DGould04

farmerjones

Some of the DSG tuning must different between models, because for the life of me I can't understand the "jerky at low speeds" comments about the DSG. My TT's DSG could never be described as jerky or any other weird behavior at low speeds. It's as smooth as butter. I've had regular automatics 10x as jerky as my DSG. Some models must have poor tuning, the adaptive learning has issues, or the car's don't have updated software.

Too me it's just a crying shame all these high-performance Audi's no longer have launch control. Seems odd that the normal luxury-cars get the supposedly "jerky" transmission and the perfjoamcne models now get the smooth transmission. Suddenly Audi is concerned about transmission behavior, but only addresses the low-volume performance models? And why do the A6 and A7 have the DSG if the new 8 speed is better? A lot of conflicting statements floating around out there

will13k7

For the DSGs I've tried, it was jerky for the 2010-2012 S4s until they did a software update around 2013, then it was a night and day difference. 2013+ S4s smooth. 2015+ S3s smooth. 2017+ A4 DSGs are smooth too.

m332is

I also wondered why Audi is putting the ZF 8 speed in the S/RS cars and DSG in the A/Q cars as well. Is the DSG cheaper to manufacture? Must be some logical reason???

will13k7

that is fast enough, great for a fun daily driver. DSG for comparison (jump to 1:27):

...from a launch (amax mode):

Slides

Having driven both the B9 A5 and S5, I really enjoyed the DSG transmission on the A5. Quick shifts and very little jerkiness. The S5's ZF transmission is good too but does suffer from low speed hesitation and lag. Not sure if it's just a transmission issue though.

Around town, the A5 feels quicker because of this.

I assume the A4 and S4 will be similar.

Glisse

These are all different transmissions. The B8 S4 uses a DL501 dual sequential transmission. The latest S3 uses a DQ381, previous version was a DQ250, and the A4 a DL382.

Certainly the B8 S4's DL501 was smoother after 2013. They increased the level and duration of torque cut. Both to make it smoother, and also to protect it from damage in markets where popular "tunes" ignored the very finite torque ceiling that a dual sequential transmission has. I preferred the more aggressive earlier software myself.

As to some other comments being made, the EA838 engine used in the new C8 A6 and A7 models is using a dual sequential transmission (no idea what it is) only in conjunction with a quattro Ultra drive train. C8 models using a quattro Torsen style self-locking centre differential and a high torque engine will use the ZF 8HP transmission. High torque @ low rpm engine + self-locking centre differential = torque converter is the new Audi formula for "acceptable" low speed behaviour. Change any of the first two attributes, then dual sequential can be used. And Porsche are also using the same formula as well - the new Cayenne uses a locking centre diff (electric), and uses a ZF8HP, not PDK.

JohnEnglish

My 2013 S4 can be jerky at low speeds.

mplsbrian

Everybody I asked back when I was buying mine told me it was because the DSG can't handle the torque. Don't know that I fully believe them on that one, but I heard this from 2 different dealerships.

stanj

And yet the DSG can handle the torque in the new A6/A7... strange.