Flat spot on my 1.4S

[justgti]

Can any one help i have recently purchased a 2001 1.4 A2 with 25000 Miles on it and full Audi History yet when you pull off from standing it has the biggest flat spot i have every felt, when the cars at speed its fine it seems to be at low speed can anyone help??

And i have a slight knocking coming from the front end any ideas please let me know. apart from that i love the car and it got one of the best build qualities i`ve seen on a small car.
Please help as i dont want to got to Audi and have to pay a fortune to get someone to look at it..

Thanks Again Justin

[ULP]

Hi Justin, welcome to the A2 owners club. I'm glad your enjoying your A2.

Now the bad news - that 'aint no flat-spot you have but the generally tardy performance of the 1.4 petrol at low engine speeds, something which I noticed on the test drive and sent me in the direction of the 1.4TDI. If you do a search on here you will see this has been mentioned before. However, as you have also noticed, the 1.4 petrol is perfectly fine when up to speed, which logically seems the wrong way round as you might expect performance to tail off.

I suspect you will get used to it and realise that some gaps in traffic just aren't for you!

As for the knocking, it is common complaint which I think stems from the lower ball joints on the front suspension - a replacement jobbie but I don't think it is too expensive ;)

[Andi]

Justin, in my opinion the weak performance at low revs is somehow related to the wireless throttle.
It seems like the ECU isn't "fast" enough coping with how your right foot moves.
When you get used to this, the performance improves: try to anticipate a little bit your right foot movements, compensating the "throttle lag".

[spike]

Hi Andi
There have been several posts relating to this problem. Some owners feel the lack of power is made worse when the aircon is switched on
Check out the attached link
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4162&highlight=power

Cheers Spike

[Andi]

Hi Andi
There have been several posts relating to this problem. Some owners feel the lack of power is made worse when the aircon is switched on
Check out the attached link
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4162&highlight=power

Cheers Spike

Hi Spike :)

Uhm... Actually I totally agree with you - probably my poor English has led to a misunderstanding.

In my opinion:
1) the 1.4 petrol engine is not "torquey" at all at low revs (this is for sure)
2) the electronic throttle pedal response definitely sucks (sorry to be so sincere, but there's a loooooong lag when you push it)
3) the clutch is not the easiest to use (especially if you're not used to it)
4) the aircon uses too much power

The sum of these 4 facts produces what Justin described (and is confirmed in the linked thread).

IMHO if you learn to drive differently (i.e. if you "anticipate" the throttle lag and if you get used to the clutch), #1 and #4 will still be true, but things will get better :o

[justgti]

Thanks you all for your help i will have to rev a little harder from now on???:

[spike]

Hi Andi,
It was my mistake - I meant to address the mail to justin and put your name instead.
As regards your English, it is excellent. I noted the Milano location but assumed English was your first language and you had moved there from the UK.

Cheers Spike

[spike]

Hi Justin
Re the knocking noise. As ULP suggested, it is likely to be the front suspension - either the anti-rollbar bushes or the rollbar drop links - these are rods about 300mmm long with a ball joint at each end and connect the rollbar to the suspension struts

Cheers Spike