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[RapidRon]

The throttle control continues to be the one major (and I mean major) disappointment in my '01 A4 2.8. We've owned it now for most of a year, and put another 15,000 miles on it's original 13,000, and have had no solutions offered by the dealer service department. The car is still under extended warranty, but the dealer says there is nothing to fix! They think it's "normal". My wife and I agree that it's the worst throttle behavior of any of the 15 - 20 cars that we've owned over the years. We never know how the engine will respond, and have to "pussy-foot" the throttle, lest the engine decide to jump ahead, instead of delaying or starting smoothly (rare). No more "care-free" driving -- this throttle demands one's attention.

Is there a chip or repair/modification one can make to improve the throttle control? For all of you 1.8T owners, this engine has no turbo, so it's not "turbo lag". I think it's bad software and/or bad sensors and throttle servo design. This is the first year of the "drive-by-wire" throttle.

Ron

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[Chuck]

How long ago did you take it to the dealer? There is a recall for reprogramming the transmission control module. I don't remember if it applies to your specific model year but its worth checking into. I'm guessing you have an automatic transmission? Has the throttle body been cleaned lately. They get sludge built up inside like no tomorrow. That really messes up the throttle response. They didn't find any fault codes in the computer? I wouldn't mess with any chips. Your asking for trouble if you add a chip to an already troubled computer.

Good Luck
Chuck
"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote in message news:po2yd.169649$T02.56021@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
The throttle control continues to be the one major (and I mean major) disappointment in my '01 A4 2.8. We've owned it now for most of a year, and put another 15,000 miles on it's original 13,000, and have had no solutions offered by the dealer service department. The car is still under extended warranty, but the dealer says there is nothing to fix! They think it's "normal". My wife and I agree that it's the worst throttle behavior of any of the 15 - 20 cars that we've owned over the years. We never know how the engine will respond, and have to "pussy-foot" the throttle, lest the engine decide to jump ahead, instead of delaying or starting smoothly (rare). No more "care-free" driving -- this throttle demands one's attention.

Is there a chip or repair/modification one can make to improve the throttle control? For all of you 1.8T owners, this engine has no turbo, so it's not "turbo lag". I think it's bad software and/or bad sensors and throttle servo design. This is the first year of the "drive-by-wire" throttle.

Ron

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[RapidRon]

I've had it to the dealer twice in the last 6 months. I don't remember if
they cleaned the throttle body. It seemed to help for about a day when they
reset the computer. I couldn't get them to change anything or adjust
anything, since they said the car was normal.

Yes, it's an automatic. They didn't say anything about reprogramming the
tranny, but the main problem is starting up from a stop, even though it's
not so great getting off and on the throttle in normal driving - but
tolerable. This engine has classic no-low-end-torque, so the tranny does a
lot of shifting. That, coupled with the erratic throttle, makes it hard to
get a smooth ride. Passengers wonder why the driver is so jerky (so to
speak).

Does anyone else in the group own an '01 2.8? Is yours smooth?

Ron

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"Chuck" <cefreeland@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:ZB4yd.3189$h.1345@trnddc04...
How long ago did you take it to the dealer? There is a recall for
reprogramming the transmission control module. I don't remember if it
applies to your specific model year but its worth checking into. I'm
guessing you have an automatic transmission? Has the throttle body been
cleaned lately. They get sludge built up inside like no tomorrow. That
really messes up the throttle response. They didn't find any fault codes in
the computer? I wouldn't mess with any chips. Your asking for trouble if
you add a chip to an already troubled computer.

Good Luck
Chuck
"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote in message
news:po2yd.169649$T02.56021@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...
The throttle control continues to be the one major (and I mean major)
disappointment in my '01 A4 2.8. We've owned it now for most of a year, and
put another 15,000 miles on it's original 13,000, and have had no solutions
offered by the dealer service department. The car is still under extended
warranty, but the dealer says there is nothing to fix! They think it's
"normal". My wife and I agree that it's the worst throttle behavior of any
of the 15 - 20 cars that we've owned over the years. We never know how the
engine will respond, and have to "pussy-foot" the throttle, lest the engine
decide to jump ahead, instead of delaying or starting smoothly (rare). No
more "care-free" driving -- this throttle demands one's attention.

Is there a chip or repair/modification one can make to improve the
throttle control? For all of you 1.8T owners, this engine has no turbo, so
it's not "turbo lag". I think it's bad software and/or bad sensors and
throttle servo design. This is the first year of the "drive-by-wire"
throttle.

Ron

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[Richard Goulding]

"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote in message
news:aL5yd.170636$T02.138506@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...

[RapidRon]

Thanks, Richard.

I thought that 2001 was the first year with the drive by wire throttle. Has
yours had any service or adjustments?

Ron

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"Richard Goulding" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:SzOdnQl2eoGc1lTcSa8jmA@karoo.co.uk...

[Richard Goulding]

"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote in message
news:c1ryd.172714$T02.15005@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com...

[Dennis Wyatt]

I have a 2001 2.8 A4 with Auto tranny. When we first got the car it seemed like there was a throttle response problem, but we were used to driving a benz which starts out in 2nd gear for an extremely smooth take-off. 1st gear on the A4 seems way too low for normal driving. You have to be really easy on the gas pedal to start smoothly in the A4. I've also been back to the dealer and was told this car performs as it should. He then drove it to show me how smooth he could make it accelerate. He was right and we finally got used to the low range 1st gear. I think you have a different problem and should find a diffferent dealer.

[Wayne Crannell]

In article <po2yd.169649$T02.56021@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com>,
"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote:

[Wayne Crannell]

In article <aL5yd.170636$T02.138506@twister.rdc-kc.rr.com>,
"RapidRon" <No-SpamRapidRon@pclink.com> wrote:

[petenice00]

Ron

A late response to an old thread perhaps but I was just wondering if you
had resolved your TB issues? I seem to recall that AoA had recalls on TBs
which may have included your 2.8. My 2000 2.8 has had some issues with its
TB and as one other member suggested, you need to take it and the boot off
for cleaning. If your idle is a little uneasy and hunts up and down,
that's usually a good indication.

Since your car has little mileage in comparison to mine, you probably
don't have to worry about carbon-buildup just yet but a heads up down the
road. It's not an issue really, just a result of cold weather, rich
running engines, and in my case short distance 'cold' drives. And AoA did
have a service bulletin on that as well in the past..surprise/surprise. I
brought my car to a Bosch Service Tech and had it motor-vaced to suck out
the carbon. Much better....:)


As far as your auto/tip tranny goes, I upgraded my Transmission Control
Module with an aftermarket version from GIAC. It basically remaps the
shifting delays between gears from 1.0 second to 0.2 seconds. I'll tell
you, for the 400 bucks one would pay for it, you'll be happy with money
well spent.

I don't bother driving in auto mode, because it is
a dog no matter what. Tip is the only way but no
sub for manual.

Also, DBW versions of our cars started in the later part of 99-00.

Pete