gravi

Quick question. It seems that in S mode the transmission never goes to the final overdrive gear (8), whatever the cruising speed. Is this normal?

superswiss

Yes, this is normal. I believe it eventually goes to 8 somewhere above 130 mph or something like that. S basically keeps the engine in boost for instant response at the cost of fuel consumption.

markcincinnati

S mode goes into 8th gear at "normal" speeds -- BASED ON HOW YOU HAVE BEEN DRIVING "RECENTLY."

Cruising down the Interstate -- with moderately heavy traffic, speeds of 50MPH seem to be the prima facie speed. The transmission will be in 8th gear.

If you're in D, same circumstances, the transmission will be in 8th.

The SQ5 (2018) will NOT upshift to 8th in S, no matter what -- until you reach ludicrous speed. I am assuming most of us rarely exceed 100MPH -- on the public highways. My excesses might be to 105 and might be for a few seconds -- there is too much traffic and I am a disciple of "assured clear distance" driving.

I drove 53K miles in S mode in a '14 S4 with the DSG transmission and it was, sometimes, more reluctant to upshift to 7th. The '18 S4 tiptronic has no hesitation.

However, if you are "playful" or aggressive with the '18, if you have recently floored it, for example, it will not go to 8th gear if the selector in in S mode until some time and or distance has passed that would indicate you are not in need of the extra thrust the additional RPM's would/could supply.

If you drive in S mode ALL of the time, the upshifts don't come as early as if you were in D. The impact is the car, in D, upshifts too early in the name of economy.

If you like the sluggishness -- or as I say, it feels like the emergency brake is enagaged -- D offers improved fuel economy, until you get on a long stretch of interstate -- then it makes little, if any, difference.

Once you get on the 100 mile stretch between Cincinnati and Columbus and cruise along at the posted speed limit or +5, +10 or even +20MPH, the transmission will be in 8th gear in D or S -- the difference is, IF you "need" the car to be more responsive, or even if you "want" it to, S will provide it via delayed upshifts, rev matched downshifts and most gears held or nominally at about 200-300RPM higher than if you were in D.

This car should have a D mode and no S mode, and D ought to be what you get in S mode -- but, as I often say "I'm often wrong, but never uncertain."

markcincinnati

There is no way the delay in shifting to 8th gear in S is to 130MPH.

Mine will be in 8th at 50MPH on a crowded Interstate.

superswiss

There are a few factors and I guess the tuning is not the same on all S models. You are correct, the transmission is also adaptive, so somebody driving like a grandma in S may find the transmission to go to 8th gear at much lower speeds. I only use S on any car for aggressive driving, so I guess in my case the transmission never becomes complacent. Also cruise control on/off matters. If you engage cruise control as far as I know it pretty much upshifts to 8th very quickly on the highway regardless of whether you are in D or S.

Admittedly, I do have more experience with the S-tronic and mostly with the R/RS implementations. It never goes into the top gear in S (7th). For example I've done European Delivery with my RS5, and it stays in 6th gear all the way to 174 mph. I usually ended up giving it a notch with the paddle to get it into 7th for longer distance triple digit speed driving.

gravi

I can tell you I have not seen it shift to 8 at even 80MPH on the interstate. Now, I drive in D on a routine basis and use S for fun, and I only have 800 miles on it so maybe the car takes some time to "learn".

markcincinnati

I'm going to attempt to take a picture of this with my iPhone (if I can do this safely).

#1 I'll take a picture of ADS settings
#2 I'll put the car in S and drive out of my subdivision toward Interstate 275 (Northern Cincinnati)
#3 I'll accelerate "normally" to 55MPH (speed limit where I'll be is 65MPH and if I drive 50MPH in light traffic, the traffic that is there will be unhappy with me if I drive too slowly)
#4 I'll set the cruise control (I have DAP)
#5 I'll take a picture of the digital speed which will show I am in Individual mode and at 55MPH
#6 While still at 55MPH and without turning off the cruise, I'll move the selector to M mode (which will NOT change the gear I'm in but will put a number next to the "M" -- I'm suggesting I'll see "M8")

I'll post these pictures.

Of course, if you already believe me (and why would I be untruthful?), this will just provide substantiation of my claim.

I can't tell you exactly HOW LOW my speed CAN be while the transmission shifts to 8th, but it may be below 50MPH.

===

My previous S4 (DSG) would NOT shift to 7th gear if I had been driving aggressively recently -- it would NOT even respond to the paddle shifter to upshift, I would have to physically push the transmission lever "up" to force the upshift OR move the selector to D (which I call "limp" mode).

===

The behavior you are experiencing is identical to my wife's SQ5.

markcincinnati

Picture one Individual ADS settings

Picture two Car in Gear (S Individual)

Picture three speed and car still in S Individual

Picture four after moving shifter to "Manual mode" to see what the current gear setting was at the current indicated speed.

It was in 8th gear as it moved toward 50MPH in S.

There was construction on the road leading to the Interstate this morning, I was forced to drive at 43MPH. It was in S mode, 8th gear (cruise was set at 50 but there was a car in front of me and the ACC mitigated my speed).

Picture #3 and #4 taken on the interstate at 10:47AM today; they were taken while I was driving with ACC on and set at 50MPH while driving on the Interstate.

ibu11et

I have another Sport mode question.

I usually run in individual with with the "Engine & Transmission" setting set to "Auto".

When I run the car in "S" mode, does that override the E&T setting and move it to dynamic, or does it only apply to the transmission setting? Or does the transmission actually have 4 stages?

Comfort D
Comfort S
Dynamic D
Dynamic S

markcincinnati

That, I think, is the question MANY of us wonder about. I have tried Engine/Trans in Auto and Dynamic. I always pull the gear lever one extra time to invoke "S" on the display, but I have always wondered, "what does that do in one vs the other."

My conclusion is that pulling the transmission lever into S mode OVERRIDES the settings and makes both of them "S" -- here's how I have come to this conclusion.

Start the car in "full Auto" mode.

Set the parking brake.

Pull the gear shift into gear "D" will appear -- glance at the RPM's and in an otherwise completely silent car (no radio, etc.) listen to the engine and exhaust sound.

Now, pull the gear shift again -- invoking "S" -- glance at the RPM's and note the "engine" sound is louder (and the RPM's higher.)

I'm sorry this will be tedious, but now, shut the car down (after returning the gear to P).

Open the driver's door.

Close the drivers's door.

Start the car (which should still be in AUTO mode.)

Go to the ADS screen and select Individual -- change the Engine from Auto to Dynamic. Watch the RPM's rise and hear the sound of the engine/exhaust rise.

Over and over again try all 27 combinations. In between each time shut the car down and open the driver's door. I must say, I am not convinced you need to include the steering parameter in the "scientific" test, but I did. If you leave steering alone, you will cut the number of times you need to do this by 33%.

You will note, if you set the Engine/Transmission to Comfort and the Engine Sound to Auto the car will be very quiet.

When, in this mode, you double pull the gear shift, thus invoking the S on your screen, two things will happen. The engine RPM's and the sound will both increase.

If, however, you set the engine sound to COMFORT, and the Engine/Trans to Auto, the engine sound will NOT increase, but the RPM's will when you double pull the shifter.

I have my Individual set as noted so that I can under normal circumstances run in "S" mode but without an increase in sound.

When I am wanting to be more playful or aggressive, so to speak, I press the "*" button on my steering wheel and select 100% Dynamic and in that case BOTH the RPM's and the Engine Sound increase.

I therefore, submit for your consideration that pulling the lever REGARDLESS of the settings once, gives you D and twice gives you S (from a full off situation) -- and that S on the screen means both the transmission will shift later and at a coulple+ hundred RPM higher and that whatever impact S has on the engine (mapping?) is also impacted. The sound that happens when the Engine sound parameter is set on either Auto or Dynamic but not on Comfort is merely the opening and/or closing of some exhaust system baffles that make the car sound louder and increases the intensity of the fart sounds at shift points and high RPMs.

I could be wrong -- but I have tried all 27 combinations and have come to the conclusion that S means dynamic engine and transmission ALL of the time, and sometimes (based on the Engine sound parameter) means a louder exhaust sound.

I believe the E&T have two settings COMFORT and DYNAMIC. Period. Driving this car in D is like driving a stick shift car one gear too high, most of the time and two gears too high, some of the time and the right gear some of the time. I can't stand this car in D (perhaps that's a bit strong, but driving this car in D would be punishment for me).

See, I told you it was tedious.

P.S. Much of my driving is with ACC turned "on" and within +10 Tolerance. For instance, this AM after I took the pictures, above, I set the ACC to 75MPH (which is +10 the posted speed limit on the Interstate section I was driving on.) I don't know if this has much, if anything to do with getting to 8th gear sooner or later or no influence at all, I just wanted to make sure I did not leave out any data points.

When I exit the Interstate (on my way home, from work), I touch the brake pedal and I do not reactivate the ACC -- sometimes, especially if I am on a stretch of road between 6 and 7PM, I select full dynamic and take one of the secondary roads at WOT for as long as I dare and I also use the paddle shifters. Of course, after this "romp" (or 'frolic and detour' -- the legal term for my diversion from the straight and strictly legal path home) the transmission really wants to hold gears much longer before upshifting.