Kick-down facility on 2019 A1 35 TFSI - with manual gearbox.

[MALC-AS24]

Just discovered that the fully depressed accelerator pedal operates the kick-down switch ( I thought normally only fitted to automatics ) on my manual gearbox A1.   When car is in "dynamic" mode  it seems to sharpen throttle response on initial acceleration from standstill. --  or am I imagining it ?

Also, does it reset to normal, when ignition is turned off ?

Anyone fitted a "Sprint Booster" throttle controller, to overcome the vague/delayed throttle response on cars now using "fly-by-wire"control.

 

 

 

[Stevey Y]

7 hours ago, MALC-AS24 said:

Just discovered that the fully depressed accelerator pedal operates the kick-down switch ( I thought normally only fitted to automatics ) on my manual gearbox A1.   When car is in "dynamic" mode  it seems to sharpen throttle response on initial acceleration from standstill. --  or am I imagining it ?

Also, does it reset to normal, when ignition is turned off ?

Anyone fitted a "Sprint Booster" throttle controller, to overcome the vague/delayed throttle response on cars now using "fly-by-wire"control.

Hi, sorry to burst your bubble but its not a kick down you are experiencing its the slightly stiffer part of the throttle control valve crescent combined with the much less used flat out position of the throttle pedal.

Dynamic does exactly what you described but I would not be attaching any other control system to the existing set up as you may well cause yourself lots of problems with the BCM when it decides it doesn't like what you have attached, fault codes, worse case scenario is it will refuse to let the car start, you don't think Audi would not have built something in to the car like that already if they thought it would sell more cars.

Regards Steve.

 

 

 

[MALC-AS24]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your info' - it all makes much more sense.   I must admit that having "clicked " the pedal fully down, a placebo effect combined with wishful thinking crept in.  Having always driven ( for many, many years ! ) naturally aspirated cars with a throttle cable, giving instant throttle response.  The style and build quality are great, but I have been disappointed with the performance characteristics  of the  A1 - 35TFSI ( bought new in 2019 ).  The A1 - 40TFSI was/is only available in automatic and begin "old" school, I wanted manual, and despite the bhp being somewhat lower than my then car, the 35TFSI  seemed reasonable with the possibility of future "enhancements" !

On that subject, bearing in mind that all cars are under tuned as standard, what are your views on a sensible remap ( once out of warranty ) from a reputable company - GAD Tuning - DMS or Celtic .  

Regards,

Malc

 

[Stevey Y]

6 hours ago, MALC-AS24 said:

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your info' - it all makes much more sense.   I must admit that having "clicked " the pedal fully down, a placebo effect combined with wishful thinking crept in.  Having always driven ( for many, many years ! ) naturally aspirated cars with a throttle cable, giving instant throttle response.  The style and build quality are great, but I have been disappointed with the performance characteristics  of the  A1 - 35TFSI ( bought new in 2019 ).  The A1 - 40TFSI was/is only available in automatic and begin "old" school, I wanted manual, and despite the bhp being somewhat lower than my then car, the 35TFSI  seemed reasonable with the possibility of future "enhancements" !

On that subject, bearing in mind that all cars are under tuned as standard, what are your views on a sensible remap ( once out of warranty ) from a reputable company - GAD Tuning - DMS or Celtic .  

Regards,

Malc

 

Hi Malc, I like the statement under tuned, thats whats known in the trade as the reliability factor the car manufacturers always bump up the BHP when testing to insane levels until engine components systematically fail they will address these problems by using another stronger component or beefing up things like con rods etc then when they are happy that these things will no longer break in that level of tune they then reverse the tuning by about 40% this is the reliability factor, they then go on a massive road trip through various climates throughout the world testing thing such as aircon performance and dust sensitivity of climate control, we then get to colder hemispheres where the cabin and engine cooling systems are trialed for efficiency and passenger comfort over what ends up as starship milage, all this data is logged and collated to give an overall assessment of the vehicles suitability for every market they are ever likely to sell their cars in, small design changes for colder climates are made by the addition of engine block heaters and fuel fired cabin pre heaters.

As for the remap that is a personal decision, I am not a massive fan personally but there are others who will tell you whatever I say is rubbish but from what I have witnessed over my lifetime they can be a complete disaster, go faster chip boxes at the lower end of the scale all work on the same principle, they go between the fuel rail and the fuel rail temperature sensor these devices send back a signal to the ECU that the engine is cold so the fuel enrichment device stays on, yes you get more power but the end result is over fuelling which gets fuel into the sump oil and destroys the oil lubricity in record time this = premature engine wear.

We then get to the type of remap that involves removing the ECU and replacing microprocessors in the unit all well and good until you consider that the two most expensive production  parts on a car are the interior and the microprocessors in the ECU they pay top dollar for the latter to gain the reliability they require, the one thing I know for certain is these companies cant afford the same microprocessors although they will tell you theirs are better than the manufacturers this is rubbish as the manufacturer sourced microprocessor is capable of executing a command ten times faster than microprocessors on a commercial airliner.

Then there is the remap device through the OBD port these were always less problematic as the map can be retrieved to the loading device and the car goes back to the normal mapping, as I say its a personal choice but you cant get away from the old advice, if you want fast buy factory fast as they have spent billions developing fast and reliable and would not leave massive power gains on the table for some company to pick up with some trick software and charge you £300-500 to install, do you not consider that people like Audi would not rather have that themselves by selling a retrofit software, they won't do it because remaps inherently involve more fuel at some point which raises emissions and eats into the reliability factor, plus the fact they would have to have a statutory warranty can you imagine how many people would be screaming when it goes horribly wrong, just look at the current emissions scandal. well thats my ten pence worth and realistically not everyone would agree, thats the privilege of democracy and free speech.

Regards Steve.

[MALC-AS24]

Hi Steve,

Once again, thank you for your good, solid and knowledgeable advice. Methinks you are or were in the auto/design industry. I spent my working life designing Marconi transmitters and although an ageing petrol head, I gained my love and knowledge of cars/driving by experience over many years - my first mods were wider wheels and replacing SU carbs with Weber twin chokes - that's shows how old I am !

Prior to buying the Audi two years ago, my car for 18 years was a MG-ZR160, modified and remapped ( by the original MG software design  engineer)  to around 190bhp.  Great motor, but eventually after 170,000 miles, the dreaded rust got a hold, and was becoming a money pit.

 So, I think I will leave things as standard on the Audi - certainly until the warranty expires, and by that time hopefully I will have got use to the turbo lag and throttle response - fingers crossed. It's still quite nippy if not mind blowing fast.

Thanks again,

Regards,

Malc