S4, FSI and Tip or Manual....
10-10-2004, 06:44 PM
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S4, FSI and Tip or Manual....
Well, I'm in the process of trying to get out of my 3 mo. old A4 lease, as I'm kicking myself in the *** for not getting what I wanted in the first place.
an S4.
How is the Tiptronic in the S4 ?
In the A4, I'm wishing every second I had my manual back.
Is it more aggressive ? More responsive like the 6sm ?
Also, will the new B7 S4 have the FSI treatment on the motor ? or will that be a 2007 mod ?
All the bs on the net I've found, looks as if the 06 S4 will NOT have it.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on the Tranny question.
kj
an S4.
How is the Tiptronic in the S4 ?
In the A4, I'm wishing every second I had my manual back.
Is it more aggressive ? More responsive like the 6sm ?
Also, will the new B7 S4 have the FSI treatment on the motor ? or will that be a 2007 mod ?
All the bs on the net I've found, looks as if the 06 S4 will NOT have it.
Anyway, thanks for your thoughts on the Tranny question.
kj
10-10-2004, 06:48 PM
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Re: the tip is good- Sport mode is even better!
Anyone drive both ?
How's the gas mileage from one to the other ?
Tip vs. Manual.
I got the Tip in the A4 due to LA traffic.
But, I'm thinking I'd rather deal with that from time to time, to have the feel of the manual......
kj
How's the gas mileage from one to the other ?
Tip vs. Manual.
I got the Tip in the A4 due to LA traffic.
But, I'm thinking I'd rather deal with that from time to time, to have the feel of the manual......
kj
10-10-2004, 06:54 PM
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If you find yourself missing manual on the A4, get the 6MT
I think one (just one of many) of the reasons why the S4 does well in the popular press is because of the 6MT. I missed maunual in my allroad and now I'm happy again. Its a very user friendly manual. I commute in Boston traffic and have found it to be very managable (DBW issues aside).
10-10-2004, 07:12 PM
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personally I love the tip in this S4.
I went from a manual 1.8T tt coupe to the tip S4 and I'm really happy with it. It's a blast to drive, and working the paddles is actually fun in a different kind of way than going through the gears. I find that with lower horsepower cars you really need a manual to squeeze everything you can out of the engine. But with a beast like this one it's going to go fast no matter what. When I'm feeling lazy I just put it in S mode and tool around town. It's excellent. I also drive a manual Acura now and then so I get my fix of manual fun as well.
The only thing that's irritating about the tip tranny is sometimes when in tip mode and changing from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd there is a little surge in revs after you've selected the next gear, before the next one kicks in. From 3rd to 6th is flawless. That might be common to all tips, I don't know as this is my first one. I can put up with that as it's so minor and the benefits are large.
All personal preference though. You have to test drive both. Sounds like you might be better off with a manual -- you don't want to make the same mistake twice or you will be really kicking yourself.
FSI? As others have said you might have to wait at least 2 years for that.
The only thing that's irritating about the tip tranny is sometimes when in tip mode and changing from 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 3rd there is a little surge in revs after you've selected the next gear, before the next one kicks in. From 3rd to 6th is flawless. That might be common to all tips, I don't know as this is my first one. I can put up with that as it's so minor and the benefits are large.
All personal preference though. You have to test drive both. Sounds like you might be better off with a manual -- you don't want to make the same mistake twice or you will be really kicking yourself.
FSI? As others have said you might have to wait at least 2 years for that.
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10-10-2004, 07:13 PM
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Re: S4, FSI and Tip or Manual....
The 2004 tip is worlds better than the tip in the 2000 I used to own. The 2004 tip is smooth and shifts pretty quickly, probably better than most guys driving a manual. Only a really experienced driver can actually do better with the manual than with a tip.
Additionally, the pesky DBW bugs are not as noticable in the tip cars. Test drive a manual S4 and you will see what I mean. The manual S4 is one of the hardest cars to drive smooth thanks to the totally unpredicatable throttle management caused by programming bugs in the drive by wire software. The tip cars suffer the same bugs, but the software in the tip cars hides the DWB bugs from the driver for the most part. Throttle is still laggy as hell, but it is at least easy to drive the S4 smooth with a tip. The manual S4 is a hoot to drive, but I cannot imagine how I would get somebody like my wife to put up with the jerkiness of the manual S4. The tip S4 is smooth rolling, and that is very important if you have a wife like mine.
Also, the tip S4 does get pretty decent fuel economy. I get 300-350 miles per tank with my tip S4 as long as I keep it in drive. I typically keep the speed at about 80mph, and it does not drink fuel at that speedd in drive.Sport and tip modes guzzle gas as badly as a manual, so only use those modes when you absolutely need some extra fun. The trick to getting fuel economy with the S4 is keeping the RPM below 3000. Rev it past 3000, and you may as well pull over at the next gas station. Drive as fast as you want to with the car, but don't let the tach climb past 3k even at part throttle.
There is one really big downside of the tip. Audi decided to lower the shift point from 7000 rpm to 6300 rpm on the 1st to second shift and down to 6800 rpm on the 2nd to third shift. This applies in drive, sport, and tip modes. After I got my 2004 S4 back from the 5k maintainance, the car shifted from 1st to second at 6300 rpm even if I leave the shifter in tip mode and never touch it while holding the gas pedal on the floor. They say this is by design now because they had reliability problems with the tiptrans on early 2004 S4 cars. With a manual, you can rev the engine to 7200 rpm in each gear. Short shifting at 6300 rpm kills accelleration. This makes the tips slower than the manuals simply because Audi wanted to save a buck and avoid a recall on a reliability bug that Audi is aware of and should have fixed. This issue has convinced me that I am already driving the last new Audi that I will ever buy. Dealing with AoA has been less than fun.
Additionally, the pesky DBW bugs are not as noticable in the tip cars. Test drive a manual S4 and you will see what I mean. The manual S4 is one of the hardest cars to drive smooth thanks to the totally unpredicatable throttle management caused by programming bugs in the drive by wire software. The tip cars suffer the same bugs, but the software in the tip cars hides the DWB bugs from the driver for the most part. Throttle is still laggy as hell, but it is at least easy to drive the S4 smooth with a tip. The manual S4 is a hoot to drive, but I cannot imagine how I would get somebody like my wife to put up with the jerkiness of the manual S4. The tip S4 is smooth rolling, and that is very important if you have a wife like mine.
Also, the tip S4 does get pretty decent fuel economy. I get 300-350 miles per tank with my tip S4 as long as I keep it in drive. I typically keep the speed at about 80mph, and it does not drink fuel at that speedd in drive.Sport and tip modes guzzle gas as badly as a manual, so only use those modes when you absolutely need some extra fun. The trick to getting fuel economy with the S4 is keeping the RPM below 3000. Rev it past 3000, and you may as well pull over at the next gas station. Drive as fast as you want to with the car, but don't let the tach climb past 3k even at part throttle.
There is one really big downside of the tip. Audi decided to lower the shift point from 7000 rpm to 6300 rpm on the 1st to second shift and down to 6800 rpm on the 2nd to third shift. This applies in drive, sport, and tip modes. After I got my 2004 S4 back from the 5k maintainance, the car shifted from 1st to second at 6300 rpm even if I leave the shifter in tip mode and never touch it while holding the gas pedal on the floor. They say this is by design now because they had reliability problems with the tiptrans on early 2004 S4 cars. With a manual, you can rev the engine to 7200 rpm in each gear. Short shifting at 6300 rpm kills accelleration. This makes the tips slower than the manuals simply because Audi wanted to save a buck and avoid a recall on a reliability bug that Audi is aware of and should have fixed. This issue has convinced me that I am already driving the last new Audi that I will ever buy. Dealing with AoA has been less than fun.