8.5R Gremlins

[Booth11]

1 hour ago, Scudgie said:

100% agree on this.

 

Would also recommend that your friend looks at his battery level.

 

IIRC Becs posted that her one and oly bong fest came after playing music etc while cleaning her car. I've since learned that my dashcam set up was draining my battery to as low as 11.7v depending on how frequently I drove the car. Since changing that, coinciding with the OTA software update regarding file extensions, I've not had one fest since.

 

That said, If the battery is partly responsible, it is weird that, in my case,  the bongs happened after I'd driven the car for at least 20 / 30 minutes -  which you'd expect to recharge the battery back to a decent level.

Close John, but details are a little different.  My bongfest came immediately after downloading AirConsole from Shop and sitting in the car playing it for approx 5 mins whilst waiting for daughter to get a coffee. As soon as I started the car up to drive off, the bongs started coming.  This was after my car had been parked up for a a few days for a detailing session, so battery could have been low. At the next few startups, the warning error/bongs we’re gone but the engine light stayed on. I took the car for a good long run after that and the engine light went off, all has been well ever since. 
 

The battery was my suspicion initially, but then you and a few others had bings after downloading stuff from Shop as had been the case with my car.

[Scudgie]

3 hours ago, Booth11 said:

Close John, but 

No  cigar 🤣

[Msportman]

11 hours ago, blizzard60 said:

 

Have you driven an 8.5?

Driven a R20 and the 8.

R20 was very similar tbh to the 8 but you’d have to be driving 8-9 tenths to feel the diff create yaw and unbalance the rear.

As to the touch screen…my wife has the same integrated system on the iX1 

.Great to operate like an iPad when stationary but bloody annoying when moving on anything but billiard smooth road surfaces ….trying to do simple functions with your finger and holding steering wheel or if you want to change climate functions it’s a real PITA when driving. Layers of functions buried.

 

I personally hate new tech in cars I much prefer the school simplicity and it’s much safer to operate safely when driving.

 

 

[Crick]

@Msportman was you pressing 'submit reply' on a bumpy road 😅

[AHG]

14 hours ago, Scudgie said:

my dashcam set up was draining my battery to as low as 11.7v

 

11 point something is a good level when the engine is not running.

When running I usually get 14V or so (probably from alt.)

My V1 has an app that shows voltage and it is usually about the same to what you get when checking with OBDeleven.

[Scudgie]

9 minutes ago, AHG said:

 

That’s a good level if the engine is not running.

 

My 8r was perfectly fine at 11.6v - maybe it's just a coincidence. But then again, my Stop/Start hasn't kicked in for over 2 months now (that's not a complaint btw). It just strikes me that theres something amiss with the battery

[robdfr]

My 8.5 R charging pad doesn’t work , says it’s charging and doesn’t do crap , except makes my phone get hot.

i thought the 8.5’s pad was cooled as well?

anyone else had an issue with it not charging ?

[Burble]

4 minutes ago, robdfr said:

My 8.5 R charging pad doesn’t work , says it’s charging and doesn’t do crap , except makes my phone get hot.

i thought the 8.5’s pad was cooled as well?

anyone else had an issue with it not charging ?

 

When you put on the pad, does the phone report that it's charging?  Have you got a case on the phone?  With my (reasonably thick) iPhone case on the phone barely charges but if I take the case off it charges much better.

You should be able to hear the cooling, there's a fan underneath the pad that blows air up the right hand side.  

[robdfr]

7 minutes ago, Burble said:

 

When you put on the pad, does the phone report that it's charging?  Have you got a case on the phone?  With my (reasonably thick) iPhone case on the phone barely charges but if I take the case off it charges much better.

You should be able to hear the cooling, there's a fan underneath the pad that blows air up the right hand side.  

Thanks for the quick reply, I have never thought about removing the case, will try that tomorrow.

can’t say I have listened out for a fan , will have a listen tomorrow.

[MK7TDI]

Canadian R here. Cant connect using the OG OBDEleven (on android). Worked fine on my 2015 TDI. I get the error that ignition needs to be on. I know coding was locked down. Was surprised to see that I cant even connect to monitor status.

 

Car built in May 2025. Saw some ppl were able to at least connect. Not sure if thats changed now?

[Booth11]

9 minutes ago, MK7TDI said:

Canadian R here. Cant connect using the OG OBDEleven (on android). Worked fine on my 2015 TDI. I get the error that ignition needs to be on. I know coding was locked down. Was surprised to see that I cant even connect to monitor status.

 

Car built in May 2025. Saw some ppl were able to at least connect. Not sure if thats changed now?

There was a discussion on the forum a little while ago, that established that the original obdevelen dongle was not compatible with the 8.5 and that’s why there are connection issues with it.  Have a read here https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/46048-85r-gremlins/?do=findComment&comment=679552

 

Even with the next gen obdeleven, although you can connect and run scans etc, the SFD2 protection prevents much in the way of coding. 

 

[MK7TDI]

4 hours ago, Booth11 said:

There was a discussion on the forum a little while ago, that established that the original obdevelen dongle was not compatible with the 8.5 and that’s why there are connection issues with it.  Have a read here https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/46048-85r-gremlins/?do=findComment&comment=679552

 

Even with the next gen obdeleven, although you can connect and run scans etc, the SFD2 protection prevents much in the way of coding. 

 

Ahh ok. Was trying to find something on the topic but looks like it never worked to begin with.

 

Ok phew. But 250km in, no issues to report besides 1 random android auto disconnect.

 

Might be useful for others:

 

I use wireguard vpn on my android to connect to my homenetwork, android auto doesnt work on vpn. Theres an android app called "wgTunnel" that lets you add a splittunnel to bypass android auto

[JoeGTI7]

A tip for those who find the wireless charging flakey - remove the little rubber mat from that cubby hole! You'll find that your phone will fit in there much better without that mat and will charge much more reliably. 

[kjg169]

On 14/07/2025 at 12:16, JoeGTI7 said:

A tip for those who find the wireless charging flakey - remove the little rubber mat from that cubby hole! You'll find that your phone will fit in there much better without that mat and will charge much more reliably. 

I have also removed the little rubber mat and find it much better, I don't have to remove the case from my iPhone 16 pro and it reliably charges

[Jack_is_Back]

Don't know if this is strictly a gremlin but... does anyone find the gearbox a bit slow to upshift when using the paddles?

 

It's putting me off using M+ as I find myself bumping into the limiter at times. The shift themselves are very quick - as you would expect with a twin-clutch - but the reaction time from clicking the paddle seems very slow to me. I'm talking full-bore upshifts with foot flat to the floor changing up in the higher rev-range.

 

From memory other autos I've had were much snappier - BMW ZF, PDK, even my 7.5 GTI was quicker than this I reckon.