kpalakode

I just picked my new Audi S4 !!!!. I wanted to know what mode do you guys usually drive in, and what's best? My commute is really only 10 min to work most weekdays on the highway.

I drove it in Auto and it's very stiff. When i put it in Dynamic Sport, the car came alive.

PGrefal

pics?

m332is

Unless I'm on a freeway just cruising along, I tend to leave my car in Dynamic and trans in Sport.

superswiss

Once the honeymoon period is over I tend to use the modes for what they were designed for. Comfort mode is designed for longer highway journeys, Auto mode is designed for everyday driving and Dynamic mode is designed for sporty/dynamic driving. The exception is I tend not to use Auto mode and instead configure Individual mode with most everything in Auto mode, except suspension in Comfort mode and Sport differential in Dynamic mode. So with that said, I use Comfort mode for longer highway journeys, Individual mode for most of my driving and Dynamic mode when I hit up the canyons or other fun roads, but for everyday driving when I wanna have a bit more fun, I just yank the transmission into S and then Manual mode temporarily, which is equivalent to setting engine/transmission to Dynamic.

rccoleman

The main point for me is S vs. D, and after a couple of months I'm finding that I'm adapting to D and/or it's adapting to me. In the beginning I felt like I had to be in S to have predictable and effective throttle control, but I'm getting much more comfortable in D now. D should improve fuel economy, and I recommend trying it for a bit and giving it time to adapt. I use D on my commute, but slip into S on the weekends.

superswiss

I'm getting the impression this is something a lot of people are not aware of. I'm reading lots of complaints about D. Has been like this even before the B9, but you really have to let the transmission do its thing for a while and let it learn your driving style in D. I do most of my around town driving in D with my RS5 and today it shifts very differently in D, than it did 5 years ago when I first got the car. It has clearly learned how I want to drive and it adapts quickly if I drive a bit more spirited. For example it holds gears longer if I put some g forces on the car around corners. It's not just that it adapted to my general driving style, but it also adapts to the current driving situation.

rccoleman

The most striking difference from when I first got the car is that the "lag" or travel of the pedal before the car really gets going used to be dramatic, and it led to me putting more and more pressure on the pedal until it downshifted and took off like a rocket. It clearly wasn't responding as I expected it to, and it often led to dangerous acceleration coming from a stop. That's much, much better now and the throttle response is much more linear now in D.

superswiss

Yep, from the factory it basically comes with the most conservative mapping, so Audi can claim their mpg numbers. Nobody cares about real world mpg, so Audi and others have lots of leeway to let the car adapt to how one drives at the price of higher fuel consumption. It's all one big game.

Eli McCraig

markcincinnati

This is my second S4 (my S6 was a manual transmission) -- this one, of course, is turbo-charged and my'14 was super-charged. Although I get around the "S" mode's refusal to upshift to the terminal gear by using cruise control, I simply feel the car is way too "laggy" if left in "D". There is a paucity of information about how the transmission/engine "adapts" when left in "D" and "Auto", there seems to be one thing that I overlooked, missed or just plain didn't know. The settings "Comfort", "Auto", and "Dynamic" mean either "Comfort" or "Dynamic" -- there isn't a continuum. For either luxury or economy reasons, the S4 seems to be hell-bent on selecting a "comfort" bias, unless you literally set the thing into "Dynamic".

The bottom line, for me (your mileage may vary), I set ADS to:

Engine/Transmission: Dynamic
Steering: Auto (which seems, largely, to remain in Comfort, but, from time-to-time heavying up by going into Dynamic)
Engine Sound: Comfort (which substantially reduces the "drone" but still will emit the "fart-sound" on full-throttle upshifts)

Then, when I start the car I "double pull" into "S" mode since the default, regardless of your stated ADS preference is always "D" -- responsiveness is improved in "S" since upshifts happen a bit later than when the transmission is in "D" (about a couple hundred RPMs higher).

Typically, I engage ACC, which takes care of the terminal gear situation.

I test drove an RS5 and it is clear Audi knows how to make this engine, chassis not "drone" -- but that was with a somewhat pricey package, but it almost made the thing sound like it had a basso-profundo V8. Within reason, I would pay for this option which allowed a V8-like burble or a nearly silent (except when under full-throttle) personality.

In any case, you bought an "S"4, it should be only, exclusively, totally, and always driven in "S" mode.

Finally, regarding the ADS "Individual" mode, some folks have additional parms (e.g., if you have the torque vectoring rear differential), I mentioned only the parms (in my above example) that are universally applicable.

As I am wont to say: Drive it like YOU live, if you choose to go "Auto" or/and always drive in "D", you should, er, "follow your arrow," not mine.