On the flats the car accelerates ok, but not much torque feel. Flooring the pedal going uphill, the car revs up high, but the torque pull is real weak feeling. The car has about 56k miles and it makes me wonder if its the DV. What should I check before taking it to the dealer (ie. hoses, ducts, DV? how do you check this, etc...)

Thanks for the help!

 

May sound a bit stupid/obvious but are you sure you have at least 91 octane fuel in it? I had an experience where a Premium pump gave me 87 octane fuel and that’s exactly how my car behaved. The turbos were even quieter as the ECU tuned them down to compensate for the low octane level. I discovered it was fuel because the issue instantly went away once I got some good fuel in it.

 

let me preface this by saying i've not yet experienced a dying turbo in an audi. yet i would think that a blown turbo would at least throw a code. or make noise, or smoke, or at least have negligible performance. did this start happening suddenly, or it came on gradually until you finally decided to check into it?

 

A blown turbo throws no code.. There is no code for bent exhaust fan on the turbo. Sadly I blew my ko3's up about a year ago now. haha Do you hear a clicking or possible a slight whistle while under boost from the center of the engine? (this would be your turbo) You would hear air pretty easily and your vac lines wouldn't build boost if it was a leak. Which I am guessing you can build boost fine? Just feels like it is lacking a little? This may sound stupid but along which checking the fuel you should check your oil. The turbos are oil fed based and if your car has a cam leak it could be causing some performance issues. I had the same problem in 5th gear and going up hills where it forced me to shift becuase the car couldn't build enough TQ to go up the hill. After changing my DV's and the DV springs the car runs perfect. Under performance and daily driving is A LOT SMOOTHER. Builds boost easily and I am taking hills with 5tg gear now (5 speed auto) even at 40mph.

 

That's not very good for the engine, torque convertor, and clutch when over labored in improper gears.
If you do that on a constant basis you'll develop poor burn and pre-ignition. You trigger more gas than is necessary in that higher gear, and the unburned fuel goes into the exhaust, the catalytic converter and heats it up even more. It will eventually affect your O2 sensors as well and accelerate the carbon deposits buildup.
Don't you feel any vibration at that low speed in the 5th gear? The engine has to "stumble" and not run properly in that situation.
I'm by far not familiar with the manual Audis, and maybe they are built to withstand this type of abuse better than other cars. You may be probably able to get away with it, but I would say that eventually you'll pay the price for this kind of improper shifting and speed/gear ratio.

 

5th gear in a 6spd manual sounds about right. i'd guess around 2k RPM. I do agree with the spirit of your post in that proper gear selection is important. not only will you avoid the issues you mentioned, if you keep your eye on the driver information screen in live mpg, you'll notice you get better milage maintaining 40mph on an incline in 4th gear @ 2400RPM than you will in 5th @ 2000rpm.

 

Hah, I have no catalytic converters, no 02 sensors and it hasn't caused a issue for over 6 months now. How would it use more gas when I get better MPG? And No, like i said I feel nothing in 5th gear and it is smooth. You can't over load the gear with boost (15 psi) or you will force the auto down to 4th and possible quickly into 5th again. Possible causing dmg. I drive in tiptronic because I drive better than the car. I have driven over 40k miles with tiptronic in a year. Also.. How do you expalin it is improper... Have you ever had your audi at 40 mph and put it from drive to tiptronic? What will you notice. The car is in 5th gear. In 5th at 40mph my rpms are higher than what you guys post as well. Also what DV's do you have in your car?

 

As I said, I'm in no way familiar neither with the manual, nor with the turboed Audis. I commented based on "normal" stick shift driving. Probably the turbos get all the beating instead.
You said you blew your turbos last year, or I got the wrong poster?
Sorry for my post. Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers.
I'm glad your car runs excellent at 40 mph in the 5th gear.

 

I blew my turbos from running 18 psi on stock turbos. What the **** is your issue? If you knew anything about boost or vaccum lines you prob would have shut the **** up or not posted any of your comments before. You can hold the same vaccum line in 4th or 5th gear. 5th just uses less gas. How about you really help people out by not talking about stuff you don't know or have a source of experiance. Sorry I called you out on your bullshit answer. Also maybe the stumbling is your cats already going on? Sounds like you have something busted.. or is it your 2.8 up a hill.