Facelift Audi Drive Select

[The Saints]

I have read various threads regards having to cycle through the modes to regengage Dynamic mode when starting. However is this the same for all modes?
It seems the Eco and Comfort modes need cycling through as well. The car does not seem in full comfort suspension mode unless reselected.
This is not the end of the world but annoying as sometimes it can take 30 seconds to a minute before the Drive Select “wakes up” and allows me to choose anything to change it.

 

[PanamaS3]

am sure its in-built safeguards to protect the engine/mechanics

 

[Kreistofer]

I have Drive Select and it seems to always be in the mode I left it last - same as seat heating, temperature, etc. I own a PFL YM 2016 S3 cabriolet.

In town I tend to drive in comfort, but last time I took the car I thought it was revving higher than usual - I checked and it was in dynamic and I remembered I set it to that during my previous journey. So I am pretty sure on mine I don't have to cycle every time and it starts in whatever mode I used last.

 

[cemerson]

It SAYS it's in the mode you last left it in, but it isn't - if you cycle through them all it actually puts it back into that mode. I think this is the case for all the modes, and is rather annoying.

 

[The Saints]

It SAYS it's in the mode you last left it in, but it isn't - if you cycle through them all it actually puts it back into that mode. I think this is the case for all the modes, and is rather annoying.

That’s what I was beginning to think it’s almost like it switches back to Auto but still shows as being in Comfort for example.
If I cycle back round to comfort it definitely makes a difference to ride.

 

[Kreistofer]

Strange, I've not noticed this so far with mine. I will have to experiment to confirm. Having said that:

• I am pretty sure it started in dynamic the other day and that's something easy to spot, at least from an engine and gear shift point of view
• to be honest I never found that much difference between the modes anyway from a suspension point of view, although the cabriolet is surely bouncier by default compared with the sportback or the saloon - which I guess is why they get magnetic ride as standard

 

[wab172uk]

Easiest way to confirm if it stays in the same mode is to have it in Eco mode when you switch off, and see if it's still in Eco mode when you restart and drive off.

Auto and dynamic is harder to tell, on a manual car anyway.

 

[oli356]

Can't comment on comfort as it doesn't seem to make any difference at all without mag ride, but in efficiency (with stronic) the car feels the same between drives (upshifts early, coast mode). Thought it was only dynamic which needs to be cycled through.

 

[Dan Halen]

I only ever really use dynamic mode (or, I guess if I'm lazy or forget, whatever constitutes the after-restart skeleton of dynamic mode), so I can't offer much re: whether the phantom resetting affects other modes than dynamic.

That said, I feel like the car maintains the dynamic mode suspension setting through shutdown and restart. I think it's also maintaining throttle mapping- or if it's not, dynamic doesn't do much for throttle mapping. What it absolutely resets, though, is idle RPM. If at a stop at an intersection in actual dynamic mode, the car idles around 1,200RPM or so. When in phantom dynamic mode, it's lower- say, 800RPM or so. As long as I am idle when I switch out of phantom dynamic into real dynamic, I can see and feel the idle change.

Is dynamic supposed to do something with the exhaust flaps, too? I think so, but I wouldn't know whether that behavior is affected between real and phantom anymore; I VCDS'd them permanently open long ago to reduce the exhaust tip soot. Yeah, that was my real reason. What, is that not believable?

 

[Tom.H]

Comfort definitely makes a difference over dynamic, I've tried it over speed humps and it's noticeably different.

 

[Audi Bairn]

Is dynamic supposed to do something with the exhaust flaps, too?

Certainly on the FL Saloon, it does this and also sharpens the steering and changes the quattro settings too.

 

[Audi Bairn]

Comfort definitely makes a difference over dynamic, I've tried it over speed humps and it's noticeably different.

Yup, definitely does. That's exactly why I have my 'Individual' mode set to Comfort for the suspension but sharper on most of the other settings, to cope with speed bumps and rougher roads.

 

[Tom.H]

Yup, definitely does. That's exactly why I have my 'Individual' mode set to Comfort for the suspension but sharper on most of the other settings, to cope with speed bumps and rougher roads.

I tend to drive in dynamic 99% of the time although the roads are s**t

 

[Audi Bairn]

I tend to drive in dynamic 99% of the time although the roads are s**t

I'd say I'm 75% in Dynamic (toggling in / out of Sport mode using gearstick) and 25% Individual (which is everything in Dynamic except suspension which is Comfort). I cover a lot of faster B roads which requires a stiffer set up with sharper steering.

 

[Leevr]

PFL, you certainly know your in dynamic when going over sleeping policemen. Rear doesnt react well. Probably down to the Mag ride. Really stiff like it doesn't realise what's happening.

 

[Vertigo1]

It SAYS it's in the mode you last left it in, but it isn't - if you cycle through them all it actually puts it back into that mode. I think this is the case for all the modes, and is rather annoying.

Well it has to be in some mode or another, it can't be in none of them.

That’s what I was beginning to think it’s almost like it switches back to Auto but still shows as being in Comfort for example.
If I cycle back round to comfort it definitely makes a difference to ride.

Don't have that problem at all. If i leave mine in Comfort (which I do most of the time), it's in that mode when I next start it and it is actually in that mode.

Comfort definitely makes a difference over dynamic, I've tried it over speed humps and it's noticeably different.

Only if you have Mag Ride of course

 

[Tom.H]

@Vertigo1 I do

 

[Dan Halen]

So here's something interesting...

When I switch from Dynamic to Dynamic (the alleged partial Dynamic present on restart to the full-function Dynamic after restart), I'm usually already moving down the road. With exceedingly rare exception, I'm in manual mode. Note that this means I'll see M1, M2, etc. in the lower corner of the MFD. If I'm not in manual mode, there's some factor that also means it's unlikely I'll mess with Drive Select at all on that trip, either.

For some reason, I sat in the garage this morning after arriving at my destination and screwed around with the Dynamic to Dynamic mode selection (I hadn't already set it to "proper" Dynamic on my drive).

The transmission was in P when I changed modes. I moved the selector down to D *without* bumping the kick-down to go to sport mode, yet S showed in the lower corner of the screen and idle was at about 1,100RPM. I then bumped the kick-down, and it switched over to D, and the idle fell to about 800RPM. Hmm. Interesting.

So from that point, I left the transmission in D and returned to the Drive Select button. I pushed it five times to cycle Dynamic to Dynamic, and what do you know- idle rose back to 1,100RPM, and the D changed back to S.

What's more, when I switched over to manual mode from D, the idle remained at 800RPM... but when I switched over from S, it held the elevated 1,100RPM.

I'm likely going to try this same sequence with some measuring blocks being monitored for the other Drive Select-controlled systems, but I suspect that Dynamic isn't actually falling out of true Dynamic mode on a restart. I think it's just that the ECM mapping between D and S modes is also mapped to Dynamic, thereby making the five pushes of the Drive Select button effectively the same as just putting the transmission into S before dropping into the manual gate. It's pretty apparent to me that manual mode holds the characteristics of D or S when you go from either one to manual mode. "M1" on the MFD makes it seem manual mode is manual mode with no variation, but it seems there could almost be MD1 thru MD6 and MS1 thru MS6.

Did everyone know this and I'm just strange?