 40 miles I am averaging .1 MPG less than the 2020 Altima 2.5S I had previously.
 
AutoGuide.com said the same thing.
The said the engine is like trying to wake up a teenager on Sunday morning and really agricultural sounding.
 
I like our Tiguan. Sure, the engine is a little noisy. No, it's not going to win any races. Overall, it's a a pretty good car.
 
I wasn't "hugely unimpressed" when I test-drove a Passat R-line with the 2.0 Budack Cycle. I did find it more sluggish and not as refined sounding as the 1.8 TSI in our Jetta, however VW didn't tune this version of the 2.0 for performance, it is tuned primarily for fuel economy.
 
Sorry to hear about your sunroof problems.

Pretty much on-topic, I test-drove a 2.0L turbo 2019 BMW X-3 yesterday. I was hugely unimpressed by the low-end throttle response too, until the salesman switched it from Eco to Sport mode. Then the throttle response was like I expected a BMW to be.

Does the 2020 VW Tiguan S 2.0T have a "fun button" too?
 
No eco mode on Tiguan - its either Drive or Sport. You would expect a car to drive "normally" in drive but the Tiguan drives like it is in eco-mode all the time if you are in drive. Have done eco mode in many other cars and yeah its neuters throttle response spectacularly. Imagine that being how a car drives all the time when you just drop it into drive.
 
Worst car I've ever driven was a rental Tiguan.

And I"m sorry that your VW continuously has issues due to water.

I'm starting to think that until my 2005 CR-V gets totaled or completely dies, I should just keep it. Seems like newer cars just stink across the board.
 
Originally Posted by pezzy669
No eco mode on Tiguan - its either Drive or Sport. You would expect a car to drive "normally" in drive but the Tiguan drives like it is in eco-mode all the time if you are in drive.

What about in Sport?
 
Originally Posted by HangFire

Does the 2020 VW Tiguan S 2.0T have a "fun button" too?


No button, but you can tweak the throttle response if you have a coding tool, and it changes the throttle response significantly so there's it's more direct and there's less lag. The downside is that (no surprise) there's a fuel economy hit.

Not sure why the OP puts "new" engine in quotes. This is a completely different engine than the 1.8T's of old, and it's a much better engine. It's also moving a LOT more weight in the new Tiquan than the old 1.8T was in the Passat and Jetta of the MKIV days. Stick the oil 1.8T in a new Tiguan and it would be much more terrible than the current engine, even without the throttle mod.
 
Originally Posted by JOD
Originally Posted by HangFire

Does the 2020 VW Tiguan S 2.0T have a "fun button" too?


No button, but you can tweak the throttle response if you have a coding tool, and it changes the throttle response significantly so there's it's more direct and there's less lag. The downside is that (no surprise) there's a fuel economy hit.

Not sure why the OP puts "new" engine in quotes. This is a completely different engine than the 1.8T's of old, and it's a much better engine. It's also moving a LOT more weight in the new Tiquan than the old 1.8T was in the Passat and Jetta of the MKIV days. Stick the oil 1.8T in a new Tiguan and it would be much more terrible than the current engine, even without the throttle mod.




I said "new" because basically they put an Atkinson cycle on the 2.0T and pretended like it was some new engine. Gone is the early peaking and plateau like torque curve - this thing hits it torque peak at a lofty 4300 RPM. It is completely dead and feels like a non-turbo 2.0 in normal driving. New 2.slow?

The early 150-170HP 1.8T was at least smooth in operation and despite some turbo lag was driveable come ~2k RPM. This thing is gutless even at moderate throttle at 3-3.5k RPM. VW sacrificed a lot of driveability in the sake of fuel economy with this engine and made it sound like a tractor engine in the process. Yes the old 1.8T of 1997 would probably do worse in pedal to the metal acceleration. That is the problem here, this Budack cycle 2.0T sucks in every other driving situation outside of foot to the floor. Yes it moves nicely when you floor it, but outside of that it is straight up gutless and makes noises like marbles rattling in a can.

As you can see from my signature I am very much a fan of VW's so I am not hating, I am making and observation on how painfully slow the Tiguan 2.0T in normal driving. Its Jekyll and Hyde - slow AF unless you hit the kickdown switch every time you accelerate.
 
well, even my Alltrack with the Atkinson cycle had the same thing going on at low RPM's though, until I adjusted the throttle parameters with Vagcom. It made a huge difference after the tweak.

I test drove a Tiguan and the throttle response was very similar to the stock Alltrack--so I think it's something that can easily be resolved. Granted, I get that a brand new car shouldn't need to be tweaked, but I think the average driver is OK with the trade-off for fuel economy.

As mentioned above, the BMW B46/B48 2.0L turbos seem to do the exact same thing. It makes sense, since such a large percentage of fuel is used getting up to speed.
 
I wouldn't call it gutless, but it could use some more power. My biggest complaint is the schizophrenic throttle. Sometimes you give it half throttle and nothing happens, other times you give it a quarter throttle and the Giti tires are breaking loose. I think the tractor sound you get at 3k and above make it feel slower than it is, for as much noise as the engine is making you'd expect to be moving faster.

Otherwise it's a great little CUV. It rides well, it's quiet inside (when not accelerating hard), handling and brakes are good, and in SE trim you get a really nice level of equipment at a very reasonable price. Part of the good ride quality is due to the long wheelbase, which also gives you a lot of room inside.
 
I drive my wife 2018 Tiguan and find it have incredible amount of usable everyday power at low rpm and quite brisk with smooth and little throttle input. Generally it is a quicker vehicle at lights with little throttle.

Flooring it I concur is loud and not a ton of power and jerky. I guess 55k miles we figured out how to press the pedal proper places to smooth out the oddness.
 
Originally Posted by JOD
Originally Posted by HangFire

Does the 2020 VW Tiguan S 2.0T have a "fun button" too?


No button, but you can tweak the throttle response if you have a coding tool, and it changes the throttle response significantly so there's it's more direct and there's less lag. The downside is that (no surprise) there's a fuel economy hit.

Not sure why the OP puts "new" engine in quotes. This is a completely different engine than the 1.8T's of old, and it's a much better engine. It's also moving a LOT more weight in the new Tiquan than the old 1.8T was in the Passat and Jetta of the MKIV days. Stick the oil 1.8T in a new Tiguan and it would be much more terrible than the current engine, even without the throttle mod.




The 2004 Passat wagon 1.8T 4Motion weighed in 3700 lbs, very close, but slightly less than the Tiguan. Also, the old 1.8T on the Passat only made 170 hp and 166 lb-ft. The transverse 1.8T was a little more powerful on the GTI, Golf & Jetta (initially was 150 hp then iirc upgraded to 180 hp), not as much as the Audi TT (with 225 hp).
 
Originally Posted by JOD
well, even my Alltrack with the Atkinson cycle had the same thing going on at low RPM's though, until I adjusted the throttle parameters with Vagcom. It made a huge difference after the tweak.

I test drove a Tiguan and the throttle response was very similar to the stock Alltrack--so I think it's something that can easily be resolved. Granted, I get that a brand new car shouldn't need to be tweaked, but I think the average driver is OK with the trade-off for fuel economy.

As mentioned above, the BMW B46/B48 2.0L turbos seem to do the exact same thing. It makes sense, since such a large percentage of fuel is used getting up to speed.



A lot of manufacturers are using some weird tuning nowadays. The WRX is probably the most blatant offender.
 
VW is being more norm-core to attract more US and Chinese buyers. I was in a new Jetta SE 1.4T. It didn't feel like any of the VWs I've been a passenger of or driven ever.

In the game of efficiency, this Budack cycle seems more troublesome in the long run and we all know VW doesn't have a spectacular history with their engines. Why not take an FSI engine and make it a Miller-cycle engine?

Toyota doesn't have a true Atkinson-cycle engine, on the Prius it was a tweaked Scion/Echo/Corolla engine that kept the valves open late into the compression stroke. The compression ratio didn't change but the expansion ratio did. Power loss was countered with electric motors. It might have changed now that all of Toyota's new Dynamic Force engines(A25A/M20A/V35A) are all Atkinson-cycle but not primarily being bolted onto a hybrid system.
 
I am perfectly happy with my 2.0T Passat. Normal pickup is fine and flooring it makes for brisk acceleration if not "fast". The steering and handling is fantastic for a family hauler and my mpg is ~27 with 95% city driving. Not to mention, the interior is a wonderful place to be.

But I will admit, my wife's Hyundai SFS 2.0T is a significantly more refined engine.
 
Nearly bought a 17 Passat R-line with the 1.8t, loved it but decided to wait. Went back in 18 and hated the way the 2.0s drove, ended up with the VR6 which is more fun than ought to be legal. I don't think it's the engine as much as the shift points, just my perception.
 
So now 90 miles into this loaner I have to say I have warmed up to it. It does take some adaptation to figure out how to get the engine out of miller cycle mode for some better pep but I think I have a better grasp of it. Basically it is not like any other engine, you have to be a bit more agressive in your throttle application. Other cars it will respond according to throttle pedal application, this one responds differently based on how fast you apply the throttle. Slow squeeze to ¾ you will be stuck in turtle budack mode, more rapid press to ½-¾ and it will cancel out budack cycle and give you rabbit mode.

In reality except for the Jekyll and Hyde powertrain this is a very good vehicle. Steering is on point, suspension is tuned quite well, handling is tuned in but a bit on of the soft side and even in base S model it is very well equipped.

I have a habit of resetting trip computer in all my rentals as soon as I get behind the wheel. 2020 Altima 2.5S after ~90 miles I was averaging 17.2MPG, I am at 17.6MPG in the 2020 Tiguan under same commuting patterns. Altima rated at 29 City, Tiguan is 22 City - Altima drove much bigger than the Tiguan too. Tiguan comes out golden in comparison.
 
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