[Techno Duck]

Alot of what your experience is what you get with the early Audi trannys. Ive driven a couple of pre '00 Audi's and all of them have the same gearbox feel. I was suprised to see my friends '99 A4 had the same exact gearbox feel as my car. My friends '04 A4 tranny is incredible though, smooth as butter..probably one of the best gearboxs ive ever felt.

Anyhow its the nature of the car. One thing that really changed the feel of the gearbox the most in my opinion was the short shifter from 944Racing. Its the linakge type, also sold by Schnell and Speed-6 now. Other than that, change the gear oil. Thats about all you can do. The short shifter will make the gearbox feel even more notchy..but i kind of like the feel. Its very affirmative, no guessing if the car is in gear or not.

I drove a good friend of mines 944 Turbo with a recently rebuilt transmission (only 2k miles on it). Brand new synchros on every gear. The feel was spoiled by a worn shift rod..but the gear box was suprisingly smooth compared to almost every single other 944 gearbox i have ever used. And let me tell you, its weird being able to shift quickly from 1st to 2nd without a hesitation or a grind as the worn synchro catches up.

I have actually grown to like the feel of the gearbox on our cars. In reality its kind of a crappy transmission, not very strong and does feel clunky. But it feels solid enough. If my gearbox felt like my friends '06 M3.. i wouldnt be very happy. It feels like the transmission is made of rubber on the M3. If your not used to the feel of the gearbox, you will constantly question if the car is even in gear!

Nothing beats that Audi though.. if you know anyone with a standard gearbox A4.. just sit in the car and go through the gears, its amazing!