Paddle Shift Slack
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,597
Likes: 101
From: TN PA
CI 5-6-7-8-9-10-11 Vet
The OP is talking about a coast down hesitation in a normal street situation. Did you notice the speeds he was talking about? GM programed the protection in to lower warranty claims which I can understand in abuse situations. This programming in low speed coast down situations can get you KILLED.
You are coming up to an intersection where you have a green light. You think it might be ready to turn yellow so you let up on the gas for safety. As you coast thru the intersection you look to your left and see a Mack Truck that is not going to stop. You step on the gas quickly to get out of the way. Unfortunately the transmission is taking it's sweet time deciding which gear it wants to be in resulting in a hesitation before the car moves. BAMM! Your t-boned in the drivers door.
Guess what? You are DEAD, or in so much pain you wish you were. Thanks a lot GM, saved a warranty claim on this car though huh.
This type of programming in a performance car is inexcusable. I would rather sign a warranty waiver on the transmission than drive an A6 operating like that. Shame on you GM.
You are coming up to an intersection where you have a green light. You think it might be ready to turn yellow so you let up on the gas for safety. As you coast thru the intersection you look to your left and see a Mack Truck that is not going to stop. You step on the gas quickly to get out of the way. Unfortunately the transmission is taking it's sweet time deciding which gear it wants to be in resulting in a hesitation before the car moves. BAMM! Your t-boned in the drivers door.
Guess what? You are DEAD, or in so much pain you wish you were. Thanks a lot GM, saved a warranty claim on this car though huh.
This type of programming in a performance car is inexcusable. I would rather sign a warranty waiver on the transmission than drive an A6 operating like that. Shame on you GM.
Having owned an A6 for 3 years, once you are aware of the coast down issue, it seems that I learned to drive around it and haven't noticed it for at least 2 years...
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 11,792
Likes: 255
From: Ossining New York
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'12-'13-'14
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 25,015
Likes: 2,709
From: Far NW 'burbs of Chicago
St. Jude Donor '13
Toyota has so many engineering problems with their cars I personally wouldn't use them for a fair comparison to anything.
Yes I have driven 7's, 8's and 10's. Good improvement from 7 to 10 on the paddle shift time. Not very much on the coast down hesitation. A tranny tune helps both problems and I feel it is a must.
You won't really know what I mean by scared until you try to goose it to avoid a possible accident then the hesitation seems to last for ever!
It does not do it every time and some are worse that others. If I went out now and tried to demo it I might or might not be able to duplicate it in a short period of time. Obviously several parameters must be met for the lag to occur. The coast down problem has occurred multiple times but once I pulled out to pass at around 50, goosed it as I normally would and nothing happened. I waited and was about to let up when it down shifted to far and if not for traction control might have fish tailed. It literally feels like it doesn't know which gear to pick for a second and then when it does pick its the wrong one!
I'm guessing you have not experienced the lag or hesitation some of us are talking about. Trust me it is not something that you would describe as being common to other auto cars you have owned. If it was you would have given up on autos a long time ago. I actually wish I had a good old turbo 400 in the vette instead of the A6. The only thing I would miss is the overdrive gearing.
Yes I have driven 7's, 8's and 10's. Good improvement from 7 to 10 on the paddle shift time. Not very much on the coast down hesitation. A tranny tune helps both problems and I feel it is a must.
You won't really know what I mean by scared until you try to goose it to avoid a possible accident then the hesitation seems to last for ever!
It does not do it every time and some are worse that others. If I went out now and tried to demo it I might or might not be able to duplicate it in a short period of time. Obviously several parameters must be met for the lag to occur. The coast down problem has occurred multiple times but once I pulled out to pass at around 50, goosed it as I normally would and nothing happened. I waited and was about to let up when it down shifted to far and if not for traction control might have fish tailed. It literally feels like it doesn't know which gear to pick for a second and then when it does pick its the wrong one!
I'm guessing you have not experienced the lag or hesitation some of us are talking about. Trust me it is not something that you would describe as being common to other auto cars you have owned. If it was you would have given up on autos a long time ago. I actually wish I had a good old turbo 400 in the vette instead of the A6. The only thing I would miss is the overdrive gearing.
EDITED TO ADD: I always keep the selector in Sport, I wonder if that makes any difference?
Anyone who can give more details of their lag, please join in so we don't have just wbear beating on his car. I'll be testing on mine when we get some cleaner roads, any heavy throttle in this weather would just produce TC intervention or a trip into the ditch. Or both.
We have had 4 Toyotas and 3 Corvettes (2001, 2006, 2009). Every one of the Corvettes has had more problems in the first two years, than all four of the Toyotas combined in their entire lifetimes. The Corvette problems have not been related to its high performance; they are switches that break, latches that rattle, parts that come loose, electrical components that die, etc. Toyota dosn't make performance cars, but they do make the reliable and efficient transportation I want for the family.
Last edited by Gearhead Jim; Jan 15, 2011 at 04:03 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,510
Likes: 43
From: Tulsa OK
I have not heard a negative thing about Chuck's tunes on any Corvette, so he must be good. It may void your powertrain warranty with GM though.
I have one year left on my 5yr powertrain warranty and then I will probably get a tune. Ed Wright, who I understand is pretty good at this also, has a shop in Tulsa. I drive by there about once a month and there are always Corvettes sitting outside.
I have one year left on my 5yr powertrain warranty and then I will probably get a tune. Ed Wright, who I understand is pretty good at this also, has a shop in Tulsa. I drive by there about once a month and there are always Corvettes sitting outside.
Former Vendor
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 11,792
Likes: 255
From: Ossining New York
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'12-'13-'14
Sorry dude......
But, I'll gladly do a DOWN SOUTH-OUT WEST Chuck CoW TUNE TOUR any time between october and march!
Let's get a promoter working on this!
Chuck CoW
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 878
Likes: 144
From: Little Egypt, USA
Lets take your above scenario and change it to you your driving your M6 through the same intersection in 5th or 6 gear..... How much difference in time will it take you to decide what gear you have to downshift to, depress the clutch find your gear release the clutch and get back on the gas... my guess would be about the same amount of time it takes the A6...
Having owned an A6 for 3 years, once you are aware of the coast down issue, it seems that I learned to drive around it and haven't noticed it for at least 2 years...
Having owned an A6 for 3 years, once you are aware of the coast down issue, it seems that I learned to drive around it and haven't noticed it for at least 2 years...
If a manual driver isn't lazy they have already down shifted as they entered the intersection. That's why I bought an automatic because I'm lazy and don't want to row thru the gears, always considering what gear to be in. I want my GM flagship performance car to shift like one. We know it can because reports from Chuck's and other tuners customers tell a night and day difference.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't want to learn to drive around it. Gm could have tuned it to be in the right gear at the right time but they decided to give it a grandma program to satisfy the bean counters. It is what it is and it sucks!
