Leaderboard

I've just remembered actually it did help with responsiveness so you may still benefit. Mine was a little sluggish between 2nd and 3rd and now it's perfectly fine, so much so that I forget it was ever an issue!!

If the heating system is in good nick(they seldom are these days due to deterioration and neglect)they worked ok down to -30. Around town was a bit sketchy to keep the windscreen clear because the engine wasn't working hard enough to produce the required heat. On the freeway they were fine. The Busses struggled a bit more because of the size of the glass and volume of the interior. Remember they only took heat off two exhaust pipes! All the VWs sold in our climate got a block heater that bolted up to the bottom of the pan and after about '68 or so a gas heater was standard fit also. They helped out greatly for the around town issue. The vast majority of air cooled VWs found today have had the heating system removed or it is in such poor condition as to be useless but in the beginning it was not so! When the snow got deep often it was only the VWs and 4x4 trucks that were able to get around. The engine weight over the rear tyres made for excellent traction. One of my biggest disappointments when I moved up to my first water cooled front wheel drive VW was the poor traction on snow and ice. It was useless in the winter next to my old Beetle! Then I discovered reverse gear! I could back up anywhere I wanted!

I assumed this stuff was snake oil but it did seem to make a difference to my GTI, in fact I'm not sure I've had any jerkiness this winter after having used it around September. Prior to this mine also liked to be a bit jerky in reverse, which given the tightness of my parking spot at home, was rather irritating!

That does make sense. However, shouldn't having a correct temperature reading make more difference when the engine has warmed up, because surely a cold start is a cold start ?? Geting to the throttle body is easy. You need to take the air filter and air filter housing off and there it is...

Put an ebay search into your computer, then take your pick, if you are in South Wales I can give you a set of Arosa 14" alloys, gratis https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2062857.m570.l2632&_nkw=vw+lupo+lowering+springs&_sacat=107059

I have changed the coolant temperature sensor on my Lupo Gti last week and indeed this seems to have made a noticeable difference in the jerkiness after a cold start. I wonder why though... What I’ve also done recently, as I was changing the air filter anyway, is clean the throttle body and clear the adaptations with an OBD2 reader thingy. A sticky throttle plate may well cause the engine being jerky as @mk2 has very nicely explained in a different thread about the same topic.

I was told its because the roots of this engine are in rallying where it would idle higher, whether hot or cold. Mines always done it from day 1, never really been a problem as it's fine once it's done a few miles.....

Changing my coilpack made mine better. It was never really bad but I'd changed the CTS a few years back anyway