jletrasi

Dear all,

I have an Audi A4 Avant (2010 model) with automatic gearbox.
When I drive in manual mode, I can only change from M1 to M2 if the engine turns above 2000rpm. Below this it doesn't work.
Can someone explain me why this happen? Is it normal?

Thank you in advance.
Best regards
Joao

jordon

iTrader: (1)

probably it is a safeguard to keep you from shifting too soon, and being left with no power available when you may need it.
why would you shift from first to second before 2k rpm anyway?

mikeshin92

agreed with jordan, it's probably a safety mechanism.

Corrado_Guy

Many of these manual mode automatic transmissions are not smart so they can do odd things. I believe that the transmission normally starts in second (I may be wrong with this) unless you launch hard and the manual mode forces it to to start in first. If you force it to shift at such low speed it would go to about idle and this isn't really going to work. I am pretty sure this is how it was on the really older Tiptronic transmissions so they may have kept this. Here's a question, if you hold it flat to the floor in manual mode and short-shift at 4,000 rpm or so will it shift or allow the revs to build until it thinks it is time to shift?

jordon

iTrader: (1)

No, they do not start in second. When you are in manual mode, your dash displays what gear you are in. You can, however, change some of the tranny coding with Vag Com, and in doing so turn off the auto kickdown and the redline autoshifting.

jletrasi

I asked the seller and he told me this is a protection.
This is a bit annoying when you enter a roundabout or breaking before an elevated crosswalk.
In these cases, the gearbox automatically reduces to M1 and then you can't gear up before 2k/2.2k. In a petrol car I think this should be normal but, in a diesel, being in M1 at 2.2k seems to be a lot to me. Apart of this, when finally you manage to shift to M2, the engine gives a kind of 'kick' since the rotation is a bit high.

mikeshin92

Oh it's a Diesel!!! Then it's a totally different story we're talking about.

Corrado_Guy

I was sure they did this in one of the modes but I may be mixing these cars with the V8 models. Diesels make a lot of torque in a smaller power band so they must be different from the gas models when they shift. If yours is a diesel with a turbo then the program may stop you from short-shifting it to ensure the turbo is still making boost. What happens if you try the same thing in automatic mode, would it still try to shift at the same rpm? When you engage manual mode the transmission will use a different program so it will shift more aggressively and this is what you may be feeling.