# Transmission 'emergency' - kickdown switch



## frankinstyn (Oct 11, 2004)

I actually don't know the name of this but was hoping to get a little more information. I purchased this 2000 A6 Avant with tiptronic and the 2.8 about two months ago and have been enjoying it completely.
I did have a question about this switch though. When you are driving normally in either the automatic or tiptronic mode there is a switch operated by the gas pedal that will cause the transmission to shift to the lowest possible gear (as per current RPM) so that you can have emergency accelleration. Its pretty nice to have to get out of people's way or pass if needed. 
I'm talking about when you push the accellerator pedal all the way to the floor and then push some more. You'll feel it 'click' and then feel the gear change. 
My A6 2.8 has it and my friends A6 4.2 has it as well.
So the questions? How often do you guys use this feature? Does it actually skip gears when its shifting down like that? I've seen mine apparrently drop from fifth to second at times. Do the 2.7Ts have this feature as well with their tiptronic transmission? It just seems like those turbos kicking in like that with such a jump in engine rpm will hurt the transmission. 


_Modified by frankinstyn at 6:52 AM 12-28-2007_


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## PerL (Jan 9, 2001)

*Re: Transmission 'emergency' - kickdown switch (frankinstyn)*

All automatic transmissions have a kickdown switch, not just the Tiptronics.


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## an_a6 (Aug 10, 2007)

*Re: Transmission 'emergency' - kickdown switch (PerL)*

were can i find this switch? i dont think my car has it.


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## frankinstyn (Oct 11, 2004)

*Re: Transmission 'emergency' - kickdown switch (PerL)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PerL* »_All automatic transmissions have a kickdown switch, not just the Tiptronics.

Really? Nice. I've never owned an automatic before. I thought this was just an tiptronic feature.

_Quote, originally posted by *an_a6* »_were can i find this switch? i dont think my car has it.

Push your foot to the floor (doesn't matter if you're in 'D' or tiptronic mode) and then push some more. It'll feel like a switch as clicked and then if you aren't already in the lowest possible gear then it will downshift as low as possible for you.


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## QUEENS718 (Mar 15, 2007)

*Re: Transmission 'emergency' - kickdown switch (frankinstyn)*

My car does this as well, i have an 01 2.8 quattro sedan and i find now when i switch out of tiptronic the car still drives and switches gears as if i were still in tiptronic..?? Its killing my gas mileage...Anyone with similiar issues or advice??


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## cd1121 (Sep 5, 2005)

im frankinstyns friend with the 4.2. 60 mph, it drops to 2nd gear... WOW!!!


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