For me, the air-conditioning of this car has been one of the biggest pain points but things are better after the tweak.
BHPian true_sedan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
VCDS tweaks in Virtus GT
- Wheel Angle, Refuel Quantity & RPM Tacho
The Virtual Cockpit looks a lot cooler now. That kickass wheel angle display changes in real-time and is helpful when navigating the ghats. VW could’ve given this stock because it’s already there and looks USP. But I much prefer the Virtual Cockpit in the Virtus sold in Brazil.
- Display Fan Speed in Auto AC
The stock car does not have a fan display in Auto AC mode. Probably, done to avoid too much clutter in the already tiny AC display. But a visual confirmation of the fan speed is much better than having the Auto AC blow at full speed until Kingdom comes.
- Sports Display (Highways Display)
My most favorite mod so far. The turbo pressure meter gives a sense of how much pressure is built when the engine goes above a certain RPM. The TPS is Throttle Pressure Sensor and it moves as per the throttle input. This is the display that I have most of the time when cruising on highways.
My wife has christened the Off-road display as the Hill display and the Sports as the Highway display.
- Off-Road Display (Hill Display)
The only time this came in handy was in the ghats section. It’s good to see the Altitude meter ticking with every hairpin bend. Also, it is wise to keep an eye on the oil temperature in a new car.
- Start/Stop Reasons
Now, I can know why Auto Start/Stop engages or disengages.
- Enabled AC controls in ICE
I don’t use this. But the wife loves the big display. More convenient than the touch panels though.
- Enabled Acoustic confirmation for lock/unlock
Enabled this in the settings menu. I use this when I leave my car parked in huge shopping malls. The acoustic confirmation has helped me more than once when I forget where I’ve parked my car. The acoustic confirmation is loud and crisp(typical Volkswagen).
- Changed steering assist to Dynamic mode from comfort + Set XDS to strong
This is by far the most functional difference I was able to achieve with the VCDS. Steering in Dynamic mode has increased the steering heft by at least 50% in the Virtus. Whereas I love it, my wife prefers the soft comfort mode over the Dynamic. This has started a tussle that goes on to this day. Just wish there was an option to change this in the ICE or Virtual cockpit.
I’ve reduced the understeer by setting XDS to strong from medium(default setting). Now the car holds the line much better around corners and in a predictable way with the steering assist set to Dynamic. This mod has fundamentally changed my approach to driving the Virtus GT in a good and pleasurable way.
- Changed the color of the instrument cluster
Now I can change the Virtual cockpit color to any color under the sun. I tried many colors and found that only blue or the stock red looked good in the cockpit. Changing the ICE theme color was also easy but not necessary as the stock red looks great.
- Tuned AC for more air
AC for me has been one of the biggest pain points in the otherwise fantastic Virtus GT. Now, I’ve tuned the AC to blow more air thus cooling the cabin faster. This has significantly reduced the intrusive compressor turning ON and OFF more frequently.
- Basic bits like coded 80/120 kmph speed chimes, lane change indicator to 5 blinks and enabled start/stop button pulsation.
Had one hell of a time tweaking the car. There are still plenty of tweaks like enabling driver side window up/down with key, tail light DRLs, rain-sensing sunroof & windows close, DRLs off with handbrake, anti-theft alarm and a lot more. Stay tuned.
All the above mods were done with the authentic ross-tech cable that I purchased in the US. I would recommend significant caution when using VCDS to perform tweaks as the possibility of bricking the ECU and voiding the warranty is high. The above tweaks are pretty safe to do and there are a lot of resources online if one is stuck.
Finally, I would like to thank BHPian audioholic whose admap on 5F-Information Electric helped me with a few tweaks.
Keyword: 11 VCDS tweaks for Virtus GT: From AC tuning to removing speed chimes