Driving an RS4 slowly and smoothly

[iluvmercs]

Afternoon all!

I'm fully prepared for a lambasting for my mechanical sympathy and potential personal liability for my inability to drive correctly, but do any other owners have problems attempting to drive their RS4 smoothly in heavy traffic?

Let me explain.
Pulling away slowly in first is no problem, but when moving very slowly, by either letting first gear pull me along or just lighlty pressing the accelerator, it is very easy to have the car judder in a manner befitting a new driver! I've had friends drive my car, they too remarking it can be difficult at very slow speeds. However obviously after a number of years of RS4 ownership, I should have cracked it by now, surely!

So is it the four wheeled drive system, the OEM clutch & flywheel set up, a senstive throttle, something else mechical or is it just me?
If the latter of those options, any tips or hints?
If anything mechanical, are there any mods one could try to make life easier in heavy traffic?

Many thanks in advance,
Darren

[RIV]

Clutch switch??

[guffy]

If i'm in a slow stop-start queue, i tend to leave a gap in front and keep a constant throttle.

Caning from first to second can be tricky too, not much in the way of torque overlap betwen the two gears.

[Spaceman_RS4]

Clutch switch mine was the same the difference it made was unreal like a totally different car.

[MikeFish]

No problems with mine unless I am in sport mode which makes it a bit more jerky but even then not really noticable.

[RS4ABM]

I have the same issue sometimes, but as guffy does just leave a bit of a bigger gap so i can keep the revs a little higher. Recently changed the clutch switch also, it made no difference to mine.

[sync24]

Mine is as smooth as a babys bot! fast or slow - the sport button makes it a little more 'jerky' - I am no mechanic but I would think something like the clutch components are to blame for this.

HTH

Kev

[Coaster]

Mine has the same 'character' that you described and I had considered posting on this too so keep your chin up! A recent new clutch and flywheel may have improved the symptoms slightly but it still doesn't like pulling itself along a idle in 1st. Such a big V8 should do that easily! Seems quite common so possibly just a trait rather than a fault?? Doubt it's the clutch switch as I have no other symptoms of this.

[iluvmercs]

Thanks for the replies so far, everyone
I had thought it could just be a chartacter trait of the car, but I would consider any modification that could be applied to ease, if not completely alleviate, the problem/trait.

I should have mentioned it's not something which has become apparent - it's been with me for as long as I've owned the car. However it's the first manual car I've ever owned.
By way of a comparison, I drove my brother's old manual E92 M3 extensively with nothing similar happening - Mind you the clutch in that was more forgiving, having softer feel and more gentil biting point!

Darren

[RS4ABM]

I have recently changed to a a Single mass flywheel and the same happens, however i would imagine the Duel mass would absorb some of it. I think its a trait, doesn't do it in idle up slight inclines or down, just seems to be on a flat surface for me.
Each cylinder fires one at a time so i guess it only takes one to fire slightly better to give it a little kick forwards then the rodeo starts, engine mounts bounce... Yeee haaa

I wonder if it could come down to carbon at all?

[sakimano]

3 simple solutions to driving the RS4 slowly and steadily

1. sport mode off - calms down the throttle
2. in first gear, wedge the outside of your right foot against the side of the footwell to use as an anchor so you can rock the throttle rather than free-floating it where you have less control
3. rev match gear changes. You are likely familiar with this by adding a dose of throttle in between gears when you grab the smaller gear on the downshift, HOWEVER when you're at lower speeds going from 1st to 2nd you can engage the clutch and then patiently wait for the revs to fall from 4000 say down to around 2000 where 2nd gear would likely have you if you were going around 20 mph (thereabouts)

[Youngben]

I tend to pull off in second and the car has no problem doing this for nice smoothness in traffic! i think its the nature of the engine and its breed that makes it a pig at low speeds as its designed to perform at high speed and with modified cars its something you find that you loose low down drive ability.

[captain_stealth]

What you need is an MRC Stage 2 remap.

I'm not a big modder, but this is by far the best thing I ever did. It dials down the aggression making the RS4 a joy to drive at low speeds and in traffic. Lovely quiet start too.

AND... when you hit that Sport button, it's OMFG every time!!

[gareth_oau]

sport button and bumpy road makes stop start a bit more tricky.

but give it a bit more revs and effectively ride the clutch a teeny bit on takeoff.

my wife drives it more than I do, and never uses the sport button and she is very smooth

[sonny]

Wasn't SW0090 suppose to map out 'kangarooing'?

Is the car mapped?