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monkeyhanger wrote: Mon May 25, 2020 2:15 pm

PhilArnold wrote: Thu May 21, 2020 10:47 am

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu May 14, 2020 7:07 pm I fitted new flappy paddles today:-

Comparison of old ones with new ones



New ones fitted:-





Bargain price too - £16.99 delivered on eBay. All aluminium, painted black, blue , red or unpainted aluminium. I wanted to go the subtle black route. Proper wobble-free pivot in use and feel nice and solid.

They look great, do you have link?

The place I bought from sold out. These seem to be the same paddles, presumably made at the same place, but a different seller.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/283890654053

Perfect, thank you!

How do the paddles fit?? Screws or clip on ?

brynteg73 wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 8:59 am How do the paddles fit?? Screws or clip on ?

There's a holliw plastic pin that runs from the base of the paddle to the top, through a few holes in the steering wheel, to form a hinge on which the paddles pivot when you press them - very easy to pull the pin out, swap paddles and replace the pin. 2 minute job.

Top man thanks for your reply as usual

brynteg73 wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 8:59 am How do the paddles fit?? Screws or clip on ?

I changed mine and it's as easy as turning the wheel 180 degrees and using long nose pliers to pull the pin out. Causes no damage and is really easy.

Today I managed to disable the very annoying "soundaktor " thingy . I haven't got obdeleven or similar so had to resort to mechanical means .
Before I picked the car up in October I asked for it to be turned down to zero ,but they never bothered ! (the Tyre pressures were 46 all round also but dont get me started !! )

Mike222 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 10:17 am Today I managed to disable the very annoying "soundaktor " thingy . I haven't got obdeleven or similar so had to resort to mechanical means .
Before I picked the car up in October I asked for it to be turned down to zero ,but they never bothered ! (the Tyre pressures were 46 all round also but dont get me started !! )

or ... you could set engine sound to eco in individual mode

Dark_cze wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:41 pm

Mike222 wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 10:17 am Today I managed to disable the very annoying "soundaktor " thingy . I haven't got obdeleven or similar so had to resort to mechanical means .
Before I picked the car up in October I asked for it to be turned down to zero ,but they never bothered ! (the Tyre pressures were 46 all round also but dont get me started !! )

or ... you could set engine sound to eco in individual mode

That’s what I was thinking. I don’t think Eco it turns it off completely, but for most people it should turn it down sufficiently to not be obtrusive or annoying.

I'd guess 25% output in eco, 50-60 % in Normal and 100% in Sport. I'm in individual mode with most stuff set to sport, and the Soundaktor is still outputting. Tempted to unplug it if someone had a guide to stripping the gutter trim to get to the plug.

Yes its because eco mode does leave it at 25% . I have unplugged mine its not difficult , pull off the rubber at the back of the engine bay , remove the three metal clips underneath the rubber , the plastic trim over the plenum chamber is in two half's from the centre. The right half will pull up completely . dont worry about the left half ! when removed you can access slightly right of the centre line the soundaktor speaker . I did try to remove the plug directly on it but my hands are not small enough ! So checked the part number on the flat device to the right of the speaker , this is the "control unit for sound reinforcement " easy to unplug , I removed the unit completely ( but you dont have to) Taped up the open ends of the connector plug . and that's it. no errors or nuffin ! Its surprising how much quieter the car is !!

Thanks Mike. Logically I had an idea of how to get there, but there's always that fear that you've misread how things come apart and your comments above reassured me that I wasn't going to destroy a silicone seal etc. I'll put a guide up on how to do it as I took some pics.

For me it made a big difference and no difference...

I did my car first - 2018 GTI+ with no GPF. The car felt no quieter than it already was in individual mode (everything Sport except suspension = Normal, Engine sound = Eco). I had to wonder whether it was working, but cycling between the modes with no change in engine noise confirmed it had actually worked. Windows up or down, it made no difference.

Next the wife's 2019 GTI+ with DPF. What a difference - the car is whisper quiet, she'll appreciate that.

If they were both 2019 models next to each other, you'd swear mine had a sports exhaust on, like a resonator delete job or similar. The 2018 one undoubtedly sounds better, much better, with or without the fakery.

Because of the very noticeable difference in natural sound, i'd have to assume that the soundaktor profiles are very different between the 2 cars, with the GPF model getting a bigger portion of fakery than the non-GPF.

For GPF variant, i'd guess ECO = 25%, Normal = 50%, Sport = 100%

For non-GPF variant, relative to the figures above, i'd guess Eco = somewhere between 0 and 10%, Normal maybe 30-40% and Sport - 70%. It's nice to know how much natural sound the non-GPF variant has. I had been considering a res delete, but I doubt i'll bother now, I guess you'd need to do that on the GPF variant to get a comparable sound.

I can see why you took the controller unit out - very quick and easy to do with 1 Torx bolt. I wanted to leave mine in so that I wouldn't lose it in future. So I taped the open plug and unconnected socket up, then taped them to each other. The Soundaktor itself looked like you'd need to get the windscreen out first, with the lower edge resting over the torx bolt heads.

Yes I thought that about the actual speaker , it looks like different smaller unit than the golf . I am very old so don’t really understand the noisy exhaust thing , as I write this a Vauxhall Astra has just gone past popping and banging like the clappers .

Mike222: The branch-off on the wiring (the end not from the soundaktor) has got to be sending a signal for RPM/throttle input or a combination of the 2.

I personally don’t mind the sound but in my Octavia VRS when in sport mode it used to buzz and vibrate like a broken speaker. Skoda tried multiple cures but I could never make it louder than eco without the annoying buzz. I hope the GTi won’t do that?

Ima wrote: Mon Jun 01, 2020 9:15 pm I personally don’t mind the sound but in my Octavia VRS when in sport mode it used to buzz and vibrate like a broken speaker. Skoda tried multiple cures but I could never make it louder than eco without the annoying buzz. I hope the GTi won’t do that?

Probably wasn't properly damped.