Superchips VW Golf GTD Mk6

Engine-remap specialist branches out into fettling dual-clutch gearboxes to good effect

Test location: Padbury, Buckinghamshire

Five-year-old diesel Golfs are not evo’s usual fodder, so you can be sure we’ve a good reason for featuring such a car. Buckingham-based superchips has long been a leader in engine remapping, but it has recently turned its attention to transmission software, claiming it can improve vw Group dsg gearboxes in a matter of moments for a modest outlay.

For the time being, superchips only offers its upgrade for the Group’s dq250 six-speed dualclutch transmission, which was introduced in 2003 and fitted to various audi, vw, skoda and seat models. The list includes all Mk5 and Mk6 performance Golfs. superchips expects to have an upgrade ready for Mk7 models within 12 months and a package for Ford’s Powershift transmission is on the way, too.

The new software yields smoother shifts in drive mode, superchips claims, with shift points optimised for economy and comfort. Faster, performance-optimised shifts arrive

GPS: 51.96170,- 0.93118

in sport mode, but the quickest shifts come in manual mode, with more immediate response to shift requests. The launch-control point has also been lifted slightly, to 2500rpm. Perhaps the most meaningful improvement, however, is that in manual mode the automatic kickdown has been disabled. superchips can even disable the automatic upshift in this mode, too, if the customer so chooses.

The transmission software upgrade makes the most of superchips’ engine ECU remap, which in this application, a Mk6 Golf GTD, adds 28bhp and 44lb ft, lifting outputs to 196bhp and 302lb ft. The cost of the gearbox remap is £180, Much-improved control over dsg gearbox in manual mode

196bhp @ n/a 302lb ft @ n/a

on top of the £399 engine upgrade, and superchips offers a seven-day money-back guarantee for buyers who want to revert back to the standard map.

‘it’s a subtle improvement – that’s why it’s cheaper than the engine remap – but it is an improvement nonetheless,’ says company founder ian sandford. ‘disabling the automatic kickdown in manual mode makes a big difference, though. it gives you more control and the customers like that.’

‘subtle’ is certainly a reasonable description of the improvements, in the automatic modes at least, but in manual mode the gearbox is transformed. The standard transmission map gives you so little control when the lever is slotted over to the right that you might as well leave the gearbox to swap cogs itself. it’ll slavishly change down a ratio when you open the throttle, even in manual mode, which is both frustrating, as it ruins your rhythm pulling away from a corner, and improvements in auto are subtle

7.0sec (estimated) 145mph (estimated)

completely unnecessary, because with so much torque the engine will happily pull the longer ratio.

The superchips remap makes the manual mode worthwhile. The gearbox no longer hurries to give you a lower cog in a great blare of revs at corner exit. instead, you can use the swell of torque to drive forward with less fuss, which makes the whole car considerably more enjoyable.

The automatic upshift in manual mode has not been disabled on this particular demonstrator, and that means you can still get a double upshift if you tug the right-hand paddle near to the red line, just as the gearbox is preparing to call for its own shift. The solution is to simply allow the car to manage upshifts, but i’d actually be inclined to disable it, just to give me total control in manual mode.

in combination with the engine upgrade, the transmission remap brings a meaningful improvement at a very reasonable cost. 1329kg (150bhp/ton) see text