# Gearbox choppy at low speeds



## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

In a *slow traffic*, the *S-tronic gearbox* is *jerky & choppy * at *low speeds*. Its usually when I let the car cruse on its own (with no usage of the gas pedal) and then accelerate just a tiny bit.

Is this normal?

My car is _*2015 TT 2.0TFSI Quattro S-tronic.*_


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

I don't have a 2.0 but I'm pretty confident it's not normal, you should be able gently apply the throttle and accelerate smoothly after lifting off regardless of road speed.

I doubt this is a manifest of the gearbox and most likely the engine, either fuel delivery, injectors or something like that. Someone who knows more about engines will probably comment!


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## Macauley (May 31, 2017)

There was a recent post on the same issue. I have a manual gearbox and experience the same thing, it's not very smooth at low cruising speeds


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Macauley said:


> There was a recent post on the same issue. I have a manual gearbox and experience the same thing, it's not very smooth at low cruising speeds


Yeah I revived that thread. Its an old one. Apparently there is a possible software update for the transmission that may ease the problem but not get rid of it completely.


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## zooks (Sep 15, 2017)

captainhero17 said:


> In a *slow traffic*, the *S-tronic gearbox* is *jerky & choppy * at *low speeds*. Its usually when I let the car cruse on its own (with no usage of the gas pedal) and then accelerate just a tiny bit.
> 
> Is this normal?
> 
> My car is _*2015 TT 2.0TFSI Quattro S-tronic.*_


Doesn't sound right at all. 
My 2.0 MY18 is very smooth in that senario with no jerking at all. Maybe later cars already have that update?


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

zooks said:


> captainhero17 said:
> 
> 
> > In a *slow traffic*, the *S-tronic gearbox* is *jerky & choppy * at *low speeds*. Its usually when I let the car cruse on its own (with no usage of the gas pedal) and then accelerate just a tiny bit.
> ...


Prob, prob man.  I will ask the dealers next week to do the updates when I go there to fix my seats. (you are lucky if your seats dont break in less than 5000miles) [smiley=bigcry.gif]


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## Macauley (May 31, 2017)

zooks said:


> captainhero17 said:
> 
> 
> > In a *slow traffic*, the *S-tronic gearbox* is *jerky & choppy * at *low speeds*. Its usually when I let the car cruse on its own (with no usage of the gas pedal) and then accelerate just a tiny bit.
> ...


I've got the MY18 so it can't be down to that.


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## jhoneyman (Aug 8, 2012)

What speeds are we talking about here?


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## powerplay (Feb 8, 2008)

Probably useful if someone could post a video that shows the issue in question?

I don't have the same car but am nonetheless curious!


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## Omychron (Sep 9, 2016)

I have the same car, same year. Don't have this issue...
Slow speeds when gearbox is in S can be jerky, but that's intended I believe. Car's more eager to go in S, so lurches forward a bit as soon as you touch the accelerator.
A video would indeed be nice, I'll be able to tell you the difference with my car right away.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

jhoneyman said:


> What speeds are we talking about here?


Like say you are in a heavy traffic jam. 
So once you start moving, you cannot exactly go very fast (or you will hit the car in front of you).

Therefore, you just release the brake pedal and allow the car to start moving on its own. Speed like 3-6mph and then just so the car wont stop, you give it a small press on the accelerator. It can start jerking back and forth.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Its like the gas pedal has a "dead zone" where pressing it nothing happens. And all of the sudden it delivers more gas than you initially required. (almost as if the turbo kicks in with out the need for it)

You all would agree that If you are planing to slug at 3-6mph and possibly accelerate just 5 more mph, that you DONT need your turbo to kick in order to accomplish that. :lol:

Its almost as if the car thinks that after such a slow drive you now want to accelerate normally and activates the turbo.

Yep that's the best way to describe it! 
"Turbo activating and overdoing with the power delivery when in reality you just want to accelerate from 6mph to 12mph."

Transmission or engine misreading your intentions and situation.


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## zooks (Sep 15, 2017)

captainhero17 said:


> Its like the gas pedal has a "dead zone" where pressing it nothing happens. And all of the sudden it delivers more gas than you initially required. (almost as if the turbo kicks in with out the need for it)
> 
> You all would agree that If you are planing to slug at 3-6mph and possibly accelerate just 5 more mph, that you DONT need your turbo to kick in order to accomplish that. :lol:
> 
> ...


Found myself in slow moving traffic today so put it the car in dynamic to see if it made any difference when crawling along at walking pace and it didn't. Apart from holding on for higher revs in the gears so 1st - 2nd change is more noticable it still picks up smoothly.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

zooks said:


> captainhero17 said:
> 
> 
> > Its like the gas pedal has a "dead zone" where pressing it nothing happens. And all of the sudden it delivers more gas than you initially required. (almost as if the turbo kicks in with out the need for it)
> ...


Maybe it is more noticeable in S mode. Because I did experience this in S mode only. I will try to test it out these days. For some reason I didnt have an excuse to drive for the past 3 days. 
And when I did I took our 2004 Fiat Panda 
Now there's a car with a dodgy automatic transmission :lol: :lol:


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## Macauley (May 31, 2017)

Had a go on mine and this is what I noticed - in 1st gear and around 8-12 MPH the car has a pull feeling as soon as I take my foot off the accelerator. It was as if I pushed my foot on the break. Even after accelerating gently at this speed it becomes hard to keep it smooth.


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## captainhero17 (Apr 10, 2018)

Macauley said:


> Had a go on mine and this is what I noticed - in 1st gear and around 8-12 MPH the car has a pull feeling as soon as I take my foot off the accelerator. It was as if I pushed my foot on the break. Even after accelerating gently at this speed it becomes hard to keep it smooth.


Yeah that is 100% exactly how I experience it. Did you test this with S mode?
The pull effect might be the engine braking. I noticed that the engine braking is aggressive when i set my car to dynamic and S mode.


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## Macauley (May 31, 2017)

captainhero17 said:


> Macauley said:
> 
> 
> > Had a go on mine and this is what I noticed - in 1st gear and around 8-12 MPH the car has a pull feeling as soon as I take my foot off the accelerator. It was as if I pushed my foot on the break. Even after accelerating gently at this speed it becomes hard to keep it smooth.
> ...


This was on a manual transmission. I'll try using different driving modes next time and see if I notice a difference.


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