# Choppy, jerky in slow traffic (1.8 petrol, manual)



## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

In low gears at around 2000-2500 revs the acceleration is 'choppy'. In, say, slow moving traffic, you lift your foot gently from the accelerator pedal the engine speed drops suddenly and the car suddenly slows; putting your foot back on the pedal makes the car lurch forwards. I.E. a short pedal travel makes a huge change in engine revs. Good control in slow traffic is impossible.

Normal, or should I have the dealer take a look?


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Think this was mentioned on a similar thread a while back. That was a 1.8 too.

Edit:
Here you go for what its worth  
viewtopic.php?f=98&t=1236777&p=6835905&hilit=jerky#p6835905


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

Yep, I'm just back from a trip to Ireland. About 800 miles covered, I noticed this when we got caught in traffic. I was in auto mode, changed to comfort and it was even harder to drive smoothly, it's like you get full engine braking as soon as you lift off the accelerator pedal. We were stuck for a while so I played around and found dynamic to be the smoothest. The revs die normally and you can speed up again without having to dip the clutch again.


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## jryoung (Feb 8, 2015)

I would suggest that 2000 to 2500 rpm in slow moving traffic is way too high, even in the petrol. I would expect to be idling, using up to 1500rpm, which is easier to keep smooth with a little feathering of the clutch occasionally


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

No, it is a very definite feeling that the car is decelerating too much as you lift off the gas. Hard to explain but it feels like driving a car that has too much play in the throttle cable. Can happen at 1500 revs if you lift off, and doesn't happen on any other car I drive or have owned including Audis. I suspect that some electronic wizardry is trying to control the throttle response but not vey smoothly. And as I have said, mine doesn't do it in dynamic.


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

ZephyR2 said:


> Think this was mentioned on a similar thread a while back. That was a 1.8 too.
> 
> Edit:
> Here you go for what its worth
> viewtopic.php?f=98&t=1236777&p=6835905&hilit=jerky#p6835905


Thanks for that link  Before posting I did do a search for this issue but found nothing. I have never found forum search facilities any real use! Or is it me?

Seems no-one posted any diagnosis though. Common problem and no-one has had it fixed?


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

jryoung said:


> I would suggest that 2000 to 2500 rpm in slow moving traffic is way too high, even in the petrol. I would expect to be idling, using up to 1500rpm, which is easier to keep smooth with a little feathering of the clutch occasionally


It's my description of the fault that's lacking. Others have described it better. I have been driving for long enough, and have driven enough different models of cars to know something's up. It ain't me, honest


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

4433allanr said:


> No, it is a very definite feeling that the car is decelerating too much as you lift off the gas. Hard to explain but it feels like driving a car that has too much play in the throttle cable. Can happen at 1500 revs if you lift off, and doesn't happen on any other car I drive or have owned including Audis. I suspect that some electronic wizardry is trying to control the throttle response but not vey smoothly. And as I have said, mine doesn't do it in dynamic.


Strangely I get the opposite; comfort mode the problem is less noticeable. Also reducing the load on the engine by switching of the A/C helps too. But I'm not driving aorund with no A/C.

Will have to find the courage to tell Audi garage about it. Them techinicins love it when you don't have the right vocabulary to describe a fault. They act as if they've never heard anything like it before ;-)


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## jryoung (Feb 8, 2015)

Yeah, ignore my comments, I'm sure you have as much experience driving as most if us here  
Actually, I notice that the energy recuperation noticably affects the level of engine breaking, leading to a dual stage breaking effect. I haven't had any smoothness issue at low speed in the stronic though


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Just had a taste of this while crawling on the M56 today. Trying to crawl at around 5 mph in first (about 1000 rpm) and as described a slight press on the accelerator makes you lurch forwards while lifting your foot a midges and it almost brakes. Smooth driving is next to impossible. 
Now all cars do this to some extent but it's seems exaggerated in the TT which makes me wonder if jryoung's comment about recuperative braking might be the clue. 
Having read this thread before I switched from Auto mode to Economy but that made no difference. Later tried Dynamic and this seemed to help. 
Maybe in Eco mode the recuperative braking effect is more aggressive.


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

Having read this thread before I switched from Auto mode to Economy but that made no difference. Later tried Dynamic and this seemed to help.

Ditto


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## Waitwhat93 (Mar 28, 2016)

I only use dynamic and only get the juddering if trying to balance around 800 rpm in first - which was the same in other cars I've had.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

Waitwhat93 said:


> I only use dynamic and only get the juddering if trying to balance around 800 rpm in first - which was the same in other cars I've had.


I wouldn't describe it as a juddering, rather jerky control over the accelerator, and at more than 800 rpm.
Really 800 rpm is about idle speed and although a car will creep forwards at idle revs with no accelerator input, any slight resistance or braking will produce a judder and could cause it to stall. 
What I experiences required a little accelerator input to maintain around 1000 - 1200 rpm whereupon the slightest movement of the pedal causes the car to either lurch forwards or appear to brake.


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## Waitwhat93 (Mar 28, 2016)

ZephyR2 said:


> I wouldn't describe it as a juddering, rather jerky control over the accelerator, and at more than 800 rpm.
> Really 800 rpm is about idle speed and although a car will creep forwards at idle revs with no accelerator input, any slight resistance or braking will produce a judder and could cause it to stall.
> What I experiences required a little accelerator input to maintain around 1000 - 1200 rpm whereupon the slightest movement of the pedal causes the car to either lurch forwards or appear to brake.


Sorry that's me describing it wrong as I've seen other people complain that it lurches at around 800rpm but that's mainly because that's around the point that the car will bottom out.

I dunno if it's just because dynamic has a quicker throttle response but I haven't found it too bad at 1000 - 1200. If I let the rpms drop and then put the accelerator down then it does lurch but I've always thought it was to be expected (as I've had it in other cars).

I'll experiment tomorrow and see what it's like in the 1000-1200 range and if I'm just putting it out of my head


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

I have a 1.8 manual and so does two of my friends. We all have this issue. In traffic in 1st gear, when we put revs on the engine between 900-1100rpm, the car is so difficult to drive smoothly. Look like a [email protected] as it looks like really bad clutch control. I have taken it into Audi twice and nothing can be done. They have logged error and sent to Audi UK. They will need more people to do the same before Audi UK will actually do something about it. It is a really frustrating issue that I hope gets sorted soon. I have driven the 2.0 diesel and petrol models and couldn't replicate the issue.


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

I have the issue where releasing the accelerator causes the car to decelerate unnaturally. I also have the issue where trying to drive at a constant rpm between 900-1100 the car jerks forward and back. Like the car won't let you drive at those revs without it accelerating and decelerating slightly. :?


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

Thanks for the constructive reply Ttimi. I appreciate you posting the update on where you got to (or, rather, didn't get to).

You know, I find this an issue, particularly, as I like to drive in a relatively high gear through low speed limits... because it gives better control over your speed; I think this is the advice given by advanced motoring goups of one sort or another. This means I ignore the Audi-suggested gear (usually 4, or even 5) and stick it in 3 for the duration. Much better control if kids dash out into the road or cats saunter across in front of you. And that's where I notice it the most, as well as the slow moving traffic scenario of course.

I'd say my problem is that when you come off the gas at anything, say, below 2500 revs, and in whatever gear, the engine speed drops suddenly in a very non-linear fashion, and therefore you get too much engine braking. It's as if the fuel is cut back too much? That's my best and final attempt at describing the symptoms! Did a long drive this morning and found it happens in all driving modes; but worse in dynamic.

Anyway, I'll probably raise it with the dealer. When I test drove a band new 'zero miles' 1.8 petrol Sport I didn't notice a thing. In fact, I remarked on how very smooth it was. And I don't think ours did it when it brand new... but maybe I was pre-occupied with the whole 'new car' thing.

edit: p.s. yes agree with TTimi who says "I also have the issue where trying to drive at a constant rpm between 900-1100 the car jerks forward and back. Like the car won't let you drive at those revs without it accelerating and decelerating slightly". I have that too. It's all the same issue, just hard to describe.


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

Let us know how you get on at the dealer. If they can't solve it we will need to complain to Audi UK lol. I absolutely love the car, but I am in start stop traffic before and after work. It makes the journey quite frustrating really.


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

rumblestrip said:


> edit: p.s. yes agree with TTimi who says "I also have the issue where trying to drive at a constant rpm between 900-1100 the car jerks forward and back. Like the car won't let you drive at those revs without it accelerating and decelerating slightly". I have that too. It's all the same issue, just hard to describe.


Yes that's exactly how it seems. Like 900 - 1100 rpm are out of bounds.
You can cruise at say 1100 rpm but as soon as you take your foot off the gas the car says "oh no, you're not allowed to drive at 1000 rpm. I'm going to slam it down to 900 rpm or less."
And the opposite when you are at 900 rpm and you try and just tickle the gas pedal - Ooops 1200 rpm ! :?


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## 90TJM (Sep 30, 2013)

The wife had a Fiat 500 (the ones that featured on TV for lack of hill climb ability) and that was the same at low revs it was
impossible to control the revs below 2000rpm.So it could be a software issue that will need a fix from VAG.Fiat would not do anything and said "you will have to adapt your driving".I hope Audi dont do the same.


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

Best thing to try and do it to take an Audi tech out and replicate the issue. The most annoying thing is that I have taken a tech out twice and both times I couldn't get the car to do it, yet when I am driving by myself it happens pretty much all the time in stop start traffic. To be fair I was trying to replicate the issue driving slow in an industrial estate instead of in bumper to bumper traffic.


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## richarnold (Jun 4, 2016)

Do you find this jerkiness during normal or spirited acceleration and also is there any difference with weather, for example when it is raining please?


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

richarnold said:


> Do you find this jerkiness during normal or spirited acceleration and also is there any difference with weather, for example when it is raining please?


Happens all the time!


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## richarnold (Jun 4, 2016)

Ok. Not sure if this will help you but my wife has just got shot of her Leon FR 1.8 TSi (think that's the same engine?) and picks up the TT on Thursday  Her Leon was a manual and the car did this from almost new. There was a hesitancy on acceleration and it had this jerky thing too.

We took it back to dealership numerous times. Under warranty, the coils were replaced and the throttle body control 'reset'. This made a slight improvement for a while. My wife has to pull out right on to a busy A-road every day and it was like playing Russian Roulette not knowing whether the car would accelerate or just jump into the approaching traffic!

The bottom line is that the dealership told us that after multiple diagnostics and conversations with Seat techs, a software update would fix the issue! That was two years ago! I'm not sure if it is the same issue but it seems that way. They have to fix this!

If only to add our support to the issue, I hope this may help in some way?


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

Not sure about others, but mine certainly doesn't have any issue on hard acceleration. It's just hard to be smooth in stop start traffic. I'm now driving in dynamic all the time and it's much better. Averaging 41 mpg so I'm happy. The jerkiness for me is worse in comfort, which is a bit weird!


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

richarnold said:


> Ok. Not sure if this will help you but my wife has just got shot of her Leon FR 1.8 TSi (think that's the same engine?) and picks up the TT on Thursday  Her Leon was a manual and the car did this from almost new. There was a hesitancy on acceleration and it had this jerky thing too.
> 
> We took it back to dealership numerous times. Under warranty, the coils were replaced and the throttle body control 'reset'. This made a slight improvement for a while. My wife has to pull out right on to a busy A-road every day and it was like playing Russian Roulette not knowing whether the car would accelerate or just jump into the approaching traffic!
> 
> ...


I'm surprised Seat didn't come out with a software update quickly? I'm hoping Audi do otherwise a serious complaints gonna have to be put in.


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

Anyone get anywhere with this? I have finally booked my Mk 3 1.8 in at the dealers for early May to have this looked at...

... along with a few other minor niggles. The driver's door window doesn't always go up tight enough into the rubber seal, drivers door needs a heavy slam to close properly. Also (main reason for the visit to the service bay) passenger-side rear seat release lever went 'twang' and now the seat stays firmly up; it's now less pratcial for long trip luggage.


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## richarnold (Jun 4, 2016)

Just to say, best wishes with getting it sorted 

I think we'd all be interested in hearing the outcome and your experiences,

Cheers


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

Any news on this?

I never drive during traffic anymore luckily, so haven't felt it in a while!


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

As the miles go up, the problem seems to have sorted itself on my car, certainly don't notice it any longer.


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

This sounds like good news... but how many miles have you done?


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## 4433allanr (Mar 11, 2016)

About 5k. Got a friend to drive mine recently and he didn't notice any issue. Still have the twitchy seatbelt tho!!!


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

Damn. I have done 9000miles. Need to try it out!


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## rumblestrip (Apr 15, 2016)

Had mine looked at last week. Managed to demonstrate the issue to the technician. As I expected, his view was 'it's a charcteristic of modern cars in his experience'. I didn't feel it was worth banging my head on the wall over that one.

On that visit though they fixed a faulty back seat (release mech had failed so it would't fold down). Plus they re-aligned the drivers door; window seal at the top wasn't good, door wouldn't shut without effort. Door now shuts properly, window seal still randomly bad.

On the 'choppy drive' thing. Anyone else had any luck over this? Shoud I write to the Dealer manager? Write to Audi?


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## richarnold (Jun 4, 2016)

rumblestrip said:


> Had mine looked at last week. Managed to demonstrate the issue to the technician. As I expected, his view was 'it's a charcteristic of modern cars in his experience'.


I guess cars never used to have drive-by-wire throttles? Maybe the fault lies in how they are coded / mapped to the controller(s) or perhaps, dodgy potentiometers? Weird that only a few of us have piped up too.

I'd recommend registering the issue but from experience, unless you make a real fuss, nothing will be forthcoming.

All the best,


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## TTimi (Jan 26, 2016)

I hardly drive mine anymore so don't notice the issue. Pretty sure it is still there.

I have two other friends who have 1.8 TT's and they both have this issue!


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

I still get this problem occasionally but its not a big issue. However while browsing for something else I stumbled across this site which relates to the Octavia but talks about CJSA and CJSB versions of the EA888 engine.

It suggests that its possible to swap between CJSA and CJSB and that CSJB gives a more aggressive drive but uses more fuel and seems to cause the jerkiness issues as described by others in this thread. 
See the paragraph headed "With time" ....
https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=https://www.drive2.ru/l/5502080/&prev=search

Does this make sense to anyone else with more knowledge on such things? I don't know anything about CJSA and CJSB but the Shell oil selector app suggests that there are both CJSA and CJSB versions of the 1.8 TT around.


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## WorryTooMuch (May 17, 2017)

I've had my 1.8 petrol model just over 7 weeks and I've had the same happen to me a few times.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

I apologize for reviving an old thread. But my 2015 TT 2.0 has the same problems! The S-tronic is going haywire when I let the car cruse without the gas pedal (at traffic jams) and then giving a tiny bit of gas. Very jerky, choppy feeling. Almost like a kid with bad clutch skils. 

Its 2018 now, any new news on this? Did Audi find a fix for the problem?


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## KSixTT6 (Nov 13, 2017)

drive a 1.8 Manual and have noticed it too also but just put it down to the turbo kicking in :/ low down. the S tronic is known not to like low mph in traffic. read on here to make sure its in auto mode and not manual cause it always engages the gears or something rasing the temp in the box dont quote me though haha.


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## Macauley (May 31, 2017)

I have the same issue, can never get a smooth ride in traffic


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

KSixTT6 said:


> drive a 1.8 Manual and have noticed it too also but just put it down to the turbo kicking in :/ low down. the S tronic is known not to like low mph in traffic. read on here to make sure its in auto mode and not manual cause it always engages the gears or something rasing the temp in the box dont quote me though haha.


Yeah, my car is always in automatic mode. I simply never use the manual mode or the shift paddles. Still the car's reaction to low speeds is embarrassing. I know that automatic transmissions are hesirant and cant read drivers minds but this is ridiculous. :lol:

Didnt someone mention that Audi can do a S-tronic software update to leviate the problem a bit?


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## ZephyR2 (Feb 20, 2013)

The manual does the same so it's not all down to the s-tronic box. 
With manual you can creep along with your foot off the gas but tickle it around 1100 rpm and it jerks all over the place.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Heath (Apr 12, 2016)

I have a 2.0 manual. It is one of the best cars I have had in traffic, very smooth. My 2.0 Fiesta ST was a total nightmare!


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

ZephyR2 said:


> The manual does the same so it's not all down to the s-tronic box.
> With manual you can creep along with your foot off the gas but tickle it around 1100 rpm and it jerks all over the place.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Interesting ZephyR2, even the manual has this problem. Im going to the dealers next week for few things. Can I ask them for some sort of software update? I know that some people in other threads have suggested this. Is this true?


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