Audi A4 B8.5 2.0 TDI quattro S tronic – gear hunting

Hi everyone,

I have a 2013 Audi A4 B8.5 Avant 2.0 TDI 177PS quattro with the 7-speed S tronic gearbox. I would like to ask for some opinions from people who have experience with this drivetrain.

The main thing I notice is that on A-road/main road driving, especially around 55–70 mph (90–110 km/h), the gearbox sometimes seems to hunt between 6th and 7th gear. It mostly happens with small throttle changes, slight inclines, or when I try to maintain a steady speed around 60–65 mph (roughly 100 km/h). It feels like the car is not fully sure whether it wants to stay in 7th for economy or drop back to 6th for more torque.

If I drive a bit more positively or at motorway speeds, the car feels great. Above about 70 mph (110 km/h) it is smooth, stable and the gearbox feels much more natural. The issue is mostly in that light-load cruising zone on main roads.

There are no warning lights and no gearbox fault messages. When I bought the car, the gearbox behaviour bothered me more, but a throttle/pedal reset seemed to improve it quite a lot. Later the S tronic oil service was also done, and that improved the overall feel as well. At the time I was told that this is more or less normal behaviour for this gearbox/drivetrain, so I accepted it.

The car also recently had a professional DPF cleaning/refitting job done. No DPF removal or performance remap as far as I know, just cleaning and related work. I am not sure if this is relevant, but I thought I should mention it in case DPF condition, regeneration behaviour, engine load, ECU adaptation/reset, or torque request could have any influence on how the gearbox decides between 6th and 7th. The gear hunting itself was not completely new after the DPF work, but I have started paying more attention to it recently.

I also sometimes notice a slight bump/jerk in stop-and-go traffic when accelerating with the queue and then lifting off the throttle to let the car slow down on engine braking. It is not a huge bang, but it can be felt as a drivetrain knock/torque reversal. It seems worse in situations where the car is crawling and the throttle is applied and released repeatedly.

My questions are:

• Is this 6th/7th gear hunting around 55–70 mph (90–110 km/h) normal for the DL501/S tronic in a 2.0 TDI quattro?

• Could this be mostly gearbox calibration/normal behaviour, or should I suspect adaptation, engine/gearbox mounts, drivetrain play, mechatronics, clutch adaptation, etc.?

• Could DPF condition/regeneration/ECU adaptation have any effect on this kind of light-load gear hunting, or is that unlikely?

• Would a proper S tronic adaptation/basic setting with VCDS or ODIS be worth doing, or is it better not to touch it if there are no faults?

• For those with similar cars, how does your gearbox behave around 60–65 mph (around 100 km/h) in D mode on slight inclines or with small throttle changes?

• Is there anything specific I should check before worrying about the gearbox itself?

I am not looking to immediately rebuild the gearbox or overreact, I just want to understand whether this is normal S tronic character or something that should be investigated further.

Any experience with A4/A5/Q5 B8/B8.5 2.0 TDI or 3.0 TDI quattro S tronic cars would be appreciated.

Thanks!