Doing that is equivalent to simply downshifting one gear in a manual. You took the car from 4th to third. I have an M6, so I don't know the rps that you would dp on the freeway in 4th at 90, but I'd say, what, about 3200? Dropping it to third MAY have spun the engine to an rps it shouldn't be at, but I dunno... 90 in 3rd doesn't seem THAT bad... But on a 4 speed auto, maybe it is...
(can someone with an A4 chime in here?)


IF it was an RPM too high for the engine, you could have hurt the engine. This would then explain why you have poor acceleration, even if in the right gear... I don't know transmission internals enough to say, but I imagine a hard shift at high rpm could break some internal things. Since your reverse came back, maybe you only stretched the shift linkage, which fixed itself? Then, the engine, with damage, isn't acceleratiing like it used to.

I'm unfamiliar with the A4 in the V6 Camaros, so I don't know. I'm not sure if it is the same A4 in the Z28s and just has a different rear-end/differential gear or if it is a completely different transmission. I know the manual 5-speed in a V6 is different from the manual 6-speed in a Z28, but I've never thought about the auto. In my Z28, I don't believe 90 in 3rd would be a problem... but I've never done it. I know that our SS tops out in 3rd at 110-111 mph, but it's a 6-speed...

I'll do some research on it. I know 70 in "D" is ok in my car, but 90? Heck if I know. Do you know what RPM you were at italianbaabay? Were you still giving it gas when you went into "D"?

The transmission is the same as what I have, but the rear-end is different. I have a 2.73, but she has a 3.23 (GU5 RPO code in glovebox--this was the standard gear) or 3.42 (GU6 RPO code--this was the optional gear)

The actual individual gear ratios in the A4 MXO automatic are:
1- 3.058
2- 1.625
3- 1.000
4- 0.696

Know what's f'in sad/annoying? I had to get the gear ratios off of Gran Turismo (Grand Turismo 1's Z28 only had a 4-speed--I remembered this). So yes, I had to hook up the old playstation and play an old game to get this information. Google was USELESS except for the rear-end ratios.

I'm not going to waste more of my time on this, but if someone can input all the proper data in here, you can figure out if she overdid it...
http://www.5speedtransmissions.com/gear_calculator.html

This gear calculator may not work, if it doesn't allow all the ratios to be put in, find your own

yeah my car is a 5speedautomatic, and i think i released the gas as i put it into D, but i was still going 90-95ish....
thank youuu for all your help! haha and im sorry you had to play the video game to get all that



anyways now that it could be possibly be the engine? what should i do?! where should i take it to tbe looked at and do i need to do this ASAP?
im seriously depressed, im so attached to my car and i dont want to have to give it up.

*sigh* Nevermind, that gear calculator BS pissed me off and I ended up playing some more old *** Gran Turismo since I had it hooked up.

On an A4 equipped Z28 with 2.733 ratio rear gear, here are 2 speeds. The first is the speed when the gear hits the redline, the 2nd is the MAX speeds in each gear. These are the speed you can obtain by bouncing off the redline in a GAME. You do this in your real car and your engine is toast not to mention your brain. I really don't know how accurate these are. Based on GT's reputation, they should be accurate, but I have my doubts... heavy, heavy doubts.

1- 60, 75 mph
2- 115, 143 mph
3- 193, ???
4- ???, ???

I had to modify the car up to 403 HP to get the speed in 3rd and I obviously couldn't hit redline in 4th...heck I barely hit it in 3rd.

If the V6 RS Camaro had the 3.23 gear, here are the redlines for those gears:

1- 53, 65
2- 105, 124
3- 167, 185+
4- ???, ???

If 3.42 gear:

1- 50, 62
2- 96, 117
3- 159, 183
4- ???, ???

So... in conclusion, if this is actually correct... I'd say it is safe to assume she didn't bounce off the rev limiter and cause damage...

Those bizarre numbers I was getting on Gran Turismo 1 just begged for double checking, so I switched over to GT2, because it's definitely more accurate. I mean come on... if my Z28 will go 115 in 2nd gear, why even bother having a 4-speed? I could have a 1-speed So I had to check this out...

GT2 uses the T56 6-speed gear ratios, so before modifying them to be A4 automatic ratios, here is a test with the 6-speed ones (for reference, the 6-speed '96 Z28 used a 3.42 just like the optional gear on the V6 engined cars)...:

1- approx 30 (without traction control, it is hard to tell), 61 mph
2- 80, 91
3- 116, 127
4- 150, 166
5- 202, 215+
6- ???, ???

Kinda funny, but I bet you it's true to real life. In 6th gear, at 200 mph, the engine was under 5000 RPM .

Ok... 4-speed automatic ones now (2.73 ratio)... I can't get the EXACT ratios since it is set up to be a 6-speed and there are limits to the variation in the game, but I used 3.007, 1.625, 1.001, and 0.734 as the 4 gears:
1- approx 40, 48 (note this gear is MUCH different from the real one)
2- 81, 91
3- 137, 149
4- 189, 205

Conclusion: I don't know if either game are accurate, but I trust this one more.

Conclusion for italianbaabay: I really doubt you were going too fast for being in D. If you were going 120 or 130, it'd be iffy.

Then what's wrong? Even if she didn't over rev the engine, somethings up, and it seems like Engine damage..

Also, I'm assuming the A4 is the same as the M6, in that you can't rev the engine past a certain point, but you can downshift to above the limiter? Or, is the auto controlled so you can't? What I mean is, you can't rev past a certain level, put in an M6, you can put it in second at 150 and do some damage allright...

I think we'd need some answers from someone who races their A4 Camaro. I rarely even drive over 60 in mine, so I don't know

Could her throttlebody be ridiculously dirty?

During accelleration the rpm's are limitted by the pcm. Total speed is also limitted. However in a missed shift, (down shifting to a lower grear at to high a speed), the engine is mechanically over sped. This can lead to broken parts, valves hitting the pistons, broken valve springs, bent push rods, that sort of thing. Every GM auto I have ever driven allows you to down shift from "D" to 3rd or 2nd at any speed. Most allow you to move the shifter into 1st but above a set speed nothing happens, i.e. the trans does not internally go into 1st.
So there is a chance that "italianbaabay" has over sped the engine and broken something. But a malfunctioning trans can make the engine "feel" funny. I would take it to a good shop, tell them what happened, and have them give both a check out.

Yeah, after thinking about it a whole lot, I'm pretty sure it is a transmission problem. Just about every single person here has had to have their automatic transmission rebuilt I would imagine, and it's probably just related to age. Mine was rebuilt in 2003 at about 60,000 miles, so that's pretty early for a pampered, low mileage trans to start slipping.

You're going to have to rebuild your transmission more than likely.

http://www.f-body.org/gears/

You can select your year/tranny type/rear end ratio from the pull down menu(where it says make a selection) and it puts all the info in for you, no need to play video games(which is moer then likely false)

Thanks man, that was really helpful. My Gran Turismo data wasn't too much different, but it is nice to know accurate info if this is indeed accurate.

Well thank you guys forrr all your help! I am taking it in ASAP , been busy lately but i'm going to get on that & then i will tell u all what they say!
any suggestions where to go? I live in the bay area in california. Dublin/Pleasanton, California area to be exact

I had the same sort of problem in my 94 a4. I dont think it ever didnt go to reverse, but when i would drive on the on ramp to the freeway, my rpms would jump up and it wouldnt shift until it go to about 50 or 60 mph, then it would jump and be normal. took it to the tranny shop and said most of the gears were missing teeth and i needed to rebuild.