RxAudi

i thought the shifter was a little rubbery and the clutch pedal a bit lighter as compared to a bimmer. not a bad thing, but a difference in style and preference i guess. anyone have any ideas how to firm up the shifter?

jhhawaii

Short shifter will firm it up clutch is higher than BMW, and a little more mushy feeling.

Chris129

From 1st to 2nd especially...

-step on clutch quickly & release gas simul.
-shift to 2nd, release clutch quickly almost up to engagement point.
-once you hit the engagement point, you ease off the clutch smoothly while stepping on the gas slightly.

It works for me, but it's hard to explain here. I think I've managed to shift smoothly without the car jerking or any passengers feeling me shift. Obviously if you don't want the car to lose momentum as you try this technique, you have to hold your gear up to higher revs (3k or above in 1st).

But yes, the clutch in this car has long travel and a relatively high engagement point. Plus, it's really soft compared to BMW, let alone the B5 S4. My brother has a B5 S4 and I've driven both back to back and the B5's clutch is a lot shorter & stiffer in comparison to the B6 clutch.

I would've preferred a stiffer, shorter clutch for quicker, more sporty shifting. Gearbox in our B6 is definitely miles better than the B5's gearbox, so I guess you can say it's a wash. Actually, a precise gearbox is more important than a light clutch as you can adapt more to a light clutch & you can't do much about a sloppy gearbox.

Random

Catorceno

DrGP

Actually , if you could STFA, you would see a lot of posts about the shifting 1/2 problems!

DrGP

Trans seems to smooth out after some miles and can be somewhat troublesome to make a smooth 1/2 shift especially when the car is new and when it is cold. If you use the search function of the forum, use "shifting" on B6 s4 you will find a large number of previous posts that adress this issue!<ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/s4b6/msgs/159496.phtml%20(text/html)%20Mon,%2015%20Nov">One post on shifting difficulties</a></li></ul>

Sphoria

I find my 2004 S4 the most difficult car I have ever owned to shift smoothly. I have owned the car for 8 weeks now and can honestly say that I have shifted smoothly (1st to 2nd) less that a handful of times. I am no stranger to manual transmissions (have owned many and currently own an M Roadster too) so this is not simply a case of newbie behind the stick.

If you have some tips....let um rip.

Thanks.

metalevon

its all the DBW throttle nonsense.

metalevon

yea that definitly works but it kills the clutch

Captain Sheetmetal

There are a few issues that make this car hard to shift:

1) The revs naturally drop like a stone.

2) The gears (except 1-2) are microscopically spaced apart, making issue #1 even more noticeable.

3) The computer lets the revs drop at their natural (very fast) rate only above 2,800rpms or so. Below that rpm, the revs hesitate for a 1/2 second before they drop.

So...I've found that the 1-2 shift is easier to perform smoothly when executed above that 2,800rpm threshold and all the other shifts are easier below 2,800rpm because the revs float down more slowly, allowing you to grab the next gear and let the clutch out before the revs drop too far.