2011 A3 2.0T Titanium
6-speed Manual
FWD
~39,000 mi
Stock, no mods
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Hey guys, I've been noticing an inconsistent acceleration in my A3 since the day I got it.

There seem to be "stages" where (i'm assuming the turbo) is kicking in and causing a very inconsistent acceleration profile that causes the car to "jump" forward, which makes achieving a smooth downshift difficult.

It's particularly noticeable in 1st around 2500rpm, but happens in all gears around the same rpm range. For instance, if I depress the gas "x" amount and hold it there, the car will begin accelerating at a faster rate when it hits 2500, despite no change in input pressure.

I'm not auto-savvy at all, so I'm not sure what to do about it. It affects the driveability of the car for me. It's at the point where if it was possible, I'd consider dis-engaging the turbo if it fixed the issue. Can you do this through ECU tweaks? Or must it be done mechanically?

I'm just a daily driver, not particularly performance-oriented. So I could live with a performance decrease / fuel economy increase if necessary.

Thanks in advance for any advice.


[[[ Secondary note: This car also suffers from turbo lag, so if I could kill two birds with one stone here, that'd be all the better. ]]]

 

Sounds like it's all the classic "turbo-lag" to me. The turbo is driven by exhaust gases and the pressure it exerts on the turbine blades so there is a little bit of a time lag between opening the throttle and the turbo spooling up to produce the boost in the intake that makes the power. Disengaging the turbo defeats the purpose of having the thing to start with. Actually there is no way to disengage the turbo short of removing it as it is not controlled by anything but the exhaust gases and how fast the engine is turning. If you do not like the way a "turbo" engine drives, you should get another car with a normally aspirated 4 or 6 cylinder engine.