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I've only owned my RS4 for about a month now, so these questions might be silly, but I thought i'd ask anyway.

1. My car is really juddery when cold. Is this common / should be expected because it's a V8?
2. The brakes stick when the cars been parked over night, then release when I pull away. Is this normal?
3. There's a small black box with a silver backing on it hanging down under the front number plate behind the grill. I guess this shouldn't be here, should it?
4. First gear is a bit hard to select sometimes and the change from 2nd to 3rd seems clunky in comparison to all the others. Has anyone else experienced this and can it be rectified?

Thanks in advance.

G70

3) Judging by the mods your car has had and the money that was spent on it, I would not be surprised if the module hanging down was a Lidatek 30 or similar Police speed trap laser Jammer, if it is a Jammer and you don't want it any more I might be interested in sending you some money for it.

1) Bit juddery when cold is possible depending on ECU firmware, and may be exacerbated by the map, but I guess that depends on who mapped it

2) Stick brakes happens to me too, but rarely. Others on here have also reported it

4) My Gearing is perfect, but your the second person this week to say that their first to second (especially when cold) is awkward

1) Mines not great either when cold. However. most of my cars have been the same so it doesn't bother me that much.

2) Park it in gear and not with the handbrake.

3) Check if there's a button or something under the dash near the bonnet release. There's usually an on/off if it is what Ice/me thinks it is.

4) I think it was wolfgang who has/had a similar problem. Search for it.

Thanks. I wondered what that little switch was!! Should the module be hanging down with the silver showing as it's v noticeable......

Reviewed Wolfgangs thread and it looks like I might need the linkage adjusting.

Guernsey70 wrote:1. My car is really juddery when cold. Is this common / should be expected because it's a V8?

Sounds like you're running ECU SW0080, the free upgrade to ECU SW0090 is specifically for juddery (rough) running when cold.

Guernsey70 wrote:2. The brakes stick when the cars been parked over night, then release when I pull away. Is this normal?

If you stop with slightly damp discs or pads then a thin layer of rust will form between the pads and the discs - this is what sticks. It's perfectly normal for any car with disc brakes.

Guernsey70 wrote:3. There's a small black box with a silver backing on it hanging down under the front number plate behind the grill. I guess this shouldn't be here, should it?

Sounds like a previous owner may have fitted a laser "garage door opener" (otherwise known as a laser speed gun jammer).

Guernsey70 wrote:4. First gear is a bit hard to select sometimes and the change from 2nd to 3rd seems clunky in comparison to all the others. Has anyone else experienced this and can it be rectified?

Is gear selection only difficult when cold? If yes, then that's the effect of a heavy high torque gearbox and high viscosity (90) gearbox oil so it would be normal. If it's difficult when the gearbox is warm then check gear linkage adjustment is correct and that the clutch is fully releasing.

I'm with Dave on every point...

Dave, the gears are clunky when warm. I'm guessing it's a garage job to check the linkage and clutch release?

Guernsey70 wrote:Dave, the gears are clunky when warm. I'm guessing it's a garage job to check the linkage and clutch release?

Yep.

Does your switch look like this?

Oh and I had the sticking brake syndrome, now I park with the handbrake off and in gear as suggested on here. Hasn't happened since.

PetrolDave wrote:

Guernsey70 wrote:4. First gear is a bit hard to select sometimes

Is gear selection only difficult when cold? If yes, then that's the effect of a heavy high torque gearbox and high viscosity (90) gearbox oil so it would be normal. If it's difficult when the gearbox is warm then check gear linkage adjustment is correct and that the clutch is fully releasing.

I noticed the same thing with my car
1st gear is hard to select when the car is cold.....all other gears are fine

then after a while the car warms up and the problem disappears gradually...but it's quite evident at the beginning
it's quite cold these days.... should I assume this is a common behavior for an RS4?

pisquano wrote:then after a while the car warms up and the problem disappears gradually...but it's quite evident at the beginning
it's quite cold these days.... should I assume this is a common behavior for an RS4?

Not just the RS4 but ANY car with a gearbox with a high torque capacity.

Big gears + high viscosity oil + low temperatures = hard work selecting a gear.

If gear selection is OK when the gearbox is warm, then IMHO there's nothing wrong.