Tiptronic Gearbox Performance

[capesthorne]

Hi all,

I have had my 2000 2.5 Tdi fitted with a Tiptronic gearbox for a few months now. I have driven many autos in my time, but this is my first time with this particular gearbox.

My problem is, in a nutshell this...does mine have a fault or are these gearboxes generally VERY sluggish and a pain to use?

To add a bit more detail to my semi-rant.....

I find in general/slow speed traffic it behaves perfectly, it is just a pretty unresponsive gearbox when I want to do something more dramatic than tootling along. So, when I am progressing in traffic and want to increase my speed from 30 to 40 at a pace slightly more than lethargic rate (in a 40 zone of course), I’ll slowly put my foot down, sometimes even 2/3 inches and there will be a minimal response. The gearbox will then realise I want to actually move and it'll change down meaning I have to then ease off the pedal immediately as I’ll shoot off into the back of the car in front as my foot is now about 2 inches from the carpet.

Another example is coming off a roundabout doing about 40, I am just ready to push onto the dual carriageway and it’ll suddenly change from 4th to 5th even though the situation does not necessitate it.

And a final symptom is that when the car does change gear, it seems to almost momentarily drop power, then pick up again.

When the car drives in 'Tiptronic mode' it drives a like a different car and I actually feel confident enough to take on Transits and small trucks, in auto I wouldn't want to risk the potential embarrassment.

I know there are lots of subjective examples there, but I am just trying to give you a feel for me driving experience and hopefully for the more experienced Audi driver this may rings some bells.

I have manually reset the gearbox a few times, it works for a bit then the gearbox seems to ‘adapt’ back to this OAP mode.

Is this just the way the car is designed to drive, or should a get the gearbox looked at during the next service? Any feedback appreciated guys.

Cheers

[HyperUniverse]

I've had my A6, 2.5tdi, Tiptronic, Avant, Sport, Quattro since 2005 (car manuactured in 2000).
I have the same symptoms on mine.

This is "normal" for these tiptronic gearboxes, as the manufacturer states they are adaptive gearboxes.
They "feel" your driving style, and choose the "right" program for you.
Economical, Normal, Sporty.

There are some posts (not sure if here), that willl teach you how to "trick" your gearbox from going back to "gran-ma" driving style. You need to do it daily.
No, it's not about dirty hands.
Just you need to accelerate and decelerate in a combination of some sort, that will keep your box in a normal or sport mode.

I just use is as manual, changing the gears from steering wheel.

You MUST read my other post about the ATF in our tiptronic gearboxes:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=101278

I had 170000 mile when it happened.
So, change the ATF + the oil filter inside your tiptronic box, to avoid what happened to me.

Regards

[kid-jensen]

Hi,

Sounds like the "learning mode" is not learning what you want it to...

I wouild advise disabling it to see if things improve, certainly did on mine, and the box is pretty responsive now in most ways. You can easily change it back if you don't like it.

Do a search of my posts, the method of changing the settings is in there..

Alternatively, use "Sport" mode, it's way more responsive and smooth and will give you better performance because it holds onto the gears longer.

You'll pay for it at the pumps though...


If your mileage is 80K upwards, a fluid/filter change is advisable too.

[capesthorne]

I've had my A6, 2.5tdi, Tiptronic, Avant, Sport, Quattro since 2005 (car manuactured in 2000).
I have the same symptoms on mine.

This is "normal" for these tiptronic gearboxes, as the manufacturer states they are adaptive gearboxes.
They "feel" your driving style, and choose the "right" program for you.
Economical, Normal, Sporty.

There are some posts (not sure if here), that willl teach you how to "trick" your gearbox from going back to "gran-ma" driving style. You need to do it daily.
No, it's not about dirty hands.
Just you need to accelerate and decelerate in a combination of some sort, that will keep your box in a normal or sport mode.

I just use is as manual, changing the gears from steering wheel.

You MUST read my other post about the ATF in our tiptronic gearboxes:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...d.php?t=101278

I had 170000 mile when it happened.
So, change the ATF + the oil filter inside your tiptronic box, to avoid what happened to me.

Regards

Thanks for the info Hyper, very interesting reading.

I am getting my car serviced at 'The Phirm' in Hartley Witney in a couple of weeks and they are saying that the gearbox oil shouldn't need changing, although like you, I am sure it does need it esp as this car has lived all of its 87,000 miles in London.

Another excellent specialist I have used in Cirencester says changing the oil does sometimes improves/rectifies unruly performance in this type of gearbox, but unfortunately he doesn’t do Saturdays. So there is obviously a difference of opinion, but for the cost of some oil and a filter it can’t hurt to change it. Was it an easy job?

[capesthorne]

Hi,

Sounds like the "learning mode" is not learning what you want it to...

I wouild advise disabling it to see if things improve, certainly did on mine, and the box is pretty responsive now in most ways. You can easily change it back if you don't like it.

Do a search of my posts, the method of changing the settings is in there..

Alternatively, use "Sport" mode, it's way more responsive and smooth and will give you better performance because it holds onto the gears longer.

You'll pay for it at the pumps though...


If your mileage is 80K upwards, a fluid/filter change is advisable too.

Thanks also for the feedback Kid. Glad to see you have an Interceptor, I had one until about 3 years ago, sold it to a guy in Kent, you may well have seen it as, Orange with a black vinyl roof, wish i’d kept it now as it sounds amazing....dammit, never mind. Is yours in a good state?

Back to the Audi, unfortunately I don’t have the version with the steering wheel controls, so any changes are done via the gear lever by knocking it over, which is what I was trying to avoid as I have such a dull drive these days....home -> A316 -> M3 -> M25 > Work....and repeat etc....that’s as exciting as it gets, so an auto helps relieve the tedium slightly.

The place where I will be getting the car serviced are not sure if they can get into the brains of the gearbox, it would be good if they could, but I have never heard of being able to make those kinds of changes. Otherwise it seems that I need to suss out another way to wake the gearbox engine up, such as disabling the ‘adaptivity’ as you suggest.

I’ll keep you all updated.

Cheers

[slice636]

well when i put it into drive its normal pace for a diesel but when i put it into sport its like driving a different car so try it in sport for a couple of days to see if it rectify's some problems and if it doesnt work try and find somebody with a vag com to see if there is any errors.

[capesthorne]

well when i put it into drive its normal pace for a diesel but when i put it into sport its like driving a different car so try it in sport for a couple of days to see if it rectify's some problems and if it doesnt work try and find somebody with a vag com to see if there is any errors.

Thanks Slice, but unfortunately the problem I have is that on the 2000 model A6, there is no Sport option, just drive or manual/tiptronic.

With luck the guys at 'The Phirm' will be able to disable the adptive function and check for errors during the service.

[Sparky Charlie]

It's not just errors in the gearbox that can cause it to be recalcitrant.

One of the bits of imformation the gearbox ECU uses to calculate which gear when, is engine load. This is a calculation in the engine ECU deduced from throttle angle, air flow and engine revs and the rate of change of these. So a poorly performing MAF, for example, could cause a problem. Find a professional with a proper piece of software to scan the whole car and , more importantly, interperet the resulting data.

To be honest, it sounds as wooley as my 'box. I find the most frightening is approaching a roundabout on coast and then going for the gap. That can lead to a change of undergarments until you get used to it.

Charlie

[snapdragon]

I haven't had this since I had an engine remap by chippeduk (forum sponsor). It has greatly increased the torque and low-down in-gear acceleration, so it doesn't need to downshift to pickup speed.
But I would get the codes read by a VAG specialist first, and then have them or a automatic specialist change the ATF and filter. I'd also be wary that they use the correct fluid and not a general universal one.

[kid-jensen]

Capesthorne,

Good luck with the Gearbox checks, I'm convinced the "Learning mode" is a tecnical blind alley.....how can it realistically learn your driving style when it changes according to mood, traffic and the prat in the BMW in fornt of you...

Let us know how you get on....we're all interested if there's a total fix..

The Jensen is looking like a retirement project at the moment....not too bad rust-wise but it does have a "Fred Flintstone" floor pan...

If only they had Audi standards of rust protection, they would have held their value and I wouldn't be able to afford one!