nugent

yesterday, after 1400 miles put on the car, i experienced my first perfect 1st to 2nd gear launch. the kind that surprises you so much that it throws your head back and doesn't let you lift it until you let off the gas. what a rush.

Spurian

Can you describe how you did it? I am learning and will appreciate any tips.

nugent

i redlined it, but what happened afterward i'm not sure. the 1st-2nd change is still a challenge to do smoothly for me, as others have noted. but just like that perfect drive in golf, it keeps you coming back.

ELEVENS

I still don't understand all this talk about difficulty shifting 1-2. It doesn't get any easier. Leave the throttle pegged, literally kick the clutch pedal in/out as fast as you possibly can while pulling back on the shifter like you're trying to tear off the ****. It'll slam your head into the headrest every time and is the proper and only way to reduce your ET into the twelves. On my M5, it was 3 tenths diffy when granny shifting vs. power shifting. You should be able to do this all day long without causing any injury to the drive train. Launching (from a stop) is entirely another story (very hard on the clutch).

nugent

i used the word "launch" because that's what it feels like, even from first gear. "it doesn't get any easier" is a little bit of an exagerration/boast, though, given many of us have driven sticks our entire driving lives and still find the RS4 clutch different to learn.

ELEVENS

I've owned manuals for nearly forty years and the RS4 is one of the easiest to shift smoothly and gently. Mrs. Elevens is even better than me, she shifts the RS4 smoother than an automatic tranny.

Under full power, any stick is brainless to powershift. Being able to powershift is certainly NOT boasting, if you think so then you need to practice. Anybody can learn to powershift perfectly in the driveway with the engine off in less than a minute. If you're having trouble shifting and you are certain that it's not lack of practice/skill set, get your car fixed under warranty.

RS4saloondrivr

hammering the throttle but several people have mentioned having trouble. In my opinion it has nothing to do with the clutch or transmission but the trouble comes from the way the ECU is programmed. For those having trouble try this, if you keep steady pressure on the throttle and push the clutch in you would expect the revs to rise quickly but this doesn't happen in the RS4 because the ECU only lets the revs rise gradually when the clutch is in, however if you completely let off the throttle between shifts the revs drop quickly and it is hard to shift smoothly. I recommend not letting off the throttle much when making the shifts and make the shifts quickly even when you are just cruising easily around town, at least that seems to work for me. Just my $.02.

ESFO

After driving a little Volvo C30 this weekend, I agree that the RS4/S4 isn't as easy 'as it could be'. But like elevens mentioned, this car can be shifted so smooth that it feels like an auto to passengers. I've even had a woman riding in the back seat, after driving for a half hour, be shocked after I mentioned "shifting" because she thought I was driving an auto (she hadn't looked). Yes, I drive an S4, but the RS4 that I drove felt even smoother than my S.

ELEVENS

Could be air in the hydraulic clutch line, defective SAC (self adjusting clutch), burnt/grabby clutch lining, burnt/grabby flywheel, actuation components broken and/or needing lube, synchros, shifter, drivetrain slop, etc., etc. - who knows.

ESFO

a car's nuances faster than others. My g/f, who can drive the snot out of a car has had trouble driving my car smoothly. So, while she's very familiar with manual trannies, she doesn't adapt quickly to one car's clutch engagement after coming out of another as quickly as I might. Maybe she needs to drive it for a month or whatever.

Also, on powershifting.... It's a good thing. I've seen more than 2 tenths difference on this car.