RickNY

ghostrider990

Since the day I picked up my S4, to a year later, and 13k miles on the clock - I have long said the Transmission was the weakest link in this overall package.

Do I hate it? No, but it's far from perfect.

I can't comment specifically on what mine does or doesn't do to warrant that question without getting seriously pedantic -- but suffice it to say, on my last visit to the dealership for my first OCI, I asked them to "unlearn" the transmission.
3k miles later, I think it's a little better than before, but overall not nearly correct.
Mine holds gears randomly for way too long, sluggishly downshifts even under FULL throttle inputs, and overall, just behaves inconsistently on a day to day basis.
I even feel it "slipping" from standing starts at less than full throttle on occaision - which is somewhat disconcerting.

So Rick -to answer your question, unless you think your trans is REALLY behaving badly, I wouldn't waste your time taking it to the dealership, only for them to say - "can't replicate condition".
Those types of trips can be a colossal waste of time, and very frustrating.
You have a good warranty, and if things go south on the trans in that time frame, you are more than covered -- even if you can't show that you took it to the dealership to diagnose the malady early.
Obviously, if you leased or purchased your S4, will also dictate your actions accordingly.
This trans is a pretty tried and true unit across the Audi lineup, and really what makes this one different is the programming to mate with the new engine.
I don't fear the trans going sour prematurely, but i do expect that if audi can make it better, they can do it via software updates from the dealership over time, if failures and complaints warrant a response.

Choose the path which suits your situation.

gr

RickNY

Thanks.. I did find a thread from late last year that discussed many of the issues I brought up as "par for the course" -- the take away being that I got the impression that most preferred to drive it mostly in S mode, supplemented with manual upshifts and downshifts.. It just didn't seem to pop up in the first few months of having the car. Thanks for the help.. The car is leased, so in 2021, I'll likely have ~ 30K miles on it and I'll be on to something else -- so not at all worried about anything going south prior to then.

Thanks,
Rick

awss4

My S5 transmission is erratic in three situations.

Some times when lightly pressing on the accelerator, it will downshift several gears. I am pressing lightly like there was a fresh egg between my foot and the pedal. I just wanted to increase speed by about 3 to 4 mph but it downshifted several gears and took its time getting back to D8. It is not repeatable.

When driving on a two-lane highway at around 60 mph and wanting to pass about 4 cars ahead. Pulling out and pushing the accelerator to the floor it will quickly downshift several gears and go. When I reach the last car (about 115 mph) I let up completely on the accelerator and let the speed come down to about 80 mph but the transmission doesn’t upshift for quit a while even if going down hill. Sometimes I have to manually upshift to M8. This repeats most of the times but you have to be driving really fast, 100 mph or faster. Some times it shifts right up to D8 when I let up on the power like it has on all my other Audis (S4, A4, TTS, S3) and other cars. They would all quickly shift up to top gear.

On my return drive from Jackson Hole going through Salt Lake City driving at 80 mph with an outside temperature of 95 F, the transmission would stay in D7 or M7. It would not upshift using the + paddle or the shift lever in manual. It would go down but it would not go up to D8 or M8. This lasted for about 10 miles and then it upshifted to D8. This was the only time on my 2000-mile trip when it happened.

Anybody have a fix for this?

Carguy19

The fix for this is a 6spd manual or 6/7 speed DSG box... neither of which Audi is willing to do.

I can't stand the automatic transmission in my 18 S4... to the point that I regret getting the car now.

ramielrowe

This delay is intentional in S mode. The entire point of S mode is track style driving, where you would be delaying upshifts to keep the engine in the middle rpm range, and you would downshift early under breaking for added stopping power. If you don't want this behavior, you should be driving in D mode. I find in D mode, the transmission is quite aggressive in upshifts, and have never noticed a downshift while slowing down.

awss4

All my comments apply to D mode

India Whiskey Charlie

This is exactly right and applies to any Audi automatic transmission program. Tiptronic or DSG.

will13k7

in 'D' mode it's almost always going to 8th too soon, in 'S' mode it won't, but it will hold onto gears too long for casual street driving. I've noticed that sometimes 'D' will act like 'S' when you are in "auto", which seems to try to predict what driving style you want at the moment.

I vastly prefer to drive it in manual mode, when casually driving, just upshifting at 3k rpms and letting it downshift on its own, or when dropping below 2k rpms sometimes. This will lower your mpg significantly though if you care.

markcincinnati

Just drive the thing ALWAYS is "S" mode -- the shift (up) points are executed at higher RPMs -- the appearance of lag is reduced. From my perspective D is disappointing and S is satisfactory. I can't imagine why the transmission is programmed the way that it is. I took an RS5 for an hour-long test drive, and I did try the thing in D. Now THAT's the way the S4 should shift and yes, I know the RS5 has twin turbos whereas the S4 has but one. And, that certainly could be part of the issue with the S (moderate turbo lag). But the torque comes on so quickly (early) in the S, I think we've less of a turbo lag problem than we do a transmission lag issue. S seems to make a huge difference. It's still not the same as the previous gen S4 with the supercharged engine and the 7-speed DSG. But, the 2018 S4 driven EXCLUSIVELY in S is pretty darn good -- I wouldn't want to go back to the 2014, despite what I've said about it.

If you like, enjoy or prefer D, nothing wrong with that, but given what we have to work with, you will probably not be as satisfied with the car when driven in D as in S. If you're open minded enough to try this out, please do so for a full-week and 100% of the time in S (except when backing up).

I remain, often wrong but never uncertain.