hoops25

Perhaps I should read the manual more closely, but is shifting down into S-D mode the same as manually changing all of the car systems to dynamic in the mmi system?

Thanks.

superswiss

No. Putting the transmission in S only puts the powertrain in dynamic mode. Conversely, changing all the car systems to dynamic puts the transmission in S. They go hand in hand. Dynamic for the powertrain means transmission in S. If transmission is in D, regardless of what you have set in the MMI, the powertrain won't be in dynamic mode. Unfortunately, the user manual doesn't make that any clearer, though.

hoops25

Thanks for the reply. So, let me see if I have this straight...

If I want to prep my car for let say a track day and want the most "dynamic" settings possible, I would use the MMI to set all individual car systems to Dynamic, i.e. Transmission, Sport Differential, Handling, etc. and that would automatically set the Engine Transmission to S > D or Dynamic Mode.

If I just want the Engine Transmission to be Dynamic (Sport Mode), I would just move the shifter down.

So, what if I have all the car systems in "Auto?" When or under what conditions do those automatically switch to Dynamic?

I hope that makes sense. Thanks!

superswiss

If you want the most Dynamic setting than you would change it to dynamic in the MMI. You don't have to mess with individual mode, just select the dynamic mode. The transmission will go to S when you do that. However, if you turn off the engine at any point, the transmission will go back to D, so in order to bring it back to full dynamic mode you move the shifter to S after starting up the car.

If you are puttering around in comfort or auto and you quickly want a more responsive engine and higher shift points etc. you just move the shifter to S. Everything else such as steering etc. will stay in the same mode, but as long as you keep the transmission in S, the powertrain will be in dynamic.

If you have the systems in auto it will never go to dynamic. Auto is actually a bit mislabeled. It's basically the mode for daily driving and it does sort of adapt to your driving style, but it's really more of a balanced mode. In your user manual you should have a table like the following with different rows. This one is mine for the RS5. It shows the characteristics of each mode for the various components.

hoops25

Thanks so much for the detailed explanation. That all makes sense and I can certainly feel the difference now when I change all of the car systems to dynamic.

snagitseven

A couple of other notes...
When the shifter is placed into S (dynamic mode), specifically, it affects two things - transmission and throttle maps. The transmission will be later to upshift and sooner to downshift. The throttle maps in S change the amount of accelerator pedal - more gas with less accelerator pedal travel. This affects sensitivity of the pedal only - there is, of course, no reserve hp from the engine to be called upon.

Note that at wide open throttle, it doesn't matter which mode you are in as the software maps will be overwritten with max rpms and shifts at red line. This can be demonstrated by stomping the gas pedal from a stop in each mode - the 0-60 times will be the same.

All that said, I would think that for maximum control on the track, you would want to use the paddle shifters with the console shifter in manual mode vs. either of the auto modes.

Tisbury

When we purchased our first Audi in 2011 ('12 A6), the rep told us to never exceed 60 in S... I never doubted him and obeyed that statement.
Now that we have the RS7 I'm starting to seriously doubt that. Is there any reason he would have told us that?

superswiss

I'm not sure what these sales guys are being taught, but I've heard similar idiotic statements being made. No, there is no reason why you shouldn't exceed 60 in S. In fact, most of these cars can only reach the top speed if you are in S. You'll get worse fuel mileage, because in S it won't shift into the overdrive gears.

Tisbury

What about shifting from S to D while moving... Something else idiotic we were told?

superswiss

Yes, something else idiotic. You can go between D and S while moving as many times as you want.