MileHighJC

Great post Snagit...

Relative to engine and throttle mapping, I have found that auto mode works very well in most driving situations. That is my "individual setting" as well. One place I found it does not is mountain driving. When navigating tight switchbacks, the revs drop pretty low, and when you try to accelerate out of the switchback and further up hill, there is a pronounced hesitation. Switching to Dynamic completely resolves that issue.

One other thing I've noticed that I need to confirm - when driving at highway speed (read that 75-80 mph in Colorado) in auto mode, Im pretty sure it will run downshifted a gear. Changing to Comfort seems to let it shift to 8th, presumably providing better mileage. Ill test that to be sure next time Im out.

jc

snagitseven

JC,

A faster way to handle those mountain situations is to simply hit the shift lever into the "S" mode. It will be the same as going to Dynamic for the engine and trans. gear mapping and allows you to resume your Auto mode when you drop back to "D". Less fuss.

In either S mode on the shift lever or Dynamic setting in the MMI, the transmission will still shift up to 8th gear; it just takes longer for it to get there and will require a higher speed than Comfort/Auto or D modes to hit it.

I've noticed in both S or Dynamic, when you switch to either from Comfort or D mode on the shift lever, the trans. will drop down a gear almost always unless the highway speed is pretty high - over about 80 mph as I recall and you're in the 8th gear. I think this is true from 2nd to 1st gear as well - if you're in 2nd and go to S, it will stay in second until you slow almost to a stop. Since 1st gear is so low, it would be pretty startling to have it auto shift that low when you weren't expecting it.

mwar99

Try turning the cruise control on. Even in Dynamic mode and transmission in sport the S6 will upshift when the cruise control is on. Turning it off usually causes it to drop a gear or two without doing anything to change speed.

MileHighJC

RE: the shift lever, good point - although going over Berthoud pass (you remember that one!) there is a pretty good mix of up and down. That is where I discovered the difference between D/S/Comfort/Auto/Dynamic.

I thing you have commented on this before, but I think it merits repeating here in this thread - one of my favorite attributes of the Sport package is when Im coming DOWN the mountain, I use the paddle shifter to lower the gear coming down hills... if you are in D when you do that, it will automatically return to D once you get to a flat and start to accelerate again. Incredibly convenient. If you dont want it to switch back, just put it in S mode, and you get to manage it as a manual.

mwar99 - on the most recent long trip, I absolutely fell in love with the ACC, but I dont recall if it was upshifting with the cruise on... Ill have to play with that next time. I will say that we used it MOST of the trip (all the construction through NE meant a lot of variable speeds, ACC made that a breeze), and we got VERY good mileage both ways - which would tend to indicate to me that it was shifting into 8th with the cruise on.

snagitseven

I'm not so sure JC would want to use ACC on the tight switchbacks of a Colorado mountain pass. Having driven over those more than a few times, I sure wouldn't.

MileHighJC

Not a chance, but surprisingly it worked very well in traffic on 70.

snagitseven

Actually, it will return to S as well after a bit in manual mode from the paddles.

I found the gear lever and paddles to work like this:

- In S or D, when you use the paddles, it goes into manual mode and stays there so long as you keep using the paddles up or down.
- With no further paddle activity, after a bit it returns
to the last automatic transmission setting, S or D.
- If you don't want to wait for it to return, tap the console gear shift lever down once and it will revert to the last S or D mode setting as well.
- You can also enter manual mode using the shift lever from either S or D and return to the same setting when you go back to the auto S or D.

In my earlier tiptronic Audis, you can't go from S to manual without going to D first. Same with back to auto - you have to go through D first before you can get to S mode. I especially like the way the C7 works in this regard - this was well thought out by the design folks at Audi.

As to your question on the ACC, it does shift both up or down and accelerate or brake as conditions require to keep the car at the constant set or following speed.

GreatZar

Also handy is paddle/manual mode going down hills in Colorado. Using the gears to slow the car on steep roads instead of ACC will keep your breaks from over heating.

Very interesting about when you switch to Manual (from either D or S). I'll have to try this. This thread has OUTSTANDING information. Is this in the owners manual (that I haven't read completely yet)? Or just scattered to the wind in Audi documents throughout the web/forums?

snagitseven

Not in the manual. Just some self-discovery nuggets of info.

MileHighJC

Plus driving through the mountains of Colorado using the paddle shifters is just a TON of fun. For context, my A4 was a manual... I do miss the manual sometimes... nothing like a little heel/toe work. But the A6 more than makes up for it with power, being smooth, and comfortable for 4. Our last trip up the mountain I had a 6'3" guy in the back seat - and he claimed to be comfortable! I couldnt have gotten him into the A4 without a shoehorn.