I recently purchased a used 99 Audi a4 (with AWD). I noticed when I drive up a relatively steep hill; the car will not go past around 20mph. When I step on the gas, engine RPM goes up but the car does not accelerate.

What’s even stranger, is that after I got up the hill and drive on regular road the car “stuck” in this mode and will not accelerate past 20 mph with engine RPM going past 3000+. It only returns to normal after I stop to car completely and start over. Although I didn’t drive the car long enough (less then a minute) in the “speed limited mode” to find out if it return to normal on its own.

Is this behavior a “feature” of this particular Audi model, or is there something wrong with the car?

If transmission is indeed damaged, the car still runs perfectly, when I drive on regular road, accelerate and decelerate normally with out any problem.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

99 A4 Quattro Tip....my transmission has alsobeen acting up. I do know with the tiptronic transmissionit will adjust to grade when driving up a hill. This means when driving up a hill it usually stays in that gear longer before shifting. Mine has always done this but has never limited to just 20 mph. When driving normally my transmission has a tendency to run really quick through the gears, I even had it reset recently which solved the problem for a while but now has gone back to normal. Under hard acceleration it runs great, shifting normally. Also under heavy load from 2-3k rpm my tranny slips like the torque converter isn't adjusted or set right during highway traveling. Sorry I do not have an answer for you, I am still learning myself on how critical these machines operate and how sensitive they are according to their parameters. Maybe our Tip modules need to be replaced..???