I still have less than 1K miles on my new Grand Sport, so I'm looking for some expertise. I had a 2015 M7 previously, just for reference. I like manual shifting, but expected crisp upshifts and downshifts. I'm pretty satisfied with the downshift response, but upshifting is not crisp, rather "slides" into the next gear. I notice it most when rapping out first, and clicking for second. Is everyone else's this way?

 

Are you running in Track or Sport mode?

Shifts and steering are crisper. But watch out for potholes. The suspension is stiffer.

Highly recommend Spring Mountain to teach you the incredible features of the GS.

 

I also notice delayed/slushy upshifts when first starting out with the car, especially the kick in the back from 1st to 2nd. However, once it warms up the shifts become much less noticible. I've seen that if I add a bit more gas before and throughout the upshift, it seems to be a lot crisper and less rough. At WOT, the upshifts are wonderfully crisp and fast. It's as if the car is disappointed in you for not racing 24/7 haha

 

I am slated to go to Spring Mountain later this year. I'm almost never in track mode, mostly in Sport.

 

Admittedly, I have not pushed the car very hard, up will for sure try WOT as you suggest. She'll be on the Iowa Speedway later this summer. Did it last summer with the M7, so I'll be able to compare the A8.

 

Upshift "feel" and responsiveness is affected both by driver mode AND how you are driving. Under heavy acceleration and at higher RPM the upshift is extremely fast. You will find the shift lights are useful (track HUD and/or dash view) in timing your upshifts because RPM climbs very rapidly in lower gear and it is easy to hit the rev limiter before you shift.

As you are doing this keep in mind that if you are relying upon the HUD digital speed readout it lags actual speed since the digits would simply be a blur otherwise. The first time I did a hard acceleration merging on the interstate in my Z06 what I thought was 75 MPH quickly updated to 90 MPH when the HUD caught up; fortunately there wasn't a state trooper lying in wait

 

Crispness is probably relative to the individual. Maybe search for some videos to compare yours to. Here are a couple from Archie. He has raced Corvette's.

 

Although there is a very slight lag, my guess still faster than you can do it with a stick. Worked great on Spring Mountain track.

 

+1 on what vbdenney said. People rag on the speed of the A8 shifts, but it's still faster than shifting a Tremec manual.

Once you get the hang of the auto, it's really a fun transmission. I don't personally feel like I'm missing out by not having a manual.

It does shift faster when track mode is enabled and/or at WOT.

A cool feature, is that while in Auto, you can grab the paddle at any time and temporarily go into manual mode for a few seconds. If you hold the left paddle, it will shift to the lowest possible gear with rev matching. If you hold the right paddle it will instantly go back to auto.

The above being said, if you're quickly accelerating in a drag race fashion, leave it in auto. It will upshift at the right RPM and a faster speed than you can with the paddles. Also try flooring it in auto to get it to launch into performance mode. I don't know how it does it, but the car holds gears and anticipates shifts that are very close to what I'd select on my own using the paddles.

By combining auto and manual mode, depending on the application, you can get what you need out of the auto. There's a slight learning curve, but it's a great transmission.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate the response.

 

Be careful using WOT. You don't want to swap ends and explore the real estate at the side of the road. Ease into WOT to get the feel, be safe.

 

I tried this yesterday. It seems to have fixed it but it's hard to tell after 1 day because it's so intermittent.

 

The adaptive learn instruction TSB is interesting. I hadn't read that before.

This isn't a Z06 so WOT is no big deal.

 

For over a year, my biggest complaint with paddle shifting my car was the lag on the 1-2 part throttle shift. Mine would delay what seemed like an eternity (probably half second or so in real time) from paddle pull to shift initiation, and RPMs would continue to increase for about 500 or so. The other shifts (up and down) were quick enough to suit me but not really instantaneous like an F1 or Indy Car, or even as fast as claimed in the GM literature for the A8.

I learned a little trick from another forum member to lift slightly right after pulling the paddle and the shift seems to initiate quicker with no increase in RPMs. No hard data to support this, it may just be my perception based on doing more things to make a shift, more like in a manual car. Another benefit of this type operation is it sounds so much better!

This works best for me when just cruising or puttering around. If I really want to get going fast, the quickest way is to leave it in "D" and let the computer do ALL the work.

 

Try driving it like a manual. In other words, rev it out a little, hit the upshift paddle, let off the gas, allow it to shift, and back on the gas. If you do this and get your timing down right, you can make it sound a lot like a manual.

 

I also paddle shift most of the time. I have been playing with the 1-2 shift. WOT is a blast, but not very practical (LOL). After playing with it, I think the 1-2 is faster if you shift earlier in the RPM range than you might expect. While accelerating normally click closer to 1.2 K. I know it's counterintuitive, but give it a try. PS: A useful thread is here: Paddle Shifting Tips

 

Thank you!

 

When Using the paddles for normal street driving,what gear do you start up with and what gears to shift to?
I have a 6 speed trans but I am not going to shift 5 times at every start up.

 

Normally you are going to start in first and even in manual mode the automatic will downshift automatically as the vehicle slows so the only time you would have to use the down paddle is if you need more power for passing etc.

I have an A8 in my Z06 and for normal street driving I shift at around 2000 RPM. I can't remember the ratios for the A6 but I expect 5th and 6th gears are both overdrive so you won't get into those at lower speeds. Most of the roads nearby are rural 2 lane roads with a 55 MPH speed limit resulting in normal traffic speeds of 63-65 MPH. I shift into 7th around 50 and 8th once I am up to my usual 60+ cruising speed. In stop and go traffic and when I am on roads with stop signs every block I don't shift as much as the A8 would in automatic mode; no use going to 4th gear moments before slowing for a stop.

The controller won't let you accidentally choose too low or too high a gear with paddle shifting, you will just get a shift denied message.

The only real risk with paddle shifting is if you are completely used to driving only fully automatic transmissions if you are in manual mode you may forget to downshift when you need rapid acceleration in an emergency. Train yourself not to overlook the need to do this, practice as needed because there are times when that split second of extra speed means the difference between safety and an accident.

 

NSC5 summed it up quite nicely, but if you don't want to shift that many times at every start, you're better off putting it in D. With that said, you could also start from 2nd or 3rd, if you really wanted. Not saying that I recommend starting in 2nd or 3rd all the time, but hey it's an option for you...