vtheman

If done properly hard break-in will not harm any other components. The bottom line is to bring your oil to an operating temperature then range your RPM's. BTW: Before any Audi/VW leaves factory every engine is redlined for certain period of time.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...nFuveD5Mc&NR=1

greebs

ZCD. I knew after I wrote it I should not have used the words "tried to make it happen." What I meant was that for 3 days this week I commuted to work (as normal) in dynamic mode the whole way. In comfort or auto mode, this "issue" happens at least once or twice (I go back roads about 15 miles each way). I never happened in dynamic.

I get that the DSG feels odd, but have you ever had this "bang" like you were hit from behind? It does not feel like the TCU knows more in this case. It is really a scary and out of control feeling.

All I can say about the dealer's conclusion is I sure hope you are wrong. Otherwise I have paid 50 grand for a car I don't want to drive and my wife is afraid to drive.

kostas_os

This contradicts what the owner's manual says about the break-in period (never exceed 3/4 of max rpm before 1000km) but it may be ok under controlled conditions at the factory. The A4 production video included above does not show what the engine rpm is during the dyno test, is it documented somewhere that they actually redline the engines at the factory during the dyno tests?

vtheman

Just listen to the engine. As far as the manual, it was written by lawyers to prevent some dumb $hit (I must admit we have plenty) from getting in to an accident and then suing Audi.

ChrisEVO

I'm in the midst of fighting with AoA on this same issue with my '12. My car has 15k miles and it's just gotten worse over time. Just to confirm it's not me being overly sensitive, I drove a friend's '11 with similar mileage and there was a distinct difference in the way the two cars drove. My car slipped the clutch MUCH more and his was much smoother than mine. My hypothesis is that either there is a higher than average number of Mechatronics units that are defective or that the software gets freaked out by some people's driving habits and gets inordinately jerky. Car is going in tomorrow for re-adaptation / 3rd examination. If that does not solve the problem, I'm heading for buyback. We shall see.

seinsmeld13

I have a 2013 S4 with my previous ride being a 2010 S4 both Stronic. The 2013 is so much better. Smooth with no jerk when coming to a stop like my 2010. I drive mine like a rental after the initial breakin. This new one is lightning fast upshifting and/or downshifting. The previous in auto whether comfort auto or dynamic was very boring. Always drove it in manual once up to temperature. With my 2013 in dynamic S auto is fantastic. Always up shifts downshifts at the right time. Only downfall is gas consumption. Great tranny.

4SIDUA

Out of '12 S4 @15000miles and having logged ~5k on my '13 S4, I must say with my new ride I did not experience any DSG glitches that I had on '12, including the terrible re-acceleration hesitation, low-speed clunkiness, and stuff.
I thought Audi totally fixed it on '13s but sounds like you are having the same problem the MY12s have. It's good to have them look at it, at least get the issue logged.

Very happy with Audi's excellent refinement on MY13's DSG. Also want to echo what seinsmeld13 said about shift timing - in Dynamic mode the DSG shifts exactly as desired. I used to switch to manual mode the moment the engine reached working temperature but not any more.

seinsmeld13

Agree however in dynamic left in d sucks ***. You will need to put it in s which I'm sure you meant to state. In s dynamic it is truly fantastic. I however still use full manual when on the highway as the car would be in sixth at 120 km/h. In town s dynamic is truly amazing. Tranny is vastly improved over the previous. The new shifter is another bonus.

Tifosi

I have noticed that there has been more and more of these S-tronic related threads popping up on Audi-based forums lately. After 2 plus years of S-Tronic, I too have unfortunately, encountered the same problems that the OP has from time to time. Which I too agree that those situations can be potentially dangerous. If you search the other car forums, you will notice that this appears to be an inheritant issue with ALL Duel clutch based transmissions that includes the PDK, S-Tronics, SMG and others.

I too find it to be more of an issue when the engine is set to Comfort/D mode instead of Dynamic/S mode. My theory is that in D mode, the transmission is short shifting to better fuel economy. It tends to shift from 1st to 2nd around 1,500 rpm or so. As you approach a slow stop and go situation or a slow approach to an intersection with intention to accelerate quickly to merge, the system is not aware that it needs to stay in 1st gear as there are cars approaching and as you accelerated hard, it gets caught in between 1st and 2nd for that split second. When that occurs, the transmission goes into neutral to protect system and with you not moving in the oncoming traffic. The system will then select a gear once you lifted the throttle which is when the power surge occurs.

In Dynamic/S mode, the shifting tends to occur at higher rpms, around 2,500 to 3,000 rpms. This will eliminate the S-tronic system hunting for gears in the above mentioned situation and because it is more sensitive to throttle input, it is more likely to hold the gear longer. And needless to say, in Manual mode, the hunting for gears does not occur since the driver is controlling the trans.

IMO, the S-tronic system is a marvel but it is not anywhere close to perfect, because to simply put, it can not "see" the actual driving situation like its user/driver can. It is a good system 99% of the time but it is the 1% that can get you in serious trouble. As for me, I now have the engine set in Dynamic/S mode. I know that this will have an impact on my fuel economy, but I do find the S mode to be more intuitive than D mode since it is not "trying too hard" to save fuel constantly. I would prefer to drive the car in Manual mode but I find the wheel mounted paddles difficult to use for in-city driving when hand over hand turns occurs frequently. Had the flappy paddles be steering column mounted, it would be much better suited for every day use.

4SIDUA

Lol, I did mean dynamic + s. isn't S the only mode we drive?