RS5 finally can be driven "normally" in Auto mode!

[HAWKiS5]

Enjoy my RS5 since one month, and I am very happy when driving it "actively". Still a pity there is no manual gearbox, but ok, the S-tronic is already better than the S-tronic in the A5/S5 (e.g., the RS5 S-tronic will NOT upshift or Kickdown in Manual!).

When cruising through town or elsewhere, it is however still far from perfect, in fact it is very annoying to drive in either automatic S-tronic mode

In Dynamic (S) mode, it makes way too many revs (it upshifts above 4-5K rpm, too noisy to cruise, very nervous, only good for speeding).

In Auto/Comfort (D) mode, it makes way too less revs (it upshifst around 1,5-2K rpm) so not enough torque, and again no comfortable driving.

Result: most of the time I drive in Manual mode, which is more relaxed than D or S mode, because you can have the optimal torque in every situation, without driving too nervous.

But now I found the solution: via VCDS (see here) I configured the Efficience (E) mode, and surprisingly this is the best Auto mode for the RS5 S-tronic!

In E(fficiency) mode, the S-tronic upshifts around 3K rpm, which is ideal for cruising downtown or B-roads, and the same I did in Manual mode.

So finally a S-tronic mode which makes it possible to drive the RS5 also in Auto mode in "normal" situations.

I am still looking if it is possible to find a way to get only the gearbox/engine to be in E-mode, and steering, suspension, sport diff, ACC, etc in different (Dynamic/Comfort/etc) mode. Pity that Efficiency does not appear under the Individual options of Drive Select, so now you have to go Efficiency for ALL components, or not.

[mcoomer]

Thank you for posting. I've always felt the same about Comfort mode. It seems that it lugs the engine instead of letting it build a few revs and shifting at a more "natural" point, if you will. I'll have to take a look at this over the weekend. Be very interested in seeing if I can get this to work on my car.

Mike

[HAWKiS5]

Thank you for posting. I've always felt the same about Comfort mode. It seems that it lugs the engine instead of letting it build a few revs and shifting at a more "natural" point, if you will. I'll have to take a look at this over the weekend. Be very interested in seeing if I can get this to work on my car.

Mike

It is indeed the one thing that was missing for me when driving normally (as you do most of time).

If you have ADS, you only have to change the value of channel 66 (add 32 to the number currently there) of Module 09 (Central Electric).

[rlarsen462]

Wow...so I coded this in, tried it...it does NOT play nice with my RS5. Basically the upshifts are great, as you described, in that 3K range, feels great. But the downshifting is really messed up. When it would upshift to 6th (going say 50MPH) it would stay in sixth as I decelerated, then try and stay in 6th as I make a turn at like 15MPH, bogging the hell out of the engine. Going up a hill it felt like it was slipping the clutch like crazy to keep from downshifting. Really bizarre feeling.

I think I am going to code it back out, it's clearly not designed to play nice with the software on my car. Maybe they changed something in the software between '13 and '14, or it's a Cab-only thing that works for you, Hawk.

[superswiss]

Yeah, I thought it was a neat find, but I wasn't gonna try it. I highly doubt Audi tested this mode on the RS5, otherwise it would be standard. Probably just left over from sharing the codebase across the various models.

[rlarsen462]

It's basically undriveable, so I'm more confused as to how/why it's working on Hawk's cab.

[Shawn@PacificGerman]

Ryan, bring it by and I will do a SVM update if you get stuck and cant get it back to normal.

[rlarsen462]

Really appreciate the offer Shawn, but I just popped the VAGCOM back in and reverted the code, 'Efficiency' mode disappeared from the 'Car' screen and all is well. Even when the mode was enabled, it wouldn't jam up the car completely or anything, as soon as you switched to another Drive Select mode, everything was fine.

I added the DIS Efficiency Screen as a consolation, but it's pointless crap.

[HAWKiS5]

Wow...so I coded this in, tried it...it does NOT play nice with my RS5. Basically the upshifts are great, as you described, in that 3K range, feels great. But the downshifting is really messed up. When it would upshift to 6th (going say 50MPH) it would stay in sixth as I decelerated, then try and stay in 6th as I make a turn at like 15MPH, bogging the hell out of the engine. Going up a hill it felt like it was slipping the clutch like crazy to keep from downshifting. Really bizarre feeling.

I think I am going to code it back out, it's clearly not designed to play nice with the software on my car. Maybe they changed something in the software between '13 and '14, or it's a Cab-only thing that works for you, Hawk.

Indeed the upshifting is perfect (for me), downshifting is ok for cruising downtown (better than in Auto/Comfort) but I agree it is sometimes better to downshift with the paddles (but then let it go to Auto again, which it does after few seconds). It will downshift as soon as the revs are going too low, but be aware: the kickdown is completely disabled when driving in E-mode (and I am happy about it, since this kickdown always kicks in when you don't want it.................).

So, i drive it in E-mode now most of time when I am cruising, when I need more power suddenly, I either press the left paddle OR I press the gear lever (So it goes into S-mode directly, and shifts down 2-3 gears directly!) and e.g. take over a car in front of me. Then back to E-mode.

When driving actively, of course this E-mode is not practical, so I go into S/Dynamic mode (with quick touch of the gear lever and it S/Dyamic!).

Still a MAnual gearbox would be better imho, but this way it is acceptable for me, and even fun.

[Bluetarragon]

I prefer keeping suspension in Comfort and the other settings all in Dynamic, then using the paddles most of the time.

[rlarsen462]

I prefer keeping suspension in Comfort and the other settings all in Dynamic, then using the paddles most of the time.

Our suspension stays in "freedom" mode all the time. In other words, we yanks got shafted with no dynamic suspension. :)