Balancing the clutch & throttle

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Rob Earl

Past Member
I know this has been a topic before but I thought I'd ask any owners of new cars if they have difficulty holding the car on the clutch.
I've only driven our A2 a few times and always find the throttle to not do a lot for the first inch or so of travel, then shoot way up the rev range. This makes pulling away quickly an event, with 2 possible outcomes, a)the boy racer look or b)stalling it.
My wife who uses the A2 on a daily basis can now drive it fairly smoothly & get a good start away from the lights most of the time but commented tonight that it still catches her out sometimes.

For those who have noted this problem in the past, was Audi ever approached to ask why the throttle does not have a linear action?

1.4SE petrol in Merlot Red, Biege interior, 16" 5 spoke alloys, DIS, Open Sky, Elec rear windows.
 
Rob,

I think this subject was one of the very first that I can remember on the forum, and it did bring about a few humorous comments.

When I first acquired my A2 I was also driving my Audi Quattro, which for the record had a super gearbox and pedal controls. This mix in itself became fatal, and with the A2 being so painful it had the daft knock on affect that when I then jumped into the Quattro it was as though “it” was a problem. The day I departed with the Quattro things started getting a bit better, although I seriously believe I endured 6 months of stalling the car – especially in situation of pulling away gently.

It might be interesting to know how Jon Merrick and his wife are getting on with their A2, especially when Jon generally drives his A6.

Anyway, in my early days of ownership I bitterly complained to Audi UK and the dealer regarding what I genuinely thought was the worst gearbox and feet controls that I had ever come across in my life. I did eventually get a new gearbox and clutch after 10 months of complaining, and this was an improvement – but that’s about all.

Crashing the gears was also a popular pastime with numerous A2 owners (petrol), and this appeared to be brought about over the fact that upon depressing the clutch the engine revs would slightly increase. The best of tricks appeared to be to either drive like a lunatic, or upon depressing the clutch to give it a couple of seconds before changing up. This I mention just in case “her indoors” is suffering such problems.

For your info I drove several new A6 2.5 TDI Quattro’s (6 speed) and never had any problems – but the A2 was never that nice. Thankfully the gearbox & controls in my Golf PD 130 are absolutely brilliant, and this really matters to donuts like me who get satisfaction out of changing gear.

Regards
John Disdale
 
Rob,

no problem with the gearbox on mine. The gear lever clicks reassuringly into place and I find the clutch well-weighted.

JR

A2 1.6 FSI, Cobalt blue, OpenSky, etc.
 
Rob

My A2 suffers no mechanical problems, like John says-I find the gearchange to be precise in a "switch your gearstick into whatever gear you require" way and the clutch is fine.

However, I do know where your coming from. I'm picking up the A2 style of driving, which is to dial in plenty of revs if you want a smart getaway. If you bring the clutch in and then try and apply more revs you have a 1 second lull where nothing happens.

I have a feeling it is to do with emission control-I remember reading about Skoda's Fabia and it's throttl control which when you press can take a split second to respond.

Keep experimenting with the A2 and you will soon find your ideal driving style.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
I agree the gearbox itself is a delight to use - very precise.

It's just the matter of pulling away smoothly. After getting out of my Punto and into the A2, it takes quite a while to get used to where the throttle actually starts to do something and also where the clutch starts to bite. I find it awkward to drive the car in slow traffic without the revs bouncing up and down like a yo-yo.

But like you say Steve, keep experimenting. We're off to Scotland on Friday so this should give ample opportunity get used to the A2 - provided I'm allowed to drive for some of the journey.

1.4SE petrol in Merlot Red, Biege interior, 16" 5 spoke alloys, DIS, Open Sky, Elec rear windows.
 
Perhaps its because I have relatively small feet, but before I had the new clutch I experienced many situations where my entire feet were raised off the floor before the clutch did its job. It was crazy.
 
Hi Rob,

I have to say that the gear change/selection in my A2 is the best I have had in any car and there have been a few.

The previous car was a Saab 9 3 which must have had the worst gear box ever fitted to a £25000 car, even the service manager said it was agricultural. At the same time my wife's 2002 Espace's gear box felt tight and precise. Now the Saab has been replaced with the A2, the Renault's gear box feels vague.

As for moving off, I am able to jump between the two cars with no biting point problems. The only thing that I have watch is the amount of revs I give each car. The Espace needs loads while the A2 TDI needs the softly softly approach, especially in the wet.

HT.

TDI SE AMULET RED, OPEN SKY,1/2 LEATHER, BOSE
 
Our 1.4 A2 take some getting used to get away smoothly without dialling in too many revs or stalling. The gearbox action itself is great.

The 1.6 FSIs I have tried (and later 1.4s) seem to have a completely different gearbox action, and seem to drive more normally. All the TDIs I've tried also had this different gearbox feel and were no problem getting away.

Dave

1.4SE -> 1.6SE 5 weeks and counting
 
I find the gearbox and gear change are really smooth and precise, on a recent trip to the lake district (a 300 mile round trip) the car was so easy to drive it was like someone else was doing it for me
 
I might add from my limited experiences there was a difference between the petrol and diesel models – with the diesel being better.
 
I also find the gearbox and clutch smooth and easy to use. Certainly no problems pulling away.

- Alex

A2 1.6 FSE SE
 
I would concur that the 1.4 petrol and diesel models have different gearbox components somewhere as the of the 4 A2's I have driven (2 petrol, 2 diesel) the diesel gearbox was far easier to use pulling away and during driving.
 
Possibly due to higher torque figures of the diesel do the gearboxes differ in petrol/diesel?.

Steve - 2003 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior
 
Steve,

At the last account I was told there were 2 different gear box parts numbers for diesel, and 2 for petrol. Obviously subject to chassis No’s.

Regards
John Disdale
 
I believe the gearbox in the petrol has a light allow casing, wheras the diesel has a cast iron casing, presumably meaning that the diesel gearbox is of heavier construction beacause of the extra torque.
This means they are different boxes.
My 1.4 petrol had a really sweet change by about 3000 miles, gears dropped satisfyingly into place. It took me a while to get used to the lack of bite in the clutch; I stalled several times in the first few weeks of ownership.
The diesel has a much more positive bite.
I didn't notice anything non-linear about the throttle though.


MartinW - Dolphin Grey 1.4SE
 
Speaking of balancing clutch/accelerator... I've pretty much managed to get it down now after 18 months, it's mostly smooth. BUT it still gets me sometimes when I'm not concentrating.

Suffolk is more dangerous than you think...
 
Hi JD - Yes. 'fraid so. I picked it up last Thursday. It's actually 4 years old with 15k on the clock, but it drives like new; and that 6 pot petrol engine makes such a nice noise.........

I nearly went for a Golf 130PDi, but the dealers wanted silly money for 6 month old examples with 10k on.

I'll still opo up here and add my twopenny worth if that's ok with you guys:)

MartinW
 
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