ArvX147

Hey guys,

Heres a fun one that I thought was just a problem with my car, I waited a bit for it to go away but it never did so I asked the dealer to check it out. Here's what I found:

Issue: When driving the car, regardless of mode or settings, the throttle has a "sweet spot" somewhere between 5 and 10% throttle that causes a very high pitched squeal to come from the engine bay sounds very similar to brake squeal in volume and pitch. The sound can be heard clearly with the windows down, and most often when crawling in traffic or getting moving from a stop.

Dealer: Brought it to the dealer, they were able to reproduce the sound, not only on my car but on 2 other S5's owned by people who work at the dealer. They pinged Audi to see what was up (they were great to work with, very thorough)

Audi: Responded after a day from the engineers in Germany "The squeal is caused by turbulent air crossing the throttle flap, it's normal" No Fix.

Me: Kinda WTF? I hear this noise every damn day driving to and from work now that its summer and I have the windows down. Its noticeable and extremely annoying. Apparently its also "normal" and not a problem that anyone is going to fix for me. What the hell do I do? just ****ing drop the car off and tell them to pound sand? Take it up with AoA and fight until they either fix it or I get a different make? Wait for the RS5 SB and use this as leverage to move into one of those?

I'm at a loss, take it away boys.

luder888

Yeah I get that same noise since day one. I also get this weird high pitch noise from the ECU area for a few seconds right after I turn off the engine.

Slides

Can you record a video? I don't have this sound as far as I can tell.

Tony M

Well, if it's present in 2 out of 2 other S5's at the dealers, then I'd be guessing it really is normal - (as opposed to being fobbed off re a noise that clearly indicates a malfunction). I haven't heard it myself, but I rarely, if ever, drive with the windows open. I'll try to elicit it next time I'm in the car - out of curiosity.

We all vary in our sensitivity to noises and the way we react to them. Is there any chance of you accepting it as a normal engine sound and "tuning it out"?

Otherwise, you might just have to decide if you can live with it or it mandates a change. Many years ago, I had an annoying noise in a car i was otherwise very happy with. No-one could diagnose it, much less come up with a fix. Although it was relatively minor and clearly did not indicate a significant malfunction, it was a constant annoyance and a major part of the reason I traded it. Unfortunately, that trade was from one of the best cars i've owned to what was definitely the worst new car I've ever bought and which I only kept for 6 months. In retrospect, I would have welcomed that noise back and happily lived with it.

njspeedfreak

Never noticed it myself and I've had the car for a year now. Does it only happen at a certain rpm, or is it just tied to the pedal/throttle position?

luder888

You can hear it with the windows closed. Go for a drive one night on a quiet street, windows up, air off and music off. Cruise at 30/40 mph, then lightly tap on the gas pedal and you will hear this faint high-pitch buzzing noise near the front driver side. You release it and it goes away. I think it comes from the electronics, like a capacitor or something.

Tony M

If its coming from the driver's side in the US, it's the passenger side for us - so I'm less likely to hear it. Mrs M is an occasional passenger but she seems to be immune to subtle noises in cars.

HudsonS5

Sounds like you're describing the sound of the turbo spooling. I also can only hear it at low throttle with the windows down. It's normal

njspeedfreak

I'll try that. I wonder if it's related to the soundaktor which is mounted on the drivers side of the firewall. I have mine turned off via OBDeleven.

BarkinMadDog

I have this. I described it to the dealer as an RPM related dry bearing kinda sound - seems to come from the lower left side of the steering. Dealer verified the sound last Thursday, deemed it normal. Mine is most pronounced under a little load at 1500 and 2800 RPM. It's not horrible in my case (I have bigger issues) and I've learned to live with it. Also reproducible while stationary although less noticeable.