Transmission "dropping" gears

[awdjunkie]

Hey Everyone, Last August I traded my 2012 S4 in on a new RS3. I have only driven manual cars all my life and reluctantly settled for an Auto (no choice in this day and age). The car only has 5,000 miles on it so far.

Here are some issues I am having with the car. I know some of them are not normal and I am taking it in for an inspection next week but I want to know if anyone else has cone across these.....

1) Long delay to downshift at highway speeds ( i think I saw another thread on this one)
2) Under WOT (Sport, dynamic, manual modes) car will drop out of first gear. Happened twice already around 4500 RPM - Huge bang followed by what felt like momentary neutral condition.
3) Under WOT (Sport, dynamic, manual modes) immediately after the 1-2 shift the car automatically went into 3rd then 4th....big buzz kill !!!

It is really starting to ruin my experience with this car and it pains me to think I'm going to have to get rid of it if this stuff keeps up.

Anyone else seeing issue like this??

Eric

[SolarRS3]

Only issue I had was when my transmission was stuck in second gear. Manual / sport / drive did not change anything: I had to stop on the side and restart the car.

[RS3TP]

Hi Eric, something is not right there for sure. My RS3 does not do that. Is the DSG possibly not properly filled with oil? Hopefully it only needs a reflash

[OE2]

Hey Everyone, Last August I traded my 2012 S4 in on a new RS3. I have only driven manual cars all my life and reluctantly settled for an Auto (no choice in this day and age). The car only has 5,000 miles on it so far.

Here are some issues I am having with the car. I know some of them are not normal and I am taking it in for an inspection next week but I want to know if anyone else has cone across these.....

1) Long delay to downshift at highway speeds ( i think I saw another thread on this one)
2) Under WOT (Sport, dynamic, manual modes) car will drop out of first gear. Happened twice already around 4500 RPM - Huge bang followed by what felt like momentary neutral condition.
3) Under WOT (Sport, dynamic, manual modes) immediately after the 1-2 shift the car automatically went into 3rd then 4th....big buzz kill !!!

It is really starting to ruin my experience with this car and it pains me to think I'm going to have to get rid of it if this stuff keeps up.

Anyone else seeing issue like this??

Eric

this car's transmission is highly sensitive to how you drive it.

1. The car is dropping multiple gears if you floor it at highway speeds to get you into the optimal gear. You have to plan your passing accordingly because of the way the gears are aligned. I would call what you are describing as normal. In a manual car you can blip the throttle and skip from 6th to 3rd. A dsg doesn't work that way
2. You are lumping in manual mode with auto modes there's no way your car will shift for you in first at 4500rpm in manual mode unless the car is still warming up
3. You are lumping in manual mode with auto mode there's no way your car will shift to 3rd or 4th gear in manual mode.

[TZilla]

3. You are lumping in manual mode with auto mode there's no way your car will shift to 3rd or 4th gear in manual mode.

When the car is hot, it won't hold 2nd gear and will randomly up shift to 3rd and randomly shift back down to 2nd in manual mode. I'm not the only one who has experienced the behavior.

[jl87]

Also the TCU programming, if you hold the paddle a millisecond longer than a tap, it'll shift to the highest usable gear. The day I drove my car home I had this occur several times as the shifts are much quicker than in my B8.5 S4 and I had to adjust how I used the paddles/gear selector.

[whyzkid99]

Haven’t experienced any of the things you’ve brought up but I’ve recently (the last 2 weeks) noticed that the car stays at 4500-5500 rpm for awhile in all 2nd-5th gears before shifting up. I have 18k miles and currently flashed to stock for the last 6 months. Anyone else have this issue?

[TheContrarian]

When the car is hot, it won't hold 2nd gear and will randomly up shift to 3rd and randomly shift back down to 2nd in manual mode. I'm not the only one who has experienced the behavior.

Yes, #3 sounds a lot like how my car behaved during autocross. Manual mode was anything but.

[Jeff_Jeske]

This platform has a kickdown button under the gas pedal on the floor. If you are crusing in 7th gear and mash the pedal to the boards the car sort of goes into neutral which feels like anti-lag then selects the appropriate gear for your speed and takes off like a raped ape.

If you don't press all the way down to engage the kickdown button the shifts will be less abrupt and likely more appropriate for an overtake condition. I have found when driving aggressively that I'd rather engage manual mode and perform all my own downshifts.

[OE2]

When the car is hot, it won't hold 2nd gear and will randomly up shift to 3rd and randomly shift back down to 2nd in manual mode. I'm not the only one who has experienced the behavior.

What you are describing isn't what the OP is describing. Please define "hot" more. Are you talking track or highway WOT?

[TZilla]

What you are describing isn't what the OP is describing. Please define "hot" more. Are you talking track or highway WOT?

You said there is no way the car will shift to third in manual mode which is not necessarily true. "Hot" as in summertime aggressive street driving, or autox regardless of outside temp after the first run. The oil temp was always in the 235+ range when I experienced it, though I have no concrete data that it is tied to oil temp and not DSG temps.

[TheContrarian]

One cool morning in the fall I decided to test if the DSG would bounce off the limiter in 2nd while while in manual mode, it did. At the time the car was shy of full operating temp.

At autocross once the car was at full temp (oil 100c) manual mode was basically a joke. It was shifting to 3rd gear automatically well shy of redline. This is one of the most dismal aspects of this car. True manual mode is fake news, manual operaion is merely tolerated until the car decides its had enough.

I would really like to know if an aftermarket TCU tune could fix this.

[blknytro]

Only issue I really get is when the engine is cold and I'm in second gear (manual mode) cruising at ~20mph sometimes it randomly pops into first gear. Has only happened three times since I took delivery (~8,500 miles now).

[Evilevo]

If you use a paddle to go from D or S into M, it will auto upshift for you. If you move the selector over to M, it will only auto upshift the 1-2 change.

[Ross_T_Boss]

If you use a paddle to go from D or S into M, it will auto upshift for you. If you move the selector over to M, it will only auto upshift the 1-2 change.

This! Tallies up with my experience too, you need M for true-manual. I've been learning the gearbox a little more recently, trying to upset it then learning the scenario's and how to avoid them... It's a bit annoying and still my one issue with the car. I am looking to flash it (either TVS or Uni look interesting) to improve the behaviour but it's still a DSG at the end of the day so will retain some nuances.

I have had the "Gearbox overheating: Modify your driving style" alert a couple of times before. Both occasions it was after some down-shifts that resulted in a delay giving power and lots of slip during some extended spirited driving. Whether there's any protection in place if you keep driving it like a tool I don't know - it seemed happy after a minute or 2 and I carried on as before.

In both those instances I wasn't intending to punish the 'box, and it was a result of using the left-paddle 'kick-down' which is definitely different to using the pedal! The paddle will give you the absolute lowest gear, where-as the kick-down has thresholds with common-sense. Try it at 85mph; the left-paddle will stick it in 3rd every time and take a while to shift, along with lots of revs and slipping and possible hit the limiter while it puts you into 4th. After a few times in fairly quick succession you'll get a dash warning. However - flip from 'M' to 'S' mode and floor it and you'll get a lightening shift down to a more appropriate 4th almost every time.

So it's a bit of a pain but I start using S-mode over manual more often, or flip it across for kick-down, or just flick through the paddles if I'm gearing down to accelerate. I only use the left-paddle to downshift if it's under hard braking and I want that effect. I am mostly in manual mode and find that throttle value has a big effect on the behaviour too, so for example increase throttle before shifting is better than back off, then gearing down 'in anticipation' - it will shift faster during the acceleration event once it knows that's what you want it to do. Takes a bit of learning and sometimes throttle input that is counter-intuitive, especially compared to how you drive a manual.

My gearbox lives in Dynamic mode and I've never bothered testing how it behaves in anything else.

[TZilla]

If you use a paddle to go from D or S into M, it will auto upshift for you. If you move the selector over to M, it will only auto upshift the 1-2 change.

I always go into dynamic, move the shifter to the right (manual mode), traction control/ESC full off, and strictly using the paddles to shift. Yes, 1st to 2nd always shifts with a stock tune. 2nd should hold at redline but per my previous post, when the car is hotter it randomly shifts to third and will randomly even shift back down to 2nd. Typically the 2-3 shift happens at redline but I've had it happen well before (in a straight line with my hands nowhere near the paddles).

It is easy to recreate autox'ing and that is where the behavior really sucks. Most people wouldn't ever drive aggressively enough on the street to recreate it and on most road courses you don't need to hold 2nd gear.

[TheContrarian]

If you use a paddle to go from D or S into M, it will auto upshift for you. If you move the selector over to M, it will only auto upshift the 1-2 change.

False.

[Brian@Unitronic]

False.

What Evilevo said is true. When the shifter is pushed to the right it will allow you to hit limiter in every gear but first.

If your in drive and use paddles to downshift etc it will still shift at the same rpm it would in drive

[SolarRS3]

What Evilevo said is true. When the shifter is pushed to the right it will allow you to hit limiter in every gear but first.

If your in drive and use paddles to downshift etc it will still shift at the same rpm it would in drive

it hapenned to me as well autoxing, 2 to 3 unsolicited shift when the car as been ran, on 2nd 3rd lap, while in "true" manual mode.

[TZilla]

What Evilevo said should be true but isn't. When the shifter is pushed to the right it will allow you to hit limiter in every gear but first though at times it will randomly shift and have a mind of it's own in 2nd.

If your in drive and use paddles to downshift etc it will still shift at the same rpm it would in drive

Fixed