superswiss

They do seem to have it for all models, just not on the main audiusa.com website. Here's the one for the A4. They are basically all the same just more or less modes. I agree they should explain this better in their main literature.

2018 Audi A4 Engineering | Audi A4 | Audi library

caranddriver

Thanks for additional info. The Audi teams in charge of marketing and owner's manuals need to do a better job of explaining and labeling. Auto is a terrible name for an even blend of Comfort and Dynamic. "Auto" makes it sound like the car is deciding on the fly what mode to be in depending on driving behavior.

So from the additional info this is my take: if turn off the car in Dynamic or Individual in Drive Select it will start up in that mode, but the transmission map will always default back to D and makes the driver take a deliberate action to change it to S - done to comply with gov't regulation.

Since I don't have the adaptive suspension or variable ratio steering, there is definitely less going on between modes in Drive Select.

So when I bought my 2014 BMW 428i (M-Sport, 6-speed manual), the automatic transmission versions locked out 8th/top gear in sport mode, which was changed when the F30/F32 got a new ZF transmission in the mid-cycle refresh. I always thought it was dumb to lock out 8th. Glad to see that Audi does not lock out top gear. Also, Sport mode on the BMW turned off every time the car was restarted and only affected throttle and steering stiffness since I didn't have adaptive suspension or dynamic/variable steering.

superswiss

I agree, calling it Auto is perhaps a bit misleading. On the other hand, I'm not sure what else to call it. Calling it Normal wouldn't really convey what it does, either, because then people might ask what is considered normal. Calling it Auto in the sense that the driver doesn't have to decide between comfortable and sporty and instead just let the car do what it does might not be all that far off. In fact these system are not discrete fixed systems at all. They all work based on maps, so they are in a sense automatic and adaptive by nature. All these systems adapt to your driving style. The transmission adjusts the shift points depending on how you drive, the adaptive suspension continuously adjusts the damping based on how you drive and the road surface. The sport differential sends more or less torque to the outer wheel depending on how drive etc. so they are in fact automatic, but by putting it in 'comfort' you can deliberate skew it towards comfort and by putting it in dynamic you skew it towards sporty.

caranddriver

I was curious what competitors called their driving modes. Many seem to use Comfort as the middle setting and Eco as the even less sporty mode. A couple manufacturers have used "Standard" for the middle mode - that terms seems a decent compromise.

superswiss

Mercedes does Comfort, Sport, Sport+ and the AMG S models and up have an additional mode called Race. Comfort is the default mode. It always goes back to Comfort after turning off the engine. Mercedes also has an Individual mode like Audi. BMW doesn't have an overall mode. You have to set each component and most components use Comfort, Sport and Sport+. The engine uses Eco, Sport and Sport+. The BMW M models have one or more M buttons that you can program much like the Individual mode on Audi and call up a specific profile. I believe all current BMW M have two M buttons, so you can configure your regular driving profile and your sporty profile for example. Like Mercedes all components go back to the Comfort/Eco setting when turning off the engine, so you always have to reactivated the mode you want. Overall I like Audi's system the best. It stays in the mode that you left it in other than the engine/transmission as established. I was looking at the AMG C63 S as my potential next car and one thing I hated is that it always starts in Comfort mode, which is mostly undrivable. So having to switch the mode every time I get into the car would get kinda old after a while. In the ROW, Audi also has an Eco mode, so it's Eco, Comfort, Auto, Dynamic. In addition the Allroad and Q models also have an Offroad mode. This mode is standard everywhere including North America.

R8ready

I have been driving in dynamic since I purchased my car. In the city I was probably getting around 400km per tank of gas. Also in low rpm car felt jerky trying to move forward. (Have a manual A4)

I changed it to individual engine in comfort and left suspension in sport and I have 300km with still a half tank left.

Also the jerky engine in low rpm is gone.

crazy how one little button setting changes everything

Wires

BMW works 180 degrees from Audi. IE Pulling the shifter to the side automatically gets manual/sport mode. The rocker on the console toggles between the drive modes. Audi starts in the drive modes, and you need to put it into sport mode. It becomes a 6 of one, half dozen of another issue. I like the way BMW works since I drive in manual mode all the time. I push the rocker to sport in the city, the suspension gets tighter, and you get the engine noise. When I hit the highway, I rocker it to comfort, cabin goes quiet, suspension is more compliant.

Audi would work almost the same if you just use full auto tranny mode (pull the shifter back each time you toggle the mode). But in manual mode you need to go back to auto, down to shift modes back to auto. Depends on your driving style. I do like how Audi allows a lot more flexibility in tailoring the driving mode though. BMW is just engine/throttle and steering/suspension. Mind you, more choices doesn't always make it better, but I get to choose.

lowjdml

bob m

I also always drove in Dynamic (D - not S) until about a week ago when I keep it in Auto. Auto seems comfortable, yet not floaty. And though I have not filled up the tank, on the screen I am seeing better mileage than before. Also, I was almost always running the AC and now, I don't unless needed. I'm hoping for some better mpg.

Wires

Unless you push the shifter to the passenger door, using the paddles goes into manual, and then reverts back to auto after a period of time (10 seconds or something?)