heavy resistance while driving...any ideas
 

Hey,

Its been a while since my last post but I wanted to know if anyone has had problems with their car resisting coasting when taking their foot off the gas...it has heavy drag. Just had tranny rebuilt, tune-up etc but still only get 12-14 mpg city (and I am not that hard on it). It feels like I am always towing a trailer...could it be the brakes? Any other ideas?

check your tire pressure, and make sure that none of your brakes are frozen in place...
 

I recall someone finding out that their rear caliper was engaged, and frozen in place so the rear pads on that side only wore out.

Just had new tires & brake pads put on yesterday. Its been going on for a while.
 

Any other direction?

Any chance you're running aftermarket wheels or change your lugs recently?
 

Lugs could be the wrong type (i.e. conical vs. round, or vise-versa) or too long, and bottoming out causing resistance. Maybe tech mismatched a set... Has happened before. Might be worth checking, in the off-chance...

Good luck

Jesse - you know that our cars do not 'freewheel' like most other cars, right? That is a
 

result of the quattro system design....

That said, have you tried jacking up each of your wheels and rotating each one by hand, checking for excessive drag?

This is an automatic? Are all five gears working? Is the trans not going above 3 or 4?

Re: Jesse - you know that our cars do not 'freewheel' like most other cars, right? That is a
 

Thats kind of what I was thinking. I will try jacking up the wheels and repost. The tranny works fine (now) after the 4th rebuild this year!!!

Wheels & Lugs are OEM

Thanks for the help.

Any smell from the brakes after a longer drive? Parking brake sticking a little?

Forgot to add to put it in Neutral while coasting to see if it helps to rule out the trans.

...great idea!