Took my car in for the 5K service last week. When I picked the car up, they reminded me about the steering campaign update, and informed me that they had gone ahead and applied it. I hadn't experienced any notchiness up to this point, and the service guy said that he had yet to see any of his cars come in with the problem. But the update was applied nonetheless...

The update definitely makes a difference in the steering, and not in a good way. In my opinion, the car went from fun to drive Audi Q5 to Lexus RX350 in the course of a two-hour drop off. Pulling into my narrow driveway is now effortless, as is straightening out the car in parking spaces and changing lanes on the highway. Some may see this as a good thing, but it makes the car feel like driving a cloud, and that's not what I was looking for in this car at all.

Has anyone else applied the update with a similar experience? I think I read some posts here that I can enable stiffer steering (a la ADS) with a vagcom cable. Can anyone confirm this is the case? I was on the fence about getting it before, but this would easily make my decision for me if it meant I could restore my old steering feel.

 

I'm yet to have it applied but have heard even with it set to dynamic mode in ADS it's still lost its feel.
When my car goes for it's next service I think I'll be requesting they do not apply it...

 

Yes , update the 48K8 for MY13 onwards with the electronic power steering.




You can try this option

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...es-VAG-COM-Fix

 

Since I already have the latest in my 2014, I probably have no idea what you're talking about before this, so my reference is not a good one. I do have ADS and have tried it in Comfort and Dynamic and have left it with Comfort.

Anyway, I just wanted to note that I did note some notch feel since you mentioned this topic. It was only noticeable when driving down a relatively straight back road and I felt like I couldn't quite drive in the exact direction I wanted to - it was either 1 click to the left or 1 click to the right. I could slightly turn the steering wheel back and forth and feel it selecting one of those two positions. In an extreme exaggeration, it felt like the MMI control ****.

What I felt was very minor and doubt my wife would have noticed or could reproduce. The dealership didn't reproduce it either (at a time when they were being extremely helpful with other stuff so I don't think it was from lack of trying). I only noticed it twice and will likely pay more attention to see if I can feel it more often or not.

It was checked and confirmed I already had the latest software (0507 suffix H).

 

Coming from a 2010 Q5 without electric steering to the SQ5 that has it, the SQ5 power steering is definitely boosted big-time when at low speeds, far more than was ever present in my 2010 (I had this campaign applied to my car before I ever drove it, so I have no idea what the SQ5 was like "before"). \

The power steering boosting is especially pronounced in ADS Comfort mode, where tooling around town is effortless and given I have the Dynamic Steering option as well, a 1/4 turn of the wheel gets me a very tight, very effortless turn at low speeds. I would have killed for Drive Select in my 2010 Q5. There were times when I wanted to adjust the effort required but obviously was stuck with what I had.

I've found that with Drive Select I'm able to dial in the appropriate level of steering weight and responsiveness that I like choosing Dynamic vs. Comfort. I do wish "feel" was better (more feedback from the road), but it's not bad as-is. I do not leave it in "Auto" though, as I don't want steering feel to auto-adjust.

It probably goes without saying, but Audi Drive Select is like having 3 different cars. Dynamic is a huge difference from Comfort, and Individual allows you to set your own customized characteristics.

I would recommend that if people are happy with their current steering and don't have any way to adjust it via ADS to not apply this campaign unless you want to roll the dice with whether or not you'll like the steering feel post-update. There's no way aside from VCDS or ADS to change it.

 

I was trying to figure out if that was my imagination. They just did a couple software updates for me, and suddenly I can hardly feel the difference between the ADS Comfort and Dynamic settings for the steering. (I've eventually concluded that there's a slight difference.) I was trying to figure out whether it was my imagination, because I also switched to my winter tires at about the same time, so of course things feel a bit different.

This sounds like I should probably be going back and complaining.

 

This has been me for the past week. I was hoping it was in my head, but having put 400 miles on it now, I'm certain my perceptions are real.

Let me know how that goes if you do. Curious as to if there is another resolution we may not be aware of.

 

I sure hope not, my 2014 is fine, it's not like my previous A4, but I can live with it. If the steering is changed to a lighter feel then I will entertain dumping this Q5 with 1600 miles on it.

 

I feel the same about my 2014. It definitely does not need to be any lighter. I may still dump my Q5 if they don't fix the transmission. Taking away what little steering feel there is now would be the nail in the coffin.

 

Guess things may be different with ADS? I have a 2013 Q5 3.0T P+, without ADS. I had issues not with steering "notchiness" but with a loose and wandering steering wheel on "dead center". I found that I was always having to tweak the steering on a straight road. At 5,000 miles I had the service update/recall on the steering. What a improvement. It totally removed the on-center looseness, and it firmed up the steering all across the range. It feels more sporty now, and just the way it should have from the beginnig. The result is great; I love it.