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With all the noise on the forums about throttle response on the forums, I figure why not take all that energy and focus it on something positive and informative to other owners: your various drive select and gear selector settings. With so many permutations, I think this could be really interesting and people could easily try out other options posted here to see if it improves their experience.
Me, I'm pretty useless at the moment because I won't have my S5 SB until Memorial Day. But after doing some research, here are my thoughts:
I think I will typically use individual mode and optimize the specific settings for normal driving in D (I'm mostly city / highway driving, with occasional back roads), keyed in to be somewhere between all out comfort and all out sport. TBD on how I will set these exact settings, but I'm thinking:
Engine/trans: Dynamic or Auto
Susp. Control: Comfort
Sports Diff: Dynamic
Exhaust Sound: Auto
When I want an uber comfy ride, I can then then just flick the drive selector into comfort
When I want a more aggressive ride, I'll put the drive selector into dynamic, and throw the gear selector into S for good measure, since I don't really understand how all these systems differ (for example, is that a redundant move, doing dynamic all around AND S?)
Questions to consider:
How do you use Dynamic, Comfort, Auto and Individual modes?
What settings do you use in individual?
How do you use the above in conjunction with the D/S gear selector?
In the context of these questions, it would be helpful to know your model, options, and what kind of driving you typically do.
Last edited by MrBlahBlah; 05-03-2018 at 03:11 PM.
I tend not to use "auto" very much. I prefer to have the car behave one way or the other depending on the situation. I usually use "Individual" with the Engine and Diff in dynamic and the suspension and exhaust in comfort and the transmission in 'S' mode.
Some mornings while commuting I switch to Comfort entirely and drive with the trans in 'D' mode but switching to 'S' mode when I feel like I need a little lower gearing for say a passing situation, or to maintain the proper gap with the car in front of me.
On a few rare occasions I'll switch Dynamic, but those are getting few and far between. I enjoy the quiet exhaust and I don't find that the stiffer suspension makes much of a difference in handling unless at the absolute limits but it does make a big difference on home many imperfections in the road make it into the cabin. So individual mode usually wins the day.
I use Auto most of the time, and D. If in heavy traffic, or in the stop and go between lights, I prefer S on the gear lever. I don't really fiddle with it much as I haven't felt the need to.
If I am hammering on the car, I use my individual mode and S on the gear lever.
I retired early at the end March after over 30 years of mainly driving company supplied cars. Not exactly exciting choices for vehicles over this period but I influenced a few nice cars for the wife including some Audi's and BMW's over the years. My wife currently drives a 2014 Q5 TDI and I was impressed with the car and the engine despite the TDI controversy. The S5 SB was my retirement present to myself. Most of my driving so far is close by suburb errands including joy rides and some city freeway trips. I generally always use Individual mode other than freeway cruising when I select Comfort mode. I programmed the * button on the right side of the steering wheel to access the modes easily. When driving around town I will actively use the shift lever to move from D to S as needed. I think it is a perfect car for me. My wife complained about the engine sound when I had it set to Dynamic so Auto is fine with me. Here is my Individual setup:
With engine/trans. in Auto, suspension, (Dynamic) steering and diff in Dynamic, sound in Comfort. I'm generally inclined to look for that one setting that best suits toddling around the ex-urban environment in the Niagara region. I like my chassis settings firm and use the bump to Sport like I used to use the M button.
What is so interesting about all these responses is how different they are from one another...everyone has their own specific preferences based on driving style, driving conditions, etc
Not to mention those preference can change over time, sometimes quite quickly. When I first got the S5 I drove with the suspension in Dynamic. The stiff ride was what I excepted from a performance car and it was what I was used to coming out of my S4 without the adjustable suspension. But as I played around with different modes I begin to realize that car handled corners almost as well in Comfort mode and that also took away a lot of the harsh ride from the **** poor NJ roads. Now I have the suspension set to Comfort almost exclusively.
I just got my S5, and have not put any real time in it yet. Honestly, I have about 10miles in it so far -- so I have a lot of learning to do. I have a question about Dynamic Steering: If I put Dynamic Steering into Dynamic mode, does that mean that I am not using Dynamic Steering? I thought I read somewhere that Dynamic mode meant that Dynamic Steering stays at a constant turn rate... What about Sport Diff?
05-03-2018, 02:29 PM
Post your favorite drive select settings!
