JohnHugill

Good morning, all, and thanks in anticipation for welcoming me in to this forum. I have a recently purchased a brand new Quattro 2015 Audi A8 TDI. It has now less than 500 miles. And while the car itself is stunning it drives like a dog. The wheels have a way of driving the steering, instead of the other way round. It won't stay on a straight line. I have to constantly make small corrections to bring it back to center. It's a subtle thing. Many would not notice. My wife, for example, wouldn't. But I am a driving nut, love cars, and the way this one behaves drives me nuts. Not only is it inconvenient, but it is tiring, and detracts from the car as a whole, which is otherwise stunning. It is by far the worst driving car I have owned. Unfortunately I didn't pick it up on a short dealership test drive. So, I'm stuck now. I called the dealership (it's 250 miles away), and I'm told it is the big wheels (20") that are responsible. It has the 20" 15 spoke wheels, and came with Pirellis, 265/40 R20 all-season tires. Would anyone have any words of wisdom? Is it the wheels, the tires or is it a defect in the car? Different tires, perhaps? My A4 that I traded in had come with Pirellis, and when I put Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires on it when the originals wore out, it was a different car. Any help would be TREMENDOUSLY appreciated, and thanks.

A 8

Welcome but I can't say I recognize any of that, perhaps your car is in full "sports" mode? Mine is usually set at automatic and when it switches to sport the steering gets really stiff and egdy so to speak which btw is a good thing when driving the car hard.
The only other thing I can think of is if your wheel alignment is off.

The_Capt

I can understand to a degree what you're referring to. The quattro driving set-up definitely is a bit different compared to other AWD and non-AWD cars I've owned. The car can feel "very" front wheel biased at times, and may be in line with the steering feedback you're describing.

I also had the 20" 10 spoke wheels on the car, but certainly didn't think it tracked poorly on road, but I did notice a difference when switching to Dynamic mode which again does sharpen areas like steering response, suspension turn-in and throttle response/transmission shifts. I suggest playing around with the various driving modes (Comfort/Auto/Dynamic), and perhaps even Individual settings to really dial in your preferences.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the D4 albeit the occasional front end creaks when driving over speed bumps or other roads where suspension travel is put to work for rebound. That issue though seems to be pretty standard across the board for the D4 and is documented in a few threads on here.

Ultimately, I find the D4 to be a very sound car with tons of pluses that outweigh the occasional minuses at times.

JohnHugill

Thanks for the reply. I'm presuming the "sports" mode is one gear below "D," which is "S?"
Whether in "D" or "S," it is the same.
As far as the alignment, the car is brand new out of the dealer.
I'll have it checked, but thanks.

KnappAttack

I also noticed this with mine when I first bought it. Even complained to the dealer about it.

I now always run in dynamic mode or auto mode to help with the steering. Mine acts this way if you try and run in the comfort setting with the steering. Dynamic is the best to get away from this always correcting to keep it straight. Its not the 20" wheels.

JohnHugill

Thanks so much for the input. Everything is so new, and I'll get into the manual and read about what you refer to, and also, I'll have the alignment checked. I can't believe that is what it is, since it just came off the showroom floor, but let's see. And thanks again.

JohnHugill

I'm reassured. (Somewhat). I apologize for sounding ignorant, but it is so brand new I'm not familiar. How do I change the different settings (comfort/dynamic?)

JohnHugill

Just looked it up in the manual, page106. Thanks. I'll play with it and let you know, and again, thanks.

mikey94025

If you have it in your car, also make sure that lane departure warning is disabled (button on left/top stalk, toggles yellow icon on and off at top of instrument cluster). Many have complained that it makes steering feel "wobbly" and I find it really bad on the highway in my 2015 S8.

powerplyer

Funny you mention this . I come from a MBZ S550 and the driving was much "tighter" I think I mentioned this on my initial driving. I now have about 10K on my 2015 Audi A8L TDI and it seems to be better. I do know if it was break-in thing or if I am just used to it, but not as bothersome anymore. FYI I usually drive in Auto mode. It is fun to cruise and power past cars.