HaveBlue

Yes newbie! I discovered that the throttle has a really stiff kickdown or just some sort of economy stop on the pedal. It feels like hitting the high beams on an old Chevy. Am I missing something with this "feature"? The need for a kickdown switch seems absurd on a fully electronic vehicle.

snagitseven

I can't say I have any issue with the gas pedal. It's linear, has just the right amount of travel and the kickdown requires very little pressure to activate. I'm also not aware of anyone previously having this complaint on the C7 forums. Perhaps yours needs to be looked at to see if there's a problem.

Mike_L

Do you have it in Comfort in the MMI? I've noticed in that setting it doesn't like to kickdown (and feels like a slug).

Superfly_A6

I think he means WOT. There is a click at the end of the pedal travel. This is VTEC!!! Kicking in

HaveBlue

Thanks for the feedback. Yes at WOT is a really noticeable click to the extent that the pedal can't really be modulated beyond this point. You really have to push. I wouldn't be surprised if some people have never pushed passed this stop. I've owned cars with multi barrel multi stage carbuerators that behaved similar but not so abrupt. Were you joking about the VTEC (Variable valve timing?) engaging only at full throttle? Do you think it serves a real purpose?

The only other fly by wire cars I've owned are a Lexus IS350 and GX470. Their throttle's were quite normal; except the IS had a cool automatic cruise control using the floor mat.

Superfly_A6

yes, I was joking about VTEC . I noticed that when "clicking" the throttle there is an immediate dowshift if the rpms permit. I'm not sure what that is, but I know it also exist on the A5 2.0T loaner that I had. I'm guessing its across the audi board. My guess is that Audi intends this feature as the official "holy crap get me out of here fast" mode. However, this better applies to an engine making power in the upper rpms. Do this with a diesel and it feels and sounds like a cow giving birth.

in2dwww

ROFLMAO! That explains why I get strange stares at the ranch.

jdong

There is a noticeable clicky feel to the kick down switch, but I think it's just fine. Drivers will notice it.

The kick down's behavior is pretty aggressive (instantly popping you down to the lowest allowed gear) so I appreciate not hitting it by accident.

This allows you to ask for maximum throttle independently of asking for the transmission to drastically change gears. Not hitting the kickdown switch means that when you are gradually increasing your acceleration, the car will only give you an initial downshift and then remain committed to the gear it chose. Until you hit the kickdown, the car will not downshift again. This is a feature designed to prevent that "gear hunting" feel you get on a lot of automatics, where it seems like every few seconds the car picks a new gear, and pressing down the throttle results in several abrupt shifts.

Note that you can also use the kick down switch to your advantage if you have a low-power-at-low-RPMs engine. Just jab the pedal all the way down to the kick down switch then pull it back to the throttle level you desire. This forces the car to pop down to a lower gear and give you a higher engine speed (usually in the 4000's) but allows you to control the throttle so you don't take off like a rocket (e.g. if you have passengers)

newmoon

The kickdown switch probably only has a dramatic effect in the CVT. If you activate it, the revs jump to the redline and stay there for maximum acceleration. If you push the gas to just before the kickdown switch, there is a smaller downshift and rev increase, but then the revs will build as the car accelerates.

dicktahoe

"This allows you to ask for maximum throttle independently of asking for the transmission to drastically change gears. Not hitting the kickdown switch means that when you are gradually increasing your acceleration, the car will only give you an initial downshift and then remain committed to the gear it chose. Until you hit the kickdown, the car will not downshift again."

So I just did a quick test to see what happens. At 60MPH, I'm indicating about 1,400RPM. When I press the throttle hard but not the "kickdown switch" the transmission shifts from 8 immediatly down to 4th and RPM goes to 3,500 and climbing. If I start at 60MPH and 1400 RPM and hit the kickdown switch, the transmission shifts immediatly to 3rd and goes to 4450RPM. Starting at 60MPH it can't shift to 2nd because the RPM would go above Redline. I expect if you were going slower, say 40MPH, then at kickdown it would go into 2nd and RPM would go to 4,400, but I didn't try that.