# S-Tronic kickdown shifts in D, S and M modes and rpm issues



## meszrum (Jun 27, 2013)

Audi TTS S-Tronic, 02.2015, never modified (pure stock)

I am the first and only owner and at the beginning of January I decided to change oil in DSG at my local authorised Audi Dealer/Service since it had been app. 55000 km on the odometer. 
The DSG worked noticeably better after oil change however over the next few weeks it developed two issues: gear change were not so smooth as they used to be before (1-2-3 and 3-2-1) and rpm begun to drop to app. 600 during reduction from 2nd to 1st while stopping (which was usually followed by clicking noises coming from transmission).
I took the car to the dealer again and they agreed that the DSG performance is far from smooth as well as they noticed rpm drop. They performed DSG adaptation (Basic Settings 6x) and upgraded ECU or TCU (Service manager was not sure). The rpm problem is still there after the procedure but the DSG works better overall and the gas pedal mapping is a bit more aggressive (the dealer sent all the data to Audi Germany and awaits information on further steps), but...

I took the on the motorway last Thursday and noticed something weird with reference to the shifting behaviour of DSG.

Driving conditions:

150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode D / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to 5th gear
150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode S / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to 5th gear
150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode *M* / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to *4th* gear

200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode D / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => no shift, stays in 6th
200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode S / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => no shift, stays in 6th
200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode *M* / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => *DSG shifts to 5th gear*

It's obvious that in M mode the DSG makes shifts to the lower gear than in D or S mode. Honestly I have no idea whether the DSG behaved that way before ECU or TCU upgrade.
Has anyone got the knowledge if the above shifting behaviour is correct or if it's obvious failure?
I am going to report it to the dealer tomorrow.


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## RobinHelsby (Mar 24, 2018)

meszrum said:


> 150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode D / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to 5th gear
> 150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode S / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to 5th gear
> 150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode *M* / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to *4th* gear
> 
> ...


What looks odd to me is that it was kicking down at all in M at this speed. I could understand it (and mine does this) if engine speed is below 1,000-or-so when coming to a stop, but this looks really odd...


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## RobinHelsby (Mar 24, 2018)

meszrum said:


> 200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode D / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => no shift, stays in 6th
> 200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode S / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => no shift, stays in 6th
> 200km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode *M* / 4800rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => *DSG shifts to 5th gear*


And we don't really get much of a chance to d0 200kmph on cruise control in the UK :lol:


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## macaddict111 (Jun 13, 2018)

RobinHelsby said:


> meszrum said:
> 
> 
> > 150km/h Cruise control ON / Driving Mode D / 3600rpm / 6th gear => kickdown => DSG shifts to 5th gear
> ...


What meszrum posted looks exactly how mine works (although I very rarely go this fast and I'm jealous).

The kickdown switch at the end of throttle travel is a very important part of M. It will take you to the lowest possible gear that doesn't go over redline, even if it's very close to redline, which is sort of how M is supposed to work for track driving specifically. S is a more common sense approach, i.e. "hey you probably don't want to drop into 4th at 6500 RPM just to go to 5th after 0.5 seconds. D is of course "we're going to spool the turbo and give you WOT in the same gear so you don't wake up your passenger".

It's interesting to hear you had such a problem with a DSG oil change. The Haldex oil looks simple enough to change on my own, but I was thinking I'd have a dealer do the DSG change as it looked very odd to get the fill level correct. Now I'm even less inclined to try...


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## ross_t_boss (Feb 28, 2017)

Have you tried comparing 'kick-down' on pedal vs the left-paddle hold?

On the RS you don't get pedal kick-down in M so have to use the left-paddle. There it will take the lowest gear, even if it's just below the redline, so I generally don't use it. Maybe downshift into a tight corner (but usually would have flicked down on the paddles) but the typical 'because I want to down shift and accelerate to pass' scenario is where it frequently puts it in too low of a gear, so I avoid using it.

In Sport it has a lower RPM threshold and gets it almost always right with kick-down, but again the left-paddle hold takes the lowest gear. I didn't check drive but presume it's the same.

What I find myself doing is push the stick back right and mash it when going for a downshift from a high gear to the lowest (sensible) gear for an overtake. I'd prefer if, in Manual, the left-paddle behaviour was the same, because it makes the feature pretty useless in practice (although it does make sense).


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## no name (Feb 16, 2014)

These things have a mind of their own at the bets of times.

You can get a dsg tune and set the parameters yourself if you know what you're doing.

http://www.goapr.co.uk/products/tcu_upg ... x_fxx.html


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## digital_dreamer (Aug 28, 2011)

I enjoy it in manual and in the RS it doesn't change either when it hits the Rev limiter.

If you let the Rev drop to low in a gear it will down shit.

Also if you hold the right paddle it will go for the highest gear.

So it's normal for kick down to work in m on the other tt's?


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

digital_dreamer said:


> I enjoy it in manual and in the RS it doesn't change either when it hits the Rev limiter.
> 
> If you let the Rev drop to low in a gear it will down shit.
> 
> ...


I've disabled the switch under the throttle pedal as I don't want mine down shitting when I don't want it to.


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## ross_t_boss (Feb 28, 2017)

digital_dreamer said:


> If you let the Rev drop to low in a gear it will down shit





powerplay said:


> I've disabled the switch under the throttle pedal as I don't want mine down shitting


That's what we call it when the DSG get's it wrong eh, a 'down shit' :lol:

Yeah the 'lesser' models with downshift even in manual, and upshift at the red line, as does my wife's Golf R. I quite like the behaviour in M on the RS - only shift if I want to, useful to take it to the redline when I know I am backing off in a sec and don't want the shift. Not that it's really an issue on a DSG!


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## WL80 (Jul 10, 2018)

Just smack the shifter to the M position and have fun with paddles. Goes much quicker, smoother and effective than any manual, except when you shift more than 1 gear at a time...which is not too often.


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## meszrum (Jun 27, 2013)

I am back after a while - dealer is still workin' out the solution related to the DSG box...

However in the meantime I would like to ask owners of TTS S-Tronic about the rpm behaviour when coming to the stop.
This is how mine behaves (I noticed it after DSG oil change):
https://photos.app.goo.gl/518xkpWZxaySDfam8

As you can clearly see the rpm drops to the level of 600 which causes vibration that is followed by audible clutch disengage (also felt as a "pop" coming from the transmission).

The question is as follows: do your cars' rpm behave the same when coming to a stop?


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

I don't have a TTS so unable to offer anything but I did notice your gear indicator goes D4>D3>D2>D>D2>D1

I can't see that would be correct under any circumstances, the extra D looks to be an error?


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## meszrum (Jun 27, 2013)

Thank you for pointing it out. I did not notice this extra D behaviour.


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## Mark Pred (Feb 1, 2017)

powerplay said:


> digital_dreamer said:
> 
> 
> > I enjoy it in manual and in the RS it doesn't change either when it hits the Rev limiter.
> ...


I don't get why you'd disable it :? as it's really easy to train yourself not to push through and depress it. Besides, it's useful to have the functionality in an emergency, where you need to react quickly and increase speed. Much quicker to use the kick-down button than bang away at the left paddle&#8230;


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