[AUS5]

Hi guys,
After 7 months of waiting, I finally got the keys to my S5 yesterday. I only drove it home and had to work all day today so no time to drive it :-(
It has a total of 28km's (17 miles) on the odo !

Anyhow, I believe it is the first S5 in Australia with Drive Select. I drove the demo just before I picked my car up to see if I could feel the difference between the two. The demo had 18's on, whilst I have 19's so that in itself is not an equal comparison. I played around with the settings going between comfort/auto/dynamic and could definitely feel the car tighten up when selecting dynamic and you could definitely feel the road bumps more. I also have the ability to change engine characteristics throught the MMI system. I didn't get into this but over the next week or so, I'll have a better play with it and report back if I think it's worth the extra $$.
Oh and pics to follow later in the week!

Steve

 

[Vin]

Congratulations.

sounds like drive select is an excellent option.

 

[SAJ_1982]

Congratulations.
sounds like drive select is an excellent option.

Which we can't have

 

[Seamo]

Hi Aus5, very interested to hear what happens re the steering.
Without Drive Select I found the steering was very light at low speeds and heavy at higher speeds. Ideally, I would like it whereby there was not so much of a difference. For example, if, on a normal car, the steering is Level 1(very light) at low speeds and Level 4 (heavy) at motorway speeds, can you compare the weight of the steering in the different settings. e.g. is dynamic a 2 and a 5. Perhaps you can explain it better, however, even a quick answer would help satisfy my curiosity! Thanks.

 

[AidenL]

Interesting

Hope I don't regret not speccin' it here, but is was around € 5k all in it seems?

 

[A5inReston]

Congrats AUS5
Now that the US builds from here on out will be 2009 models, it should become an option here, and I look forward to your report.

Does your Drive Select package include the "Sport Differential" ?

 

[AUS5]

Hi guys,
Seamo.. I only went with the dampers option, so did not get the advanced steering option, so I have the normal light/heavy steering.

A5inReston the sport differential (torque steering) will not be available until sometime in 2009. I have that in writing from Audi as I enquired about it just after placing this order, however that was 5 months ago so maybe things have changed.

 

[A5inReston]

AUS5
Thanks for the update. I will ask about the Sport Differential on the forthcoming 2009's.

Do you know if your ride control comes from magnetic damper adjustment ?

 

[Seamo]

Thanks AUS5 - looking forward to hearing how you get on.

 

[AUS5]

Hi guys,
Actually, playing with the MMI a bit more today I noticed it indeed, does have settings for suspension, steering and engine. Each one of those then has the option of Comfort, Auto and Dynamic. I will read up more on each but have noticed that, for example, if I have the suspension set to 'comfort' on the MMI, I can still change it to 'dynamic' using the buttons on the dash and yet, the MMI setting stays the same, so maybe they are different in their functions.

A5inReston... I don't think the suspension is magnetic ride (magnetic particles in fluid) but some form of hydraulic dampening is used. I drove it today and can definitely feel a slight stiffening with more sensitivity to bumps etc. when I go to Dynamic on the dash. I'll read up on what the steering/engine parameters do exactly. Been busy with work the last few days so no time to read the manual...
Cheers,

 

[ivanrostas]

Congrats

Congrats Steve

I hope you're enjoying it...

My wait is going to be long here on the Gold Coast...

Build date Week 35!

Cheers

Ivan

 

[o'bluetouring]

Just wondering if the Drive Select lets you customize it so it saves on gas mileage (maybe pump out less HP like the M5 before you push the Sport button). I'm asking because my commute to work is 85% stop/go traffic and I hope the Driver Select option will allow me to "tune" my car to achieve optimal MPG.

Thanks,

dK

 

[seifufu]

don't know for sure.. but i don't think that Drive Select detunes the engine to save gas in Comfort mode for the engine....tho it might upshift earlier (and save gas that way) if you also set the Transmission to Comfort mode ...

 

[AUS5]

The Drive Select does NOT detune engine in any way that I know of. I now have 400km on my car and yesterday, I took the car through some bumpy roads and the changing ride is very noticeable between the various settings. It's more the rebound than anything else that I notice beween comfort/auto/dynamic. I have read through the manual but there is nothing on Drive Select.

I'm still trying to work out what the MMI settings do between suspension/engine/steering. Does anyone have any info on these? Are they on everyone's MMI setup or or is it a feature of Drive Select?

 

[cnugget23]

Anyone else have comments about how much this Drive Select feature can soften up the ride on S5?

I got some pretty harsh roads around my neighborhood and it'd be a great feature if I could choose 'Comfort' for suspension mode and get a noticeably softer ride (lets say similar to A5) when I'm in town. And then when I get on the highway and in newer areas/developments I can choose 'Dynamic' and tear up some roads.

Any thoughts on how well Drive Select works on the S5 in regards to this?

 

[AUS5]

Hey guys,
I only have about 600 miles on the 'Drive Select' equipped S5 now.. been travelling a lot for work overseas, hence the mileage is low for 2 months ownership.

So far, there is definitely a marked difference between Comfort and Dynamic Modes. Auto on the other hand, is a bit hard to work out what it's actually doing (it's supposed to automatically adjust to road conditions).

What I don't like about the system is that everytime you start the car, it resets itself back to the Auto mode. I still can't get any extra info out of Audi Australia on exactly how the system works. I was told by a sales guy that apparently in Dynamic mode it lowers the car by 15mm (3/5 inch). I've also worked out that the different modes not only affect the suspension, but also steering and engine characteristics. However, the MMI system lets you over-ride each one of these individual settings for your own preference (27 modes), ie. if I had the button in Dynamic mode, then everything is in Dynamic (sports) mode, however I can change the steering for example, to Comfort.

To be honest, I can't feel that much of a difference in the various steering modes so far.. but I have not been driving through many twisty roads, mainly freeways so far.

I'll start playing around with the settings a bit more and post any results worth writing about.