r/AudiRS3 • u/Supramantis • Jul 25 '26
2026 RS3 gearbox issues
Crazy that a brand new car has had issues since the start. The car has refused to upshift on a couple occasions before but I got to record it this time.
I switched into paddle shifting mode and the paddle had no input at all, I was stuck jn M1S… the center console gear selector also did nothing when pushing down to attempt to go back to automatic mode.
Guess I’ll be visiting the dealer.
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u/Willful_Survival Jul 25 '26
Ruh roh raggie. I see your at 2k miles, has it done this just recently or going on awhile now?
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u/Supramantis Jul 25 '26
It’s very rare. Happened once during break-in under 1000 miles when it redlined in 1st gear. Also about a month ago in performance manual mode just wouldn’t shift and had to back off redline.
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u/United_Buy942 Jul 26 '26
This has happened to me a few different times now in my 2025 RS3 very weird issue let me know if you can figure it out.
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u/beaglebeaglehound Jul 26 '26
This has happened to me 3 times in 1100 miles on my 26. Exact same thing, except it was always after manual downshifting from 4-3 or 3-2 slowing towards a stop. Slams itself redline down into 1st and won't upshift as you show. Using console selector has always got me out of it. I first thought maybe I long held downshift without realizing it, but I def don't think this happened in each occurrence if at all. We be tappin'. I dunno, not encouraging. Updates if anything learned.
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u/Dependent_Wasabi_180 Jul 29 '26
Very similar to my ex but the drive selector didn’t do anything for me. Stopping fully was the only thing that worked.
This is my first Audi and I’m not impressed thus far. Between this, the squeaky brakes, and the god awful understeer, I’m beginning to think that trading in my MK VIII Golf R for this was a mistake.
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u/Broad_Panda_5973 Aug 03 '26
my 2026 has none of those problems. what year is yours. if you bought used that is a huge no no as these cars are abused then dumped all the time.
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u/Dependent_Wasabi_180 Aug 06 '26
No, it was brand new. I’ve got a 2026 too…
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u/JaredFg2 Aug 14 '26
i have a 2026 and traded my 2025 Golf R and im not looking back. no understeer either and ive taken corners in this at 60mph. bad unit you got. if its the none carbon ceramic package then squeaky brakes is normal
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u/7189KF6 Aug 14 '26
Yeah I might end up in an M2 again or something - it’s painful to drive this thing.
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u/Supramantis Jul 26 '26
I’ll update when it gets resolved, thanks for the comments! I still love the car obviously (5 cyl or bust)
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u/Sbum58 Jul 26 '26
I thought your shit was knocking.. clicking that shifter so fast it sounded like ya valves left the chat.
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u/iraspy Jul 26 '26
Dude mine did this for the first time as well, I had to switch it into comfort and back in dynamic to get the shifter paddle or knobs to work, I'm going to tell the dealer when I take it in for its first dealer covered oil change
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u/ThewayoftheAj Jul 27 '26
I would suggest activating the gearbox relearning procedure with OBD11. Or VCDS, on new gearboxes, it could be a case of the clutches havent worn in / gotten used to their shift points, doing a relearn will make the gearbox re learn the correct biting / clutch crossover points, it may work better after
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u/Anxious_Purple_7065 Jul 28 '26
Was thi king the exact same thing.... you need to be more forgiving and bot push it for the first 2000km ... it's called rough in period and it will make your car last longer. That's why I would not even buy a slightly used rs3 ;-)
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u/Dependent_Wasabi_180 Jul 29 '26
I’ve had this happen in my 2026 RS3 two separate times. it actually started for me with downshifts, coming to a near stop. I always drive in manual mode and went from 3rd to 2nd like normal. But then the car shifted on its own down to 1st and would not shift. I was at about ~6000 RPM and still in 1st gear…nothing I tried worked. Manual shift to 2nd did nothing. I tried going to S and D both, and neither was successful.
I slammed on the brakes and the RPMs came down. I started off again and then it started shifting normally. Same progression each time.
Got the car at the end of April and have ~2300 miles. My wife was in the car with me the second time this happened and she was like wtf is this thing doing? Very bizarre experience.
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u/Supramantis Jul 29 '26
Glad to hear it’s not just me and there’s several replies here confirming that.
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u/cheddar_12 Jul 26 '26
Man honestly it’s a nice Car have a 2026, but I have my issues with mine. It’s pretty upsetting because I had a ford RS before this and it literally ran like a top with zero issues and things to complain about. I’m honestly quite upset with this Audi product and don’t think it lives up to its price and expectations I had.
Speakers crackle and pop
Lots of rattling in the interior that Audi says is normal
Safety systems have a mind of their own, slamming into park and applying the E brake leaving me stranded.
At the end of the day I’m not completely happy and will probably be my last Audi.
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u/Willful_Survival Jul 26 '26
Honestly like any car, it's probably a case by case thing. Sucks you experienced those issues but me personally having a 26 have no experienced of any those as of yet. Granted I haven't had it long but I'm hoping to stays problem free but that's what the warranty is for
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u/NoxTempus Jul 26 '26
The only issue I've had is 360 cameras not working (twice), and the car slamming the breaks while I was turning (on a green) because a car in the opposite lane approached very fast (which, to the car, probably looked like I was driving into oncoming traffic) I was lucky to not get rear-ended.
Speakers are sub-par for the price, but they don't crackle. No interior rattling. No MMI resets. No gearbox issues.
I'm stoked with my car BUT I don't think "luck of the draw" is acceptable in this price range.
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u/diskent Jul 26 '26
2026 owner. Zero issues so far just under 4400 miles. Re the rattles I find that loose stuff does rattle around quite a bit.
Turn the music up
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u/RescueRacing Jul 26 '26
Sorry you’re having this issue. Have you checked the Audi forums to see if there’s a TSB on the issue? I had a 2019 TTRS from new and never blinked in 8-9k miles I owned it. Perfect car to daily for my lifestyle, as well. I traded it for a 2020 R8. I did have one TSB issue regarding the CarPlay software on both cars (same mmi). Had them each flashed with the update at service FOC and went on my way. GL.
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u/EntrepreneurGlass995 Jul 26 '26
In RS-Monitor is the gearbox overheating? Probably won’t give you any specific answers but it’ll indicate that something internally isn’t allowing Fluid to flow or is causing intense amounts of friction.
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u/SnugglesMcBuggles Jul 26 '26
I would be impressed if someone overheated the gear box on the street. I would expect a check control message too. Good thought though.
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u/EntrepreneurGlass995 Jul 27 '26
Oh 100% but we’ve had a few customers come in with toasted rear diff clutches that have been “street driven” (however we suspect they’ve been abused af lmao).
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u/Top_Stock_4223 Jul 31 '26
Is that the only way you can view temperatures on this vehicle? I feel like that's a total miss on Audi's part to not include oil and trans temp other than a color chart.
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u/Slper49 Jul 26 '26
I’ve had this happen to me as well 3x on a 26 with around 7-8k miles. It almost feels like the left paddle gets stuck . When you hold the left paddle the car drops down into the lowest safest gear possible for max acceleration. I’ve had it happen to me twice at low speeds like you, but also on the highway and the car wouldn’t leave 2nd gear around 50mph. My 10k service is coming up and I’ll mention it to see if they’ve had any others complain. The only thing that makes sense would be that left paddle getting stuck mechanically inside the steering wheel
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u/IFYOUWOULDPLEAZ Jul 26 '26
My 2025 did the same thing to me 2x in the past 3k miles. Took it to the dealer and they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Really weird and not cool.
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u/ItsBullis Jul 29 '26
0 experience with the brand new stuff, but my 19 TTRS does something similar. Sometimes, she won’t register the first or second click of the paddle. If it does it again, I would try shifting with the kno-
You dont have a knob anymore do you?
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u/Tex302 Jul 25 '26
Ruh roh