allroad tire recomendation

[Brett Dikeman]

At 5:03 PM -0400 7/19/04, Steve R wrote:
>It hasn't learned my driving habits. Have to push thru the floor to get it
>downshift. So much for tiptronic.

The tiptronic automatic mode can be overridden temporarily by the 
steering wheel controls, at least according to an Audi PR page; it 
then takes over again after a set period of time.  It also describes 
an "S" position for the shifter, whose function should be 
self-explanatory.  The PR page was talking about the '02 V8 model, 
but I would assume similar features are in the current model as well. 
Your owner's manual should describe this of course.  Some 
transmissions are now smart enough to not shift mid-corner; I have no 
idea if the Tiptronic is or not.

You've only had the car for 3 days, right?  It may take a little 
longer to adjust than that- it is adaptive.  Also, Motronic has 
always been sensitive not just to throttle pedal deflection, but 
speed of pedal motion as well; I would expect Tiptronic to be the 
same, since the two systems are tightly integrated and talk to each 
other.  Next time you want it to downshift, try being quick with the 
pedal.  If you drove a demo unit at the dealer and not your specific 
car, keep in mind that it may have been getting flogged a lot by 
dealership staff and/or prospective owners, and adjusted to a very 
aggressive shift pattern when you drove it.  If all else fails, most 
of the tiptronics can be "recoded" to varying shift programs with the 
right tools; the dealer plugs in a reprogramming tool, gives the 
transmission a different personality code, and boom, it shifts 
differently.

Also, recent Motronic/Tiptronic/throttle-by-wire systems are what's 
generally termed "torque demand", whereby the engine computer figures 
out you want X amount of torque after some fancy-pants figuring from 
how you're flobbing the loud pedal.  I believe in the tip cars, 
either the transmission has a map of what torque to expect from the 
engine or the transmission actively 'talks' with the ECU and is aware 
of what torque levels are available at that given moment for a 
particular RPM.  Even if you're mashing the pedal to the floor, the 
TCU may have figured out it has more torque at its current RPM than 
it would at the lower gear.

I'm not entirely positive on the above bit about gear selection, as I 
could not find anything to confirm or deny it after a good 20 minutes 
of googling to find out more about Tip operation.  Ti might know, 
he's pretty well versed in the newer car's systems.  Any of the Audi 
tuners, or your dealership's Brand Specialist, should certainly be 
able to tell you.  If you do find out, please let me/the list know 
for future reference.

Point #2.  You seem to be having a lot of buyer's remorse for a car 
that costs quite a bit more than my annual salary.  Not to 
monday-morning quarterback, but I would think you would have test 
drove one a bit more before buying; if I'm wrong and you did test 
drive one quite a bit and your car's not performing up to par...well, 
either way that brings me to point #3....

...which is that you need to be telling all this to your salesperson, 
not us :-).  That's precisely what they are paid for- their duties, 
on a car that costs that much, do not end with the handshake and 
handing you the key.  Both Audi and the dealership have a vested 
interest in keeping you a happy clam (brand/dealer loyalty, selling 
friends/family on an Audi, etc) so if you're not happy, you need to 
tell your salesperson- they're not mind readers, and they may have 
just the thing to solve your problem(such as recoding the 
transmission).

Further, if you decide the A6/S6/S4 avant is much more to your 
liking, there is a -chance- the dealer might take the car back and 
sell you the different model instead.  That chance probably drops 
quite a bit if your car was a special order.

Anyway, hope this helps, and that you have better luck with the car 
in the future!

Brett
-- 
"They that give up essential liberty to obtain temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
http://www.users.cloud9.net/~brett/