I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
(I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
manual. Is this the same everywhere?

Steve

 

"Steve Thompson" wrote
> Is this the same everywhere?

I don't know about the TT, but it is true that the new B8 A4 debuted
here in the States with slushbox only, which is a shame. The 2.0T
manual is a few months away from what I hear...

Pete

 

In article <alpine.LRH.0.9999.0811131444080.10859@honker.vger soft.com>,
Steve Thompson <smt@vgersoft.com> wrote:

> I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
> Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
> with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
> (I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
> willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
> manual. Is this the same everywhere?
>
> Steve

Audi is pushing their DSG transmissions. On the positive side, they
lack a torque converter so they have none of the power loss or power lag
of normal automatics. Sequential shifting is instant.

On the down side, random access shifting is very slow. If the control
unit thinks 6th is next but you hit the gas for 2nd, the engine idles
for a second before kicking in. A hard stop at 30MPH leaves you waiting
in neutral while the transmission goes "clunk-clunk-clunk" to reach 1st.

There's a sport mode that causes the control unit to assume that the
next gear is down. It will drop a gear on the slightest change of speed
and it hesitates to upshift. Existing limits still apply - you are in
neutral for two seconds after shifting from 'D' to 'S'.

--
Google is a pro-spamming service. I will not see your reply if you use Google.

 

Sad to say that even in Canada where driving with a manual improves
performance in bad weather,
Audi does not offer it on any of their A4 and RS4.

How come ?

I have an Audi 80 with manual in Europe and it is great in any
circumstances.
This means that there is not enough guys to buy these cars for what
they really offer in terms
of pure driving quality. Too many people to buy them for the looks
(can you be more perfect than an Audi 80 designed after the NSU Ro80 ?
Maybe yes would say Citroen with its line of DS, CX and C6) and for
the glamour which stupidly inflates the selling price. These cars
offer so much more than just looks.

The only way around it is to bug VAG with getting their cars with
manual gearboxes:
- letters of complain to VAG
- telling all dealers
- prepare a petition and send it to the USA and Canada headquarters.

I am amazed to realize that rich people still consider gearboxes
something for the lower classes.
In Europe, it is the reverse, if you buy a good car, this means you
have a sens of value and who would be stupid enough to put automatic
on a sporty car ? That is maybe why I do not want to come back to
America, because the market rules restrict too much the offer and you
cannot find the best as it is the case in Europe or the Middle East.

We have to move away from this post-war thinking where we considered
big gaz guzzlers with looks and automatic transmission as
technological progress.

Luc Rolland

On Nov 15, 6:17 am, Kevin McMurtrie <kevin...@sonic.net> wrote:
> In article <alpine.LRH.0.9999.0811131444080.10...@honker.vger soft.com>,
> Steve Thompson <s...@vgersoft.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
> > Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
> > with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
> > (I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
> > willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
> > manual. Is this the same everywhere?
>
> > Steve
>
> Audi is pushing their DSG transmissions. On the positive side, they
> lack a torque converter so they have none of the power loss or power lag
> of normal automatics. Sequential shifting is instant.
>
> On the down side, random access shifting is very slow. If the control
> unit thinks 6th is next but you hit the gas for 2nd, the engine idles
> for a second before kicking in. A hard stop at 30MPH leaves you waiting
> in neutral while the transmission goes "clunk-clunk-clunk" to reach 1st.
>
> There's a sport mode that causes the control unit to assume that the
> next gear is down. It will drop a gear on the slightest change of speed
> and it hesitates to upshift. Existing limits still apply - you are in
> neutral for two seconds after shifting from 'D' to 'S'.
>
> --
> Google is a pro-spamming service. I will not see your reply if you useGoogle.

 

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:48:31 -0500, Steve Thompson <smt@vgersoft.com>
wrote:

>
>I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
>Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
>with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
>(I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
>willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
>manual. Is this the same everywhere?
>
>Steve

The reasons I bought my 2000 A6 2.7T included the availablility of a
manual gearbox and Quattro. I hope Audi doesn't forego this market in
the US.

Bruce

 

"laurentien" <luc.rolland@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4225d249-e9be-4b49-b5bd-83cc0b801d7a@s1g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
Sad to say that even in Canada where driving with a manual improves
performance in bad weather,
Audi does not offer it on any of their A4 and RS4.

Are you sure about the RS4? I was under the impression that it was never
offered with an auto

 

I just checked it again.

In fact, in Canada, they only offer the S4 with a 420 hp V8 coming
ONLY with the Tiptronic.
Sorry, but not only do not get the RS4 like in Europe or Asia but we
have to accept a stupid automatic gearbox.
It even comes as a Quattro car with EPS but they do not offer a
manual.
In winter, manual gearboxes give a lot of leverage in many cases where
I do not want the EPS or ABS to work.
I use the Jacky Stewart type braking which often used in rally where
wheel blockage can be very efficient to stop.

I like the idea of Peugeot where you can flip a switch and remove all
gigs and be in full control.
The french know how to do it.

Luc Rolland

On Nov 19, 12:33 pm, "Dave" <a...@b.c> wrote:
> "laurentien" <luc.roll...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:4225d249-e9be-4b49-b5bd-83cc0b801d7a@s1g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> Sad to say that even in Canada where driving with a manual improves
> performance in bad weather,
> Audi does not offer it on any of their A4 and RS4.
>
> Are you sure about the RS4? I was under the impression that it was never
> offered with an auto

 

On Nov 13, 2:48 pm, Steve Thompson <s...@vgersoft.com> wrote:
> I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
> Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
> with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
> (I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
> willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
> manual. Is this the same everywhere?
>
> Steve

Steve, you need to wait for the 2.0T, which should be available with
the 6-speed manual and/or DSG automated manual transmission. No idea
when it will be available.

Dan D
'04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
Central NJ USA

 

I have sent a request for manual gearboxes to be sold on their A4 in
Quattro format.
I would like it on their very good TDi engines since you can have
complete control of your car behaviour.
Winter driving can be a lot of fun.

A question here : how many of your reading these lines would like to
buy an A4 or A6 with manual ?

It would be nice to have a flood of positive responses and hopefully
someone top managers at AUDI will get the message.

Luc Rolland

On Nov 20, 12:26 am, Dano58 <dan.dibi...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 13, 2:48 pm, Steve Thompson <s...@vgersoft.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm in upstate New York. Here, it appears to be impossible to get a 2009
> > Audi with a manual gearbox. I'm told by the local dealer that the 2--9 A4
> > with V6 will not be available at all with a manual, and I could get an A5
> > (I test drove one, with paddles, recently) with a manual only if I was
> > willing to wait 6 months. Nobody around these parts has even a TT with a
> > manual. Is this the same everywhere?
>
> > Steve
>
> Steve, you need to wait for the 2.0T, which should be available with
> the 6-speed manual and/or DSG automated manual transmission. No idea
> when it will be available.
>
> Dan D
> '04 A4 1.8Tq MT-6
> Central NJ USA