achan

The only thing I notice as far as "lag" goes is a fraction of a second delay between pedal use and engine response. I think this has more to do with ecu/tcu tuning from the audi than actual lag. Power delivery is quite linear.

But perhaps you guys are right about the cylinder on demand, but I've honestly not noticed it given my driving style. Is the system on by default in US cars? I will see if there is a difference in throttle response if I toggle it on and off. I will admit, I haven't had enough time to RTFM yet

Mcqueen

I am still less than 48 hours I to ownership (so hesitate to come to great conclusions yet) but would agree with this post. There's also a slight delay in auto if the car wants to shift down before delivering power. I think in Dynamic, as the OP suggested, there can be some unusually harsh shifts when slowing at low speeds, but I only noticed those on the first night, and now am not getting those any more. The car is so much more smooth than the S5 in terms of acceleration and the S5 had the naturally aspirated V8.

I haven't had time to read the manual either, although, finding the Online A/V tutorial in the MMI is pretty slick

gmunford@b-m-d.com

For what its worth, my S7 has none of that. Smooth as a limo when I'm in that mood, though my car doesn't have deactivation. Maybe that where the issue is. But something's definitely wrong.

DeerHunter

If you have an S7, then you have cylinder deactivation as a standard feature. Perhaps you're referring to the stop/start feature?

achan

Yes I just realized my US based S7 doesn't have the start/stop on/off button on the dash. I'm assuming it doesn't exist on US versions of the S6/S7?

Back to the harsh downshifting from 2-to-1, I experimented a little bit yesterday. It seems 1st gear is geared very low, somewhere around 35 mph near redline. When put into drive (aka automatic) in both auto or dynamic modes, the tranny is unable to properly negotiate a downshift when slowing down (5-10 mph) which results in the driveline thrash previously mentioned. However if put into comfort mode this problem does not repeat itself because the tranny does not shift to 1st until stopped or nearly stopped. The thrash is worse in dynamic mode than in auto likely because it downshifts from 2nd to 1st at slightly higher rpms

If you run the car in manual drive, I typically leave it in 2nd when coming to a stop similar to what I do in most of the time on a 6 speed. FWIW, I think Audi could/should fix this downshift issue. It's clearly a rev-match/software related issue. I will try to bring this up with my dealership and AoA.

gmunford@b-m-d.com

Of course. Stand correceted, thanks.

ayap

Don't know what lag you're talking about? The S7 does 4.0 seconds 0-60 according to Car and Driver. You'd have no lag at that kind of speed. There must be something wrong with that S7

RobC

I haven't driven an S7, but I assume my S6 would behave similarly.

There is very little turbo lag since the run from the exhaust manifold to the turbo's hot sides are so short. I think what you're experiencing is similar to BMW's throttle tip-in that's often complained about.

If you floor it from a stop, the throttle acts as you would expect, and very much like my B8S4. The problem is getting back on the throttle after slowing-down. If you brake (without coming to a stop) and immediately get back on the gas, the car does nothing for up to 2 seconds before it comes on in a surge of power. This phenomenon is reduced when the transmission is in dynamic mode, and although I haven't explicitly tried to reproduce it, it seemed to be gone when in manual mode.

And in response to jerky slow downs, is your transmission in dynamic or normal (auto/comfort) mode? In dynamic the car definitely downshifts early when slowing down to provide engine braking and some people describe it as jerky, especially when compared to normal Drive mode.

BritBlaster

From this month's "Automobile", Eric Tingwall writes:
"At a slower pace, though, the transmission is sometimes reluctant to downshift, and the subtle pulse that accompanies every gearchange is occasionally--rarely--a big thud"

Nice to be vindicated by a professional car journalist (one must bear in mind that automotive journalists are somewhat hesitant to describe things as badly as they really are -- their salaries are paid by automobile companies after all).

I think I'm probably just very sensitive to "thuds"-- if I'm going to drop 90 large on a vehicle, I have no tolerance for "occasional/rare" thuds from my transmission.

I guess my main point is that Audi got it so right, so perfect, with the S4's transmission, how could they mess it up so badly in the S7?

mikemdd

All comments, with some variation, similar to my experience:

- definitely a lag at throttle tip in. Whether it is turbo lag or programming, it does lag a bit. 0-60 times typically use launch procedures (see owners manual) so would not be impacted by turbo lag.

- I have less than 1k miles but rough 2-1 downshift is apparent only in dynamic. Very smooth otherwise.

Neither of the points above are issues to me. The S7 is a unique presentation by Audi that delivers as advertised.