dregsfan

2019 A4. In Auto, when the transmission is downshifting on its own while the car is coming to a stop, I can barely, if at all, feel the downshifts. In Sport, in the same circumstances, the downshifts are considerably more noticeable. Is this normal? When I test drove the car before buying it a few months ago, the car was in Sport/Dynamic mode and I don't recall noticing the downshifts then, but lately I do.

superswiss

Yes, that is normal if only for the fact that Sport downshifts earlier at higher rpms, so the potential jolts to the drivetrain are higher. A lower gear causes more engine braking, so the earlier you downshift the more the engine puts a braking torque on the drivetrain which can result in jolts and a noticeable downshift. In D it stays in a higher gear much longer and downshifts when the engine is already at a quite low rpm and the braking forces are much smaller. Keep in mind, that you can be in Dynamic, but the transmission and engine are not in Dynamic if the transmission is in D. It always reverts to D after turning off the engine, so the transmission/engine never stay in Dynamic between engine starts.

dregsfan

Thanks for the info. I can see how being in Sport will affect the downshift noticeability. I've always switched back from S to Auto prior to shutting off the car, so I didn't notice that if I just shut the car off after being in S, upon the next startup it would revert to D, and drive like D, yet it still says Dynamic at the bottom of the tach. I had thought S = Dynamic, since in the MMI if I want S I select Dynamic. I don't get why it would still say Dynamic, but drive like D, not S. I'm confused as to why that is. With D indicated in the center of the tach, but Dynamic at the bottom, the car drives exactly the same as with D in the center, and Auto at the bottom.

superswiss

That is one of the confusions with how Audi chose to implement Audi Drive Select. Think of Audi Drive Select as a set of profiles. By selecting one it changes the settings of the individual components such as among other things the transmission and engine. But once you have selected a profile, you can at any point change the setting of the transmission by simply pulling back on the gear selector to toggle between D and S. This does not change the overall selected profile and the other components such as the steering remain in Dynamic, but it changes the settings for the transmission/engine kinda like an on the fly Individual mode. In other brands you can directly change the settings of other components. For example in my AMG I have a button to change the suspension setting, so after selecting a drive mode I can at any point change the suspension w/o having to select a different overall profile.

The reason why the transmission reverts back to D every time is because of homologation. Manufacturers are required to startup the engine in the mode that yielded the rated mpg and emissions, so in case of Audis that's D. They are legally not allowed to let you start the car up with the transmission in S. So Audi chose to just revert the transmission setting. Other brands such as BMW and Mercedes revert the whole drive mode. My AMG always starts up in the overall Comfort mode. It's less confusing and I prefer it, instead of ending up in some kind of a hybrid mode where it says you are in Dynamic, but then the engine/transmission isn't actually in Dynamic.

Kinda depends on the use case, though. I kept my RS5 in Individual most of the time where I had everything set to Auto, but the sport differential to Dynamic and then I toggled between D/S as desired, but basically the car always start up in a consistent configuration, because I had the transmission set to Auto in the Individual settings so starting up in D matched the configuration.

dregsfan

Again, thanks for the info.
My perception of that "hybrid" situation of D displayed in the tach but Dynamic displayed at the bottom of the tach is that there are no performance differences from D displayed in the tach and Auto at the bottom of the tach. In S, the transmission shift points are higher, idle speed is higher, throttle response is sharper, and downshifts are more noticeable. I don't feel any difference in steering effort between D and S at any time, though supposedly there is a difference. I'll just continue to switch back to Auto from S/Dynamic prior to shutting the ignition down, so D will be fully D, and S will be fully S.

superswiss

That's correct. You don't feel any performance difference between Dynamic and D vs Auto and D. It's the same. The only difference is how the steering and other components that are affected by Audi Drive Select feel. Changing between D and S does not change how the steering feels. Only changing the Drive Select Mode changes how the steering feels.

Having said that, though, the difference is marginal in an A4. I always found Audi Drive Select to be mostly a gimmick in the normal models. Doesn't add much. But if you step up to the performance models, then the difference between the modes becomes more apparent. These different drive modes make much more sense in the performance models.

S does make a difference in an A4, because D is so unbelievably sluggish. They programmed it like an Eco mode, and in S it actually drives what I would call normal. Not necessarily sporty, but normal. Again that is a different story in the performance models. For example with my RS5 I couldn't really drive around in S. It was screaming around at 6000 rpm and not suitable for just driving around. I drove it mostly in manual mode to control the gears myself. It's a similar story with my AMG. I don't drive around town in Sport+ or Race mode, but whenever I drive a regular Mercedes-Benz loaner I have to put it in Sport/Sport+ to not be frustrated by the sluggish response in Comfort.