Dan in St. Louis

So this clip from the manual is incorrect? Wouldn't be the first example, I'm sure.

superswiss

Nope, that's exactly how it works. The only thing left out is that if you leave drive select in dynamic and turn off the engine, next time you start the engine and move the gear lever to the D/S position from P it will be in D and not S. So for somebody who leaves drive select in dynamic, they will have to reengage S every time they start the car.

FLkiwi

This 100% explains the behavior. I almost never change the drive select mode while I'm driving, at least not routinely (who does?), so it's always in Dynamic when I shut the car off, so it always comes back in D when I restart the car, unless I bump it to S temporarily.

superswiss

Exactly. For my RS5 I leave drive select in 'individual' with most of it set to Auto, except for the sport differential. Then I simply bump the transmission to S temporarily and then M when I want crisper throttle response. I never leave it in S automatic except for short window passing maneuvers on rural highways to avoid running into the rev limiter. Otherwise S automatic on the RS5 is not driveable around town. It's kinda pointless to leave drive select in dynamic at all times, because the engine/transmission doesn't stay in dynamic between engine restarts, so it makes more sense to leave it in individual mode with engine/transmission on Auto and then the other components how you like them. Then you can either temporarily engage S or temporarily put it in dynamic mode and the transmission properly follows. When you are done having fun, put it back in individual.

FLkiwi

All that makes sense to me except this part:
Every time I start the engine it is in dynamic; how do you mean it doesn't stay in dynamic? Or are you talking about some other more subtle behind-the-scenes effect that isn't shown on the drive select?

superswiss

If the transmission is in D, the engine isn't in dynamic. The engine and transmission are tied together. If transmission is in D, then engine is in Auto and so is the transmission. If transmission is in S, then engine is in dynamic and so is the transmission. This is not properly spelled out anywhere, but that's how it works. S = dynamic for the engine/transmission. That's why the transmission goes to S if you switch to dynamic from any other mode and goes back to D if you leave dynamic mode. S not only changes the shift points, but also engages the sporty throttle map for the engine. In D, the engine uses a balanced throttle map.

FLkiwi

That helps - thanks! Got it now.

Wires

I think the biggest confusion is that last line in the manual. Reading it implies that if you leave your drive mode in dynamic, it is also in S mode (which is not the case).

My guess is if you go from say comfort to dynamic, then you get dynamic + S according to that last line.

superswiss clarified the drive/sport/manual mode in another thread. Basically the operation is as below (which isn't really spelled out anywhere):

N
|
D-M
/
S-M

There is basically "two" manual modes. One is D and one is S. If you are in D and go to M, you get D/M mode. You need to go back to D, down for S and back right for M to get S/M mode. Much more enjoyable driving experience in this mode, and you select gears (unlike S-auto mode where it's really quick to downshift).

caranddriver

Interesting, I leave my engine/trans in Dynamic and Sound and Steering in Auto for my Individual setting that I use. I don't find it jumpy at all and it gets rid of the slow off the line initial performance when the transmission/engine are not in Dynamic/Sport.

Wires

Unless you manually select "sport" you are still technically in "drive" mode. Shift points are a lot more conservative in "drive" (not a bad thing). Dynamic doesn't automatically select "sport". From the manual, you would have to turn on the vehicle and then select "dynamic" (coming from a different drive mode) to enable dynamic + sport.

Long story short, due to EPA regulations, you need to do a step to get sport mode on a key on event (it will never default on). Either move from non-dynamic to dynamic, or select "S" in the shifter.

I do have to agree with the OP though. In sport/auto mode, it seems unnecessarily aggressive in the downshifts. No matter how I drive (I tend to drive one gear lower than optimum for throttle response), sport drops it one gear lower on top of that. I do like it in paddle shifting manual mode. It gains you some nice throttle response.