<ul><li><a href="http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolongtermtests/211974/audi_s5.html">http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evolongtermtests/211974/audi_s5.html</a</li></ul>

Interesting observation from the article:

"...pulling smoothly away from a standstill is far harder than it should be. This is a little bemusing, for while it's possible to make consistently seamless up and downshifts once on the move, the throttle and clutch are horribly jumpy when pulling away in first gear."

I thought it was me and my throttle/clutch work, but no matter what I do it seems that there is a noticable jerk when pulling off. When trying to do a quick acceleration the jerk is to be expected, but at low-speed it shouldn't be there - in trying to avoid it I have even stalled a few times. As it states in the article - there is no such jerk in any other gear.

Two questions:
1. Does anyone else notice the same thing?
2. Could this be the "clutch" issue that is causing for "build constraint"?

I wondered if it was just me. I've been driving manual for 20yrs and have never had this issue.

that concerns me, as i live in LA. I don't want a car that is difficult in stop and go.

...when I test drove the demo at our local dealer. I was a little surprised at how touchy the clutch was when starting to release it. I thought, hmmm, I'd be able to adjust my technique if I had some more practice, but I've been practicing for more than three decades.

Despite the clutch behavior, I ordered an S5 anyway.

I tend to start off in second gear much of the time. This is considerably smoother, albeit with less pull.

quickly enough. It is rather annoying though and almost like the car only takes off smooth out of first if your driving fast. I like to drive fast but not every time and it shouldn't require having to slip the clutch to make a smooth start possible. Any other gear is fine though.

Speeds were slow enough that I couldn't shift to second or I would be going too fast, so I was required to keep it in first and then let off, repeat.

I think it may simply be a software issue like the article says. The ECU might be set to be too responsive to throttle position and in first gear that makes it difficult. I'd bet a memo to dealers will be out for a reflash at some point.

the clutch VERY slowly without any gas, you'll notice the car will take off slowly without much RPM change. I believe this "anti stall" stuff is built into the ECU. maybe there will be an update.

I've seen the engine RPMs throttle itself to approximately 1000RPMs, 2-3 times during a couple of idle situations. It seemed to be correcting a low idle, but it didn't seem as though it was that low to begin with.

This could be due to choosing to use a lower-mass flywheel, or maybe a stiffly-sprung clutch plate. It's likely not the mechanical problem that most cars have reported, however, since it seems more like a characteristic of the car than something that would lead to a flaw. The demo vehicle at my dealership blew a clutch slave cylinder within four days of the car's arrival.

some grunt to operate (VERY stiff) and I can take off smoothly without any difficulty.

This issue seems to be computer related IMO.

... clutch friction plate. You make an excellent point about this possibly being computer related, though.

Not a biggie tho, it's like a small jerkiness but i'm used to it now.

I did notice, and actually i felt like a noob driving the demo, i though it was because of the difference in the travel between the S4 and the S5 cluth.

That sounds like it could be the air conditioning compressor cycling on and off at idle.

Sounds like it is a software issue all a long because you guys are having the same issue from manual transmissions. I kept complaining that from a dead stop the car would herk &amp; jerk from stand still then finally feel like it "engaged" into speed. That was annoying!! And this is coming from an automatic transmission A6.

I can't believe that audi has yet to fix this issue since the B6S4. The inability to drive the 6MT smoothly despite driving a stick my entire life was one of the reasons i went w/ the tip. I've loved the tip, but always thought i'd eventually be back in a MT audi. This news is inexcusable, IMO. I don't get it.

Got her less than a week ago. Thought someone pulled up near me and was revving their engine...it was "Claudia" and she was in neutral!Happened again and am adding it to my "cons" list.