I'm frustrated with the wussiness of my '97 A8 Automatic. I need auto as I have a horrid commute that would have me in and out of 1st gear all the time during part of the ride. I find myself in 4th gear just to get some downshift power. Audi gave me the latest s/w update when I complained, but I just drove a < 3 Liter Maxima loaner and was suprised by how much more responsive it was than my 4.2 due to USING it's RPMs. I don't want the expense of Tiptronic conversion. Would love a chip upgrade that would force downshifting earlier, but haven't been able to find anything. FYI, I have the TAP ECU upgrade, which helped a little. Ideas?

I have a '99 with the TIP, but I can't figure your car driving as you say unless there is something else wrong with it. Did the dealer check the engine for other potential failures?

It accelerates just fine within gears and it's not awful, just doesn't kick down as quickly as I'd like. It's clearly tuned for mileage and I'd prefer tuned for performance. I don't know what to ask the dealer to look for except to test the automatic. How's your tiptronic's aggressiveness when you're not manually shifting?

First of all the A8 has an adaptive transmission that tailors shiffting points to the driving style. The A8 has plenty of torque (unlike the Maxima) so there is no need to downshift superfast or to keep the engine at high RPM. Since you have such a tedious commute sit back and relax while your A8 shifts gently and gets you there.

Charles

Go to the dealer and take one for a spin. That will give you an objective comparison. But remeber, you have a 4 valve engine, the new one has 5 (more power and torque).

Charles

David-

I also have a '97 4.2 auto and it performs the same. Many reviews of the car note this characteristic. MTM makes something called a TIP Chip which is supposed to help but I am unsure if it only works on the tiptronic tranny or on both. There should be a link to their web site in the links section of this site. I would think there should be contact info there but don't email them, call them. You will never hear back if email them. As far as the suggestion to test drive a tiptronic for comparison I think that would be of little help since you aren't driving one and do not intend to convert yours. Just because the the tip tranny behaves differently doen't mean yours is not doing it's job properly. Also I believe the adaptive shift or learning technology mentioned is specific to the tiptronic transmission. I could be wrong though, best to check with Audi. You can do this at their web site. They WILL get back to you, if not with the answer, with info on where to find it.

I have similar experiences with my A8 4,2 Tiptronic. The responiveness of the auto mode isn´t very good, it acts nervous and sometimes lazy. I really prefer the Automatik transmission of my old 1993 Audi V8 4,2 quattro. It has a mode switch that let´s You select Your desired characteristics (Sport, Economy, Manual Mode)...

Benjamin

The Automatic is computer controlled. The speed at which you press the accelerator is more crucial than how far you press it.

I find my 99 A8's Automatic to shift "agreesively" when I need to, but it's silky-smooth when not. Off the line it will start in 2nd unless you press the accelerator quickly where it will start in 1st. The same applies for highway driving. During normal driving it will shift down to 4th, but press it quickly and it will kick down to 3rd (or even second). I have confirmed this by switching the tranny into manual mode after accelerating hard.

I completely agree. If interested, look at my response in the thread entitled "Anyone having problems with transmission..?". I wish I could figure out how to put a link to it.

Barry