ammtzmtz

If there's something I wish the '05 had it's paddle shifters! Can I damage my tranny if I manually shift 1st-2nd-3rd-D? I saw another thread on this but it hit a dead end and left the answer unclear.

owc6

I don't have a Z51 on my '05, but I always shift by hand (both up and down). So far no problems tranny-wise (knock-wood). She has 192,000 miles on her, and is going strong! As long as all the nannies are on, she shifts very smoothly, but it takes a split-second to do the shift. It's just a matter of practice so you can anticipate when the shift will occur. Without the nannies, it seems rough on the shift, though.


lisa

NoRuls

I hate the paddle shift. Put the shifting back on the floor where it belongs!

dcarter0001

Hand shifting the A4 will not hurt anything. What will hurt is letting it shift to high gear at slow speed and then flooring it. It will shift to the lowest gear with a loud bang coming from the rear end.

ammtzmtz

What would that bang be?

ammtzmtz

Thank you! I appreciate you chiming in and sharing true experience! Many Vette drivers seem to speculate that there are definite risks and usually say "Don't Do It!... It'll damage the transmission!"

1rusty1

Your differential and transmission sitting on the ground. The 05 A4 has a weak spot in the differential and when racing hard (wheel hop), owners have experienced failure. There are also many who have never lost the differential/transmission due to this. I’ve dropped into 1st rolling 20 or 25mph when merging on a long ramp, and it will pin you to your seat. I didn’t bust anything up but I don’t want to find out either so don't race it.

I have also read that others have driven their 05s hard and have never had an issue.

KX

How does the Z51 option have ANYTHING to do with how you shift? Do tell....!!
And in case you did not know: new brakes are cheaper than a new transmission!!

ammtzmtz

I just gave the specifics of the car I own. Not using the manual shifting to stop, just on take off.

EVRose

The A4 does have a weaker differential case than A6 but its the '05 M6 that has problems with wheel hop. Not A4.

billyboy47

to each his own. i drove enough manuals in my life, time to relax now and enjoy paddle shifting without the clutch. only way i drive my car, paddle shifting. grrrrrrrrrreat!!

NoRuls

I should have been more specific. I have an auto also but prefer to have the shifting on the floor.

Kenny94945

FWIW I manually shift my 05 A4 going so far as to blip the throttle to aid in smoothness.
Current mileage 35K no issues.

I have changed the trans oil at 10 and 25K miles and oil looked good w/ no visual contaminents.

Did this with my C4 and C5 also.

So...I have not add any issues by manually shifting an automatic trans in a Vette.

ammtzmtz

Thank you for the response! I don't do it all the time but it's nice to do once in a while to get a bit more sound out of my Corsa Xtreme!

jimmie jam

I did it on two of my A4 C5's all the time. Should not be an issue at all,,,,

cclive

Good, then it's fine. If you are constantly using the downshifting to slow the car when coming to a stop, it will wear out the transmission faster. As stated above, brake pads are far less expensive than transmissions.

ammtzmtz

Great feedback everyone! I feel a little better about manually shifting my A4!

windyC6

The paddle shifters on these C-6"s, while a nice novelty, are just that, a novelty. They don't make the trannie shift any firmer than a normal auto with a stick in the console, or even on the column for that matter. Of course if your in the throttle at high RPM's then you'll get a harder, somewhat quicker shift, but it has nothing to do with the paddle shifters as its all an internal trannie thing. There are people that post that using the paddles is just the same as driving a manual.....HUM....never could figure that one out....LOL. Also, I would like to pass on to friends on why using an auto to often to slow down will wear out trannie faster ?? There must be some kind of explanation for this that I can pass on ?? I guess all those times I used the trannie in our truck to keep the pace slower while towing our boat on downhill grades through the mountains wasn't such a good idea ???