s4 avant thud when changing gear

[Gaskells4]

Hello all, new to the forum having owned my 2001 s4 for two months.The car is fantastic totally standard, silver, heated leather recaros the lot, the only problem i have is a thudding noise from underneath the car when changing gear, nothing to loud but there. I've try'd altering the way i change gear but the noise remains, anyone out there had the same problem! Second question, dose the s4 have a center diff sometimes fells to drag when turning at full lock at low speed!

[DavidT]

Hi, and welcome to the site.

Not sure on the gearbox clunk, unusual and best case it could be the gearbox brace damaged or the exhaust catching. Gearbox internals or centre diff problems maybe but more serious and costly.

Your dealer should be able to give you an FOC evaluation.

All the S4's do drag tyres on full lock at low speeds, it's caused by the 50:50 torque split and the differences in axle speeds when manouvering. Nothing to worry about.

Good luck and enjoy the site.

[Gaskells4]

Cheers daveT

[Carps]

Your thud may just be the transmission moving up and down. Mine used to do this unless I was *very* smooth with the clutch and revs. You can get a drive train stabiliser that stops this happening by supporting the rear of the transmission and stopping it moveing so much. AWE do one. If you do a Google search, there are some comparisons of the rear stabiliser and a front snub mount (by APR) including photos capturing the amount that it moves when under acceleration. There is even some video footage out there somehwere...

Good luck

Andy

[Gaskells4]

cheers andy

[TWH]

I do get a bit of a clunk when changing unless very smooth, had it since I got the car, and it's still there now (brand new gearbox and clutch completed yesterday). I always put it down to the fact that there's a hell of a lot of power to deal with and it's not going to be as seemless as a car with 100HP.

Whether I'm right or not is another matter though!!