S3 - Gearbox Problems

[Natball]

I bought a new S3 four months as my first car. Now, 9000 miles later, I can honestly say the car was worth every penny, and more. It goes like stink, it's beautifully made, beautiful to look at, and very trendy. My one gripe is the gearbox. I don't know if it is my driving inexperience or a fault in the S3's box, but I simply cannot make a smooth change from 1st to 2nd. a) there's a massive, massive notch in the gate that always gets in the way of making a quick change. If you try to move the stick too fast then it just gets caught in the gate and won't budge. Does anyone else have this problem b) whenever I change from 1st to 2nd, the car will always lurch as the drive train re-engages. Is this normal? Is this standard for all cars, or is there a way to get around this. All tips appreciated. - an Inexperienced Driver

[alanm_3]

My S3 is about the same age and mileage as yours. I also have 3 friends with S3s of varying ages and mileages and they all say that they find the gearchange very "notchy" ie it tends to baulk if you try and change gear too quickly, especially in lower gears. Looks like it's a "feature" of S3's, but once you know it's there you learn to avoid quick changes.

Cheers,

Alan

[Turboboy]

I've heard that this is mainly down to the oil used in the gearbox.

I've read posts on other forums about the problem and some people claim a vast improvement using Mobil 1 fully synthetic gearbox oil. Could give it a try?

[Rodrigo Gomes]

[SANK_CH]

Got the same problem, but It happened only in the morning just after using the car for the 1st time in the day. Then I did this, Put the first gear and instead of the second gear I putted the 3rd. Now it's working better and I can do 1st-2nd-3rd. But I have to admitt, my car is 2 years old and have more than 66'000 km.

[skiman65]

I've also noticed a notchiness from 1st to 2nd. I have also 'crunched' second gear on a number of occassions, usually when I'm in a real hurry to change up. Don't know if it's just my driving style but I have been driving manual cars for 15 years, but I can almost tell now if I'm about to 'crunch' it so I'll back off and retry 2nd...

2002 S3 Ming Blue 165kW