Singh's-S5

I'm about to buy 2018 S5 Sportback in 2 weeks, is it worth it to get the dynamic steering option? I've heard mixed reviews that it's not always reliable and has too much understeering in turing into corners.

stanj

The reason why I didn't get it is that one and the same steering wheel angle has different wheel angles depending on speed and whatnot else that I can't even comprehend. I had it in my B8 and hated every minute of it, was happy that with the B9 it was decoupled from the sport package and that you could nix it.

JohnEnglish

GTSX

I equate Dynamic Steering for a lack of a better parallel as driving with a joystick on an aircraft. Daily "spirited" driving my car, I really enjoy DS.
At low speeds my steering input is really muted and going around the parking deck, etc, is a breeze. I didn't realize how much
this made a difference until I got a rental car last week and was like "why am I using so much force" ha!

Off the parkway where I live, pretty familiar with the turns and enjoy the "boost" to the steering input at speed.
I forget the original poster, but very true you get muscle memory.

This Lambo video is cool to see the difference. Obviously the Lambo system is different than the Audi, you get the point :-)

stanj

Yes it's different - the Audi system goes into linear mode when in dynamic, so particularly in the example shown in the movie (track), it would make absolutely no difference - unless of course the driver chose Comfort mode...

superswiss

There's been a few threads about the Dynamic Steering where we explained what it really does, so do a search. It's got some bad press from some reviewers and a lot of folks don't really understand it. The dynamic part as far as the Audi implementation is concerned is mostly for daily driving. As correctly said above, in Dynamic mode the steering ratio stays fixed, so it is predictable for sporty driving. But it locks at a more direct ratio than the standard steering, so it feels overall livelier and more sporty. The comment on muscle memory is also accurate. The one thing I've learned living with it is that you wanna avoid switching between Comfort, Auto and Dynamic constantly. You really get used to the steering in one mode and then when you change the mode, it takes some time to adjust. I mostly keep it in Auto mode, which is intended for daily driving. Comfort mode is really great for long distance driving and when tired, because it absorbs a lot of the fatiguing road feedback that you don't necessarily want if just cruising along. Overall I really like it. For most of my driving I keep the Dynamic Steering in Auto mode and the Sport Differential in Dynamic mode, for the best combination. The thing I like is that the personality of the car changes much more with the Dynamic Steering in each mode. I find the standard steering somewhat numb and the different modes don't really change much about it. In Dynamic mode it just artificially increases weight, but doesn't really make the steering more agile or provide better feedback, because it still uses a relatively indirect ratio. On the technical front, the Dynamic Steering is integrated with the sport differential and the chassis ECU. You only get the full effect if you get all the components. The Dynamic Steering can make minute adjustments at the limits and compensate with the sport differential to further reduce/eliminate understeer. It makes these adjustments faster than a human can including rally drivers.

superswiss

The Lambo system is tuned differently from what I read, but I'm not entirely sure that it still adjusts the ratio in Corsa or locks the ratio like the Audi system does. What you see mostly in this video is that the Dynamic Steering is more direct, so you have to turn the steering wheel less going around hard corners and have more direct control over the car's turn in. That's really one of the biggest things for me when driving dynamically. I can leave my hands at the 9/3 o'clock positions w/o awkwardly crossing my arms or potentially having to move my hands.

dbuxton13

Yes this gets covered fairly regularly it seems, a search once in awhile would do some forum users good. Unfortunately bad information and opinions seem to also spring up regularly. If you want the real scoop on dynamic steering, take heed of superswiss' words. Read them very carefully. They comprise the most accurate information you will read here on this topic.

My bottom line is: it is a useful driving tool, but needs to be properly understood to be appreciated. Like any skill worth learning, it also takes some training and exposure over time to develop the feel and expertise to utilize properly. To dismiss it outright without understanding it... well, you can be the judge on the quality of that decision.

stanj

I really take exception with the way you portray people's "dislike" as "misunderstanding" - I am a high performance driving instructor and have spent some quality time on the track with dynamic steering, and without - and even more time on the normal open road. I think I understand how it works, yet I still don't like it. I don't like that the turning radius changes every time when I do a rolling stop on the way up to my house. I don't like that turning the wheel twice as far doesn't give me twice the steering input of turning it once that far. I don't like that turning the wheel 90 degrees gives me a different steering angle every time. This is not misunderstanding. This is simply an opinion of dissent, which I think has just as much standing as an opinion that sings its praises. I don't need education on this topic, just like AWD fans don't need education that RWD is much more fun, or vice versa.

MarkWayneClark

Most of the cars I test drove didn't have it. The one that did was an A4 manual with the Sport Plus package. I liked it better than the regular steering, which I found a bit "loose." I was also persuaded by arguments here (and elsewhere) that it really shines when you have the other elements from the S Sport package. So that's how I ordered my car. I hope I like it long term!