I've got my 96 12V Quattro 5sp and I cant figure out what is happeneing. Any time I try and speed up to get on the freeway and put my foot to the floor the car is really slow at getting up for example, I'll be in third and I shift to fourth 3/4 to full throttle, the car seems like its super hesitant at wanting to get up (ill be like at 4k-5k rpm and shift to 4th and it feels hesitant to get back up) are the 12V's really this slow or is something up?
Any advice would help!

 

I've had two Audi's with that motor. No question: its slow. I have no way of knowing if what your describing is normal or not. Mine never hesitated at all, it was always smooth. That motor just doesn't have much power.

 

They're slow, but I've never had a problem merging or anything. But them again you have tiptronic, so I dunno.

 

Well mines a manual, not tiptronic so I would think that it would be a lot more responsive but it just feels super slow. Maybe I just like to think the car is faster than it really is -___-

 

Mine's a '96 with almost 240K miles, and not all that slow as far as I'm concerned. I was chasing a Benz SUV on the onramp the other morning, and glanced at the tach and saw almost 7,000 RPM- still pulling smooth when I bumped it into third (auto). The 30V motor has more top-end HP (about 10% more) but more importantly a flatter torque curve. So the 12V has to be revved to get its best performance.

In your case, something is wrong if it runs out of juice at 4K~5K. Perhaps low fuel pressure or pump capacity, old fuel filter, clogged cats, etc.

 

first off id start by giving it a service inc petrol filter and plugs, thn go from there, maybe a bit of redex as well

 

Sorry, reading back on it I see you do have the 5 speed. And yeah, when I first got mine I was expecting a little more too!

I would think the tiptronic should've automatically upshifted if you were pushing 7K to avoid any engine damage, unless the 30V has a MUCH high redline. And mine runs out of steam at about 5K too, it might just be the way they were designed.

 

As I recall my AFC's, they didn't run out of breath at 5K. What power they had, pulled all the way to the readline. I wonder if the OP's intake changeover valve isn't working. You actually get a little boost at about 4,300 RPM when that kicks in.

 

I know this is dangerous but if you want extra power you can carefully advance your timing =)

 

It does shift by default at 6,200 if in drive. I sometimes keep it in second on the onramp loop, and when I see the coast is clear, wind it out. I always shift out of second while accelerating, but this time got fixated on tailing the G500 in front of me and forgot to watch the RPMs-when it almost reached 7,000. This surprised me, that the TCM wouldn't take over and put it in third or rev-limit. Maybe my '96 is unique- but it pulls full-strength right to redline.