Anyone care to help an F-body n00b out? I just picked up a '98 Z28 A4 and have a question about the way it shifts. On the way home after puchasing the car I figured I would slightly violate the posted speed limit on the highway. With the transmission in D (with the circle around it) I had it floored. The engine bounced off of the rev limiter a couple of times in 3rd before shifting to 4th. I tried it a few more times and it would always bounce off of the rev limiter in 3rd before shifting to 4th. Other than that, the car drives great for having 97k miles on it and a leaky rear end. Any ideas?

 

Did the previous owner adjust the shift points? Look on the door jamb and see if there is a hypertech sticker or something of that nature.

Btw the circle around the D means overdrive.

 

you need your shift points changed to match your limiter, or limiter set to match your shift point...

either way its in the tune

 

Damn that sucks, either get an HPP3 or have someone with tuning capabilty fix it for you

 

Don't WOT in OD. And yes, fix your shift points.

 

Arg don't waste money on that damn Piece of **** hypertech just get a Ls1 edit done people do it for around 50 bucks up here. I used a hypertech once and Fried my Computer
Hypertech $350
Fried pcm
To get pcm fixed and tuned $50
Smashing now useless Hypertech ......PRICELESS

 

Why do you say that?

 

Thanks for the tips guys! Why would WOT in OD be bad? Just curious, not questioning your knowledge or anything. Like I said before, I'm new this this whole automatic transmission thing. Any good primers out there on driving an automatic F-body? I've found a little through searching here. Thanks again.

 

Because the stock 4l60E uses those paper clutches on the 3-4 shift and you'll burn them. Keep the car in Drive (3rd). Go to the automatic section if you have more questions on this.

 

Check this thread out, it's for stalled cars but it also explains when to use Drive and Overdrive.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...ight=overdrive

 

My car does the same thing.

 

That was a problem they had with the 98 a4 cars, ALOT of them do it, i guess its just something they fugged up in their computer tuning, i ran into alot of that when i was shopping for my F-body.

 

I actually noticed it will do it sometimes at almost WOT in O/D. Like if i do around 90 then almost floor it it will bounce off the rev limiter a bunch of times before it shifts.

 

ive NEVER had that happen, before or after HP Tuners was used, and i didnt adjust my shift points. I hope you get it fixed. the only time i hit my rev limiter, it scared the **** out of me!

 

So from what i've read in that other thread is you should have the car in D for racing or passing traffic, and OD for regular daily driving?

 

Racing in OD is fine. What isn't good is your tranny shifting from 3rd to OD under WoT. That is very, very bad. But that won't happen till 135+ unless you have aftermarket gears like 3.73's or 4.10's.

The other big No-no with a 4L60E is manually downshifting yourself. In other words if your going 35 mph do NOT throw your shifter into 1 unless you like buying new transmissions.

My advice is get a bigger torque converter and tranny cooler. Keep it in 3rd around town, OD on the highway and never shift yourself.

 

Thanks again for all of the great info guys.

 

Is there any benefit to shifting an automatic? I figure you can tune the trans to where it would shift itself better than humanly possible.

 

There's another thread like this in the automatic section.

 

you can do exactly that. With my hptuners, I programmed my car to make a crisp, quick (.1 seconds) shift into all the gears, except 3-4 when under wide open throttle. Auto dont miss gears either, or atleast they shouldn't. Ive noticed a huge difference. Mine shifts harder than my buddy can in his 5spd mustang gt. Dont get me wrong manuals are a ton of fun, but autos are where the precision is.

Nathan