CMC

I'd be cruising on the highway in 5th gear on my tiptronic 1.8T, and then I'd give it about 2/3 throttle, then the engine revs up decently high without downshifting. The RPM in 5th gear does not match my speed, it feels as if I'm gased the car right at the clutch's friction point (I don't have a stick, but that's what it feels like). This isn't normal is it? Thanks...

Skene @ PES Tuning

sometime it shifts without you even feeling it.... i wouldnt worry just yet.

AndrewM (azdaspeed3)

my transmission blew 3rd gear a while ago. the clutch packs slipped like a madman and it was bye-bye transmission, nothing past 2nd gear.

my transmission did the exact same thing when on the highway, but usually only under full throttle in 5th gear. it would usually happen at a point where i wouldnt want to downshift to fourth, but i still wanted the acceleration. i always use tiptronic, so i know for a fact that it was in 5th gear the entire time and i KNOW that it didnt downshift, i know the feel of that transmission like the back of my hand.

so my point is, yes, worry about it if you are sure that it was not a downshift. tell your dealer exactly what happened, take the tech on a ride in the car to show him, do whatever you can to alert them to the problem before something happens.

if i were you, i would schedule a service appointment. maybe you can be luckier than i was and save the trans before something happens. at the very least, you will have the peace of mind of knowing that you did all you could.

any more questions and you can email me, ill tell you anything you want to know.

Skene @ PES Tuning

its good practice to see a tech.

AndrewM (azdaspeed3)

it is the exact same thing that happened to my car, so i would definitely not let it go. i didnt think much of it at the time, maybe i should have. im just trying to give him a heads up on what happened to me and what he can do to prevent the POSSIBILITY of it happening to him.

Skene @ PES Tuning

of course..... theres nothing wrong with getting it checked out just in case it is that....

Mirror|rorriM

Transmisison ******?

sfalibota

I had a similar problem, and thought nothing of it. Last Sunday while accelerating to get onto the highway my MIL lit up. I pulled over and checked out the engine, and everything looked fine. The next day I took it in to the service department at the dealer. To make a long story short, I'm not getting my car back until next week and Audi is giving me a brand new transmission. There was something wrong with the transmission motor of the valve assembly.

Toaster29

it downshifts. Its an economy thing. Saves gas and all. I dunno though. You might want to have it looked at.

Paul H. (near Annapolis, MD)

Mine only does this when I am running with a chip. It could be the clutch slipping (which could eventually lead to failure), or it could be a safety feature to protect the trans from excessive torque. So far mine hasn't gotten any worse.

I am not aware of any reported Tiptronic failures here due to chipping (or 2.8 supercharging), but at $10K to replace a Tip unit I seriously doubt if anyone is going to report that here.

If you are chipped I would not give it to much power in 5th gear. Downshift to 4th or put it in auto. If this "letting loose" is not a safety feature, then the trans could eventually fail.

If you are not chipped (and I am in no way suggesting you are or have been), and have never been chipped, then this is absolutely, positively, a warranty issue, and you should have it looked at. You will likely have to take someone for a ride and reproduce the problem. May result in a transmission replacement (see sfalibota's post below), although I have had some transmission oddness resolved when they cleaned and re-secured a "multi-function connector" somewhere on the trans.

Paul