superswiss

The new shifter takes time to get used to. It's an electronic shifter and not a mechanical one anymore. It always stays in the center. You push it forward for R and N and back for D and S and you press the button to put it in P or just turn off the car and it automatically goes into P. I've driven a few loaners with the new shifter and my muscle memory is still confused. Putting it in R, when I meant to put it in P for example. They made it this way so it can be used as a hand rest when using the MMI controls and I guess mechanical linkages are not en vogue anymore, but it doesn't really seem an improvement. Probably cheaper to make. My main complaint is that it doesn't look very sporty and doesn't feel good in your hand if you want to use it to shift manually. They used to put sportier shift ***** in the S, RS and R8, but now it looks like they are using the flat bulky shift **** style across the board. Not a fan, I must say.

I'll miss this setup.

bvanleer21

Yeah that's the design of the A3 shifter and I love how it feels when I'm shifting manually. Has the s-tronic badge too which I like.

Guess at least the new B9 design isn't a dial or buttons like Honda, Land Rover and other brands have moved to...

breadbooze

I got used to it quickly. Too bad we don't get this-

bob m

Ah, yes, the manual transmission. Interesting seats and dash. Which A4 version is this?

Gotland

It's a bit moronic and over-engineered. Definitely not one of Audi's finer moments but you get used to it pretty quickly. It stands out all the more because on balance, the Allroad is a brilliantly executed car.

rrwood

I have no problem with the shifter at all. It's an automatic. Put it in drive and the car shifts cleanly and precisely all by itself. A brilliant transmission.

breadbooze

That would be the Sport trim sold in the EU, with "system cloth" black-red seats.

CoMeader

I have found that I actually like the new shifter design. Having a shift lever with a high vertical rise never made sense to me in an auto anyway - it just gets in the way. I haven't had any issue with manually shifting with the current design, and not having the big rise means it doesn't get in the way the rest of the time or get bumped accidentally by passengers. At least we didn't get the rotary **** that the newer Land Rovers have.

For those of you who shift manually, do you use the lever or paddles most of the time? I find myself in manual mode more and more because the vibration when the transmission up shifts agressivly to low rpm annoys me.

VipinLJ

I agree with you guys. The shifter is actually kinda nice. I'm not a fan of the shifter in my C7.5 A7 (atleast, it looks better than the one in my C7 A6 which looked ancient).
I'm used to the A4 shifter since the BMW has a very similar shifter. I like the one in my X3 and I was happy to find the same pattern in the B9 as well (my X3 has a better feel to it while shifting from R to D and in manual mode, mainly because it moves a bit more than the one in my B9 which feels like a short shifter).

I also agree that they should've done something to differentiate the shifter on the S4. Something to make it sporty but not garish. Idk how Audi would've done that but they could have tried. Contrast stitching, a subtle S logo. Something.