Hi guys. I'm a newbie in this forum and I must say that it has been very informative especially for a new audi owner like me. I recently bought a 2001 2.4L A6 with 70K kms mileage. The car is a beauty and really a joy to drive except when the shifting problem sets in. When I'm caught in heavy traffic for at least half an hour (in Manila, this is almost everyday), the transmission would seem to upshift too late. When there is bumber to bumper traffic and the speed would not exceed 30 kmh (about 20 mph) the transmission would only shift at more than 3K rpm. This is irritating not only because of wasted fuel but also because of the unnecessary engine noise caused by the high revs. In order to avoid this, I use the tiptronic mode to upshift earlier; but the problem returns once I return to automatic. Once the traffic clears up and the car has reached cruising speeds, the upshifts return to normal in a few kilometers. I brought this up to the first owner and he said that he already brought the car to the Audi dealership to look into this problem. The dealer just changed the ATF and said that this is just normal since the Audi transmission has a learning computer which adopts to the driving style or situation. Is this really normal in an Audi? I haven't brought the car to the dealership or any mechanic yet to have this checked. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

You have 4 cylinder Non-Quattro Audi, correct?

Tip is adaptive, that's correct.
I believe there is nothing to be done in the traffic, but use the manual mode (as I do - 2.7T).
A6 is a heavy car even non-quattro and the 2.4 engine is better off with manual transmission.

 

No, the 2.4L is a V6. It's a little bit sluggish when accelerating but it has ample power once you reach cruising speeds.

Yes, you're right. Late upshifts may be caused by the considerable weight of the A6. It upshifts in higher rpm when in traffic in order to help the engine move the heavy mass of the A6.

I forgot to mention that when I'm caught in traffic the tranny jerks before shifting gears. This does not happen all the time but I notice it especially when the traffic is stop and go. I read in somewhere in the forum that this is a characteristic of the tiptronic transmission. Is still there anything I can do about it or should I just accept it? My concern is that this may lead to costly repairs in the future. Thanks again for the help.

 

I have the exact same problem with my 99 A6 Quattro 2.8L. It is a very annoying problem, I feel like the car is failing when that happens

If I slowly accelerate, the transmission shifts fine, but if I let go of the gas pedal right before the trans is supposed to shift and then press the gas again, the trans doesn't shift until after 3000 rpm.

My car also feels like it is automatically braking for a brief second whenever it shifts down on its own. I let go of the gas and slow down gradually, but when the car downshifts, I feel the car slowing down significantly for a second. Do you have the same problem?

What can we do about this problem (if it is in fact a problem)?

 

Yes, it seems that we have the same problem. I also experience the sudden braking/jerking when downshifting given the condition that you described.

Have you had it checked by a mechanic or an audi dealer? Our local Audi dealer says that this is normal but I sometimes find it hard to beleive that something this annoying is really a characteristic of the tiptronic tranny. Heck, even my lowly Nissan Sentra does not give me this kind of a headache.

Have you changed the ATF? The ATF of my car was changed by Audi right before I bought it so changing yours would most probably not solve the problem also.

I guess our best bet to solve this issue is to get the advice of an audi owner who was able to solve a similar concern.

 

I'm surprised the dealer said this was normal. It doesn't feel normal..

Now that you said changing the transmission fluid won't help, I'm all out of ideas.

I don't want to wait till the transmission breaks down and it's too late.

 

This is normal behavior and nothing to worry about, because the car is big and the engine is small (relative to the car) the tranny often keeps the car in a higher RPM range so that it has more giddy up. As long as the shifts are not incredibly hard (IE big thunking noise) you should be fine.