SF+S4=SPoor

Hello all, very tardy in my first post as an RS4 owner (6 months now, B5 S4 owner for 10 years), but I do owe everyone here a long overdue thanks for the invaluable resources provided when I was lurking & shopping (and lusting since 2006)... and I still have a lot to learn so please excuse my noobness.

Unfortunately this first post is a question regarding a rather disturbing issue with the car... there is often (but not always) a jarringly jerky action to the acceleration when in 1st & 2nd gear... it seldom occurred when I first bought the car (& of course not at all during the test drive), but the frequency has increased over time & is now quite common.

If the throttle is lightly touched & then gradually eased open further, there is no issue... but trying to "get on it", even 40%, causes this problem about 70% of the time now. It feels like the accelerator is being pumped rapidly down & up, but I can assure you my foot is still steady at age 38 :-)

I had a cheap carbon "flush" done shortly right after I bought the car (2008 w/34K miles), but as mentioned the problem eventually got worse (I've put 2K mi on it since)... I also got an APR stage 1 flash done at 034 Motorsports, & that didn't change anything regarding this issue (they also checked it out & weren't able to duplicate the problem)... and it happens whether in Sport mode or not (doesn't appear to make a difference). Other than that I love it!

Any ideas are much appreciated... hoping it is something as simple as getting a "real" carbon clean. BTW, can anyone recommend a good independent shop in San Francisco to have the car serviced? I've never had much luck in that department.

Thanks!

-Joe

India Whiskey Charlie

Cold engine + Sport mode = Jerky throttle. At least, that's how my car is since new. When I start the car cold, I drive it without sport mode until warm and that avoids the worst of the jerky throttle effect.

TroyM

Congrats on the purchase, I too owned a B5 S4 for a long time. With the change to an RS4 I am very happy.

I get that when my car is cold like India Whiskey Charlie said.

tadhgbrosnan

My car has the same problem. Easy throttle application is generally OK. Try to ramp it up, though, especially in 1-2-3, and the throttle often "hiccups" or bogs down. You really have to feather it to get it just right and even then it still happens. Lived with it for two years now having chalked it up to, among other things:

- the high friction point of the clutch
- poor driving on my part
- traction control kicking in and cutting power

I *might* have believed it was a combination of those things except that the throttle hiccups/delays occur on liftoff, as well. Specifically, every time I make the right turn at the end of my street, I get into 2nd gear and coast to the rotary ahead. When I lift off the throttle, there is a half second delay before the revs actually start to go down. It's almost never smooth & gradual. It's a slight delay after I take my foot off the gas pedal, followed by a slight lurching before finally smoothing out as I slow down.

I am convinced there is an issue with the throttle delivery. No idea if it's a hardware problem or computer-related.

tadhgbrosnan

FWIW, we're not alone reporting this....


http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...light=throttle