I used to drive Leyland buses with semi-automatic transmission, and then Bedford (GM) stick shift buses. At that time, I mentioned to a colleague it would be nice to have an automatic transmission. His reply stunned me... He said you can't beat a Mercedes bus with a stick shift for smoothness! A year later, I started driving (stick shift) Mercedes buses in Paris, and sure enough, they were the smoothest vehicles on the planet. No automatic transmission can match a good driver with a stick shift Mercedes, and this likely applies to Audis, too! I like to be the one in charge of the vehicle, not the vehicle itself!

 

Have you driven a car built in the last 3 years equipped with a dual clutch transmission?

 

I have had my 2011 Audi A5 for 10 months. It has been into servicing twice and next week will be the 3rd time for the same thing. It misfires and both times they replaced the charcoal canister and some fuel valve. The service guy said I overfill my gas tank (load of crap). Spoke to Audi....both times and lodged a complaint. Was trying to get in touch with Audi over the last few days and they have not returned my call. Spoke to a LemonLaw lawyer as well. This is the 3rd time this has happend.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

 

What does "misfiring" have to do with transmission operation. Overfilled gas tank?

 

Sure. The 2011 Audi we have is very good, although even that one I think I could drive more smoothly if it were manual. Then I'd bought a 2013 Honda Ridgeline (automatic) which was definitely very smooth. And finally, my automatic 2016 Honda Odyssey is pretty good also (it feels similar to the Ridgeline).

On the other hand, the (automatic) 2016 Audi A3 we've been driving as a loaner for two weeks was absolutely horrendous! With just 22,000 miles on the clock I'd expect better. We're considering an A3 convertible in the future, but that kind of engine and transmission would definitely be a deal breaker. I couldn't wait to give that car back to Audi! Although to be fair, as a loaner vehicle it was likely pretty beaten up by many drivers of course.

I'm just very used to automatics nowadays. Although I still suspect I could drive a stick shift bus more smoothly than an automatic one. When I drove a stick shift double decker in England, I would leave my large coffee thermos standing on the dashboard. It never fell over!

 

Good question. But then, any sudden jerking coming from the engine could surely lead to misfunction of an automatic transmission, couldn't it? I've noticed with many transmissions that the gear has flip flopped suddenly if the propulsion is jerky.

 

Wow, this is a long-lived thread.

Regarding harsh down shifts, you didn't mention if it was a DSG 6-speed or the ZF 8-speed Tiptronic.

We have an A3 with the 6-speed DSG that downshifted noticeably better after I changed the transmission fluid at 45K. I don't know if it was the fluid, or if it was because I reset the transmission by doing a "Basic Settings" on the VAG-COM.

On the A5 with the 8-speed Triptronic, the hard downshift from 3-2-1 has improved noticeably over the years from when I bought it new to 50K now. I plan to change the fluids (the Triptronic w/ quattro requires 3 different fluid changes) on it to see if things smooth out even more. This transmission is just buttery smooth at all other times, so I am just a little OCD.