Axl2006

Hi All! First of all sorry for my English, I'm from Ukraine and it's not my native language. I've bought my S6 in May and I still can't get used to gas pedal in auto driving mode. It's way too empty and not informative. I can't dose the acceleration properly especially when driving in city. It's either too slow or if pressed little bit more harder, the car always shakes and then accelerates. Seems like you do not have this feeling of how much you have to press pedal to get adequate acceleration. In sports mode it's ok, but car so badly jerks when downshifting from 4th to 3rd gear and especially from 3rd to 2nd, that it ruins all driving pleasure. Also sometimes when you stop for traffic light and then releasing the breaks car shakes as if it loses the idle revs. To summarize, I'm really happy with transmission, steering, the car overall, but this gearbox programming or gas pedal mapping or whatever is just driving me crazy. Guys, are you experiencing the same? What do you do about it?

arjanh

Hi i normally drive in auto D.
And yes we all experience the same problem when getting away at a traffic light i think.
It gets better when you tank high octane fuel, if i want to drive smoothly away from a stop then i always put it in manual (steering wheel flippers).

Low octane fuel and high temperatures are in my case the cause of the problem.
I think the ecu is setting the ignition a few degreed back and this causes the car to behave like this.
The first 2 cm of pedal (no gas response) and the all of a sudden it goes. (No control)

If I tank high octane fuel and the outside temperatures drop the response is 70% better in my case.
also the hammering feel of the engine when driving away in low rpm in high gearing is gone with good quality fuel.

Axl2006

I agree with you that shaking can occur due to overheating, however I believe that unstable dynamics in auto mode is just the way the gearbox is programmed. I seems like when you hit the pedal it thinks slowly which lower gear to choose. However, in Sports it is very agile and predictable. Also I think DSG gearbox itself can be the part of the problem. I tried S8 with Tiptronic and it was much smoother, no shakes. But I did not have a chance to test it over long time. Concerning fuel, I tried 95, 98 and 100 octane and I did not experience any noticeable difference. I do not believe Audi will release any proper transmission software update soon, therefore, I'm thinking to trade my car for RS6 or S8. Does anyone can tell if there will not definitely be such problems there? And which on is better for everyday use? Also I checked that there is ABT tuning package for S6 that adds 120 HP and over 100 Hm of torque. Maybe it will solve the problem? Or it does not affect the shifts in auto or comfort mode? So I’m totally confused what should I do, but I definitely do not want to drive and get nervous every time. Seems options are: tuning or RS6 or S8 or maybe a BMW 650xi?
I’d very appreciate sharing your thoughts, guys. Thanks in advance!

GermanGarage

Does it bother you that bad that you need to get rid of the car? Really? The M5 and M6 have the same issues, as does the new E63 (via forums for those cars...)

Maybe I got a better example of an S6 car, but the throttle delay is not a noticeable issue unless I am looking for it. Also, the TSB updates dramatically improved both the throttle response and the transmission shifting concerns (however, did not entirely eliminate either.)

Axl2006

I've bought this car solely for driving pleasure and it really drives me nuts. I can't do proper maneuvers. I had about 5 bmws and never experienced anything like this. Also I tested other bi turbo cars from Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes - the acceleration can be slower or faster, but everywhere is solid and smooth. Even Audi S8 is much better. I called the dealer service and they said thase no update available. May it is just for certain markets. ser

gatorguy7

Do not trade in your car for this. The people who have gotten the APR tune says that the throttle hesitation and weird shifts all go away with the tune. That of course is in addition to the 100+ HP. I haven't heard of anything getting the ABT tune for the 4.0tt.

SMK_RS4

I am in the exact same boat. My car reacts the same way as you describe. I've resigned myself to the fact that it may likely never perform the way I expect it to. And, I think it's all due to the S tronic. If Audi doesn't fix the issues through a software update, this will be the last S tronic Audi I ever own.

The car is a beautiful cruiser, with a ton of power and refinement, but it isn't fun to drive the way I had hoped it would be.

I considered selling it and buying an R8 V10 - almost did as a matter of fact. However, other than the transmission I can't find any fault with the car - it's gorgeous.

So, to fill the void that this car is missing, fun, I bought a little Mazda MX-5. This way I get to keep the S6 which I do love in most respects, and have some real fun as well. Granted, not a solution for everyone, but it works for me.

And, next year I'll probably get the APR tune to see if it really does fix the transmission issues. I'm nervous about the warranty and the possibility that I'll sell quick though, so I'm holding off for now.

Axl2006

Here you can check the ABT http://www.abt-sportsline.de/en/audi...ne-technology/

CreoS4

It's the nature of the DSG transmission (try the original SMG in the E46 M3 for daily driving). You have to drive an automated manual gearbox a bit differently than an automatic transmission car.

You can't compare the driving dynamics to the S8, as that car uses a different transmission (8-speed automatic transmission).

My 2011 S4 drove similarly, except for the "dynamic" mode feels more aggressive in the S6 (so I drive in "auto").

gatorguy7

I assume you are in Europe since you are looking at ABT. I don't know if they have any APR dealers over there but the tune is only $1500 versus 5500 euro for the ABT.