Is S4 sport differential rare?

[jchristopher]

I'm considering trading my 2011 TT-S cab for an S4 with sport differential. But in most of the listings I've seen they don't list the sport differential. Are they rare?

[LINDW4LL]

No, not rare. It won't be on every one, either, though.

Usually it won't be listed/mentioned if you're looking at something like Cars.com- have to look for the Drive Select Button or ask depending on year.

[Johnnycash]

not really, i would say maybe 50/50 split rear sprt diff v non rear sport diff.

sport diff here, a lot of the reason why some listings dont show it is because the seller might not be aware that its a coveted feature, and there are so many different trim options for these cars its hard to keep track of all the options...

but if you are looking for an s4 and the sport diff is mandatory, there are plenty of ways to identify it easily.

[Senseless]

It was only an $1100 retail price option, so I don't know why so many people opted out of this.

[homelessNY_LI]

It was only an $1100 retail price option, so I don't know why so many people opted out of this.

True or make it standard and adjust the mrsp accordingly

[jimrobbington]

Not rare, but i found that most dealers either don't know too look for it, or just don't list it. Take a handful of vinsv that you really like, call Audi, and they will tell you if each does or does not have the sport diff. That's how i made my decision through carmax. Most wouldn't know how to check if you asked, or they would just call Audi like you should anyway.

[rtl5009]

I found it rather difficult to find a 6 sp with a sports diff when I was looking for my car.

[Schadenfreude]

I found it rather difficult to find a 6 sp with a sports diff when I was looking for my car.

Same here. If I wanted DSG then it was around 50/50 had Sport Diff but finding a manual was much harder. Finding one in the color I wanted with Ti package was damn near impossible at the time and it was too late in 2012 for me to order one without getting a B8.5

[grovlet]

When I was looking - the dealer I bought the car from actually listed it out - but I can confirm that as noted most don't list it.

Best solution I found was to look for the Drive Selection Buttons - but even then I've heard there are some that still opted out of the Diff - so I looked for Drive Select & then if I got to the test drive phase, also looked underneath the car in person to confirm it's presence.

[Thurston]

It's not rare but it's not as important as it's made out to be either .. (in my opinion) but .. for the price yea it's def. worth looking for. I have a 6mt w/ sport diff but I really don't think the sport diff is as absolutely crucial as it's often made out to be and I drive very spiritedly most all the time.. idk maybe i'm way off it'll certainly be a selling point down the road.

[doug97gxe]

I didn't want it.. but the car i wanted had it

[kobrian85]

I didn't want it.. but the car i wanted had it

Purely out of curiosity, why didn't you want it?

[IIIAWOLIII]

I found it rather difficult to find a 6 sp with a sports diff when I was looking for my car.

Harder still to find sport diff with adjustable suspension. When I looked there were 3 2015s available in the US with this combo. 2 in cali and 1 in VA. I took a road trip to nab mine.

[Thurston]

Harder still to find sport diff with adjustable suspension. When I looked there were 3 2015s available in the US with this combo. 2 in cali and 1 in VA. I took a road trip to nab mine.

What qualifies as adj. suspension? ADS? comfort, dynamic, indiv.? if so my 2015 also has it plus a rare color but i can only drive in dynamic mode since the car tram lines everywhere in comfort.

[doug97gxe]

Purely out of curiosity, why didn't you want it?

wasn't familiar with the importance of it or the need. Had my car configured in my head and ready to go before i joined the forums. All i wanted was 6 MT, Black Optic and Nav .. when i was buying my car it was August 2014 and there were only 4 MT's in the Country .. Sepang in VA (dealer refused to ship), Ibis in NJ (dealer was cool and shipped and i bought it) , Black in NJ and Black in CT.. I ended up with the Ibis with ever option except NAV .. but i refused to wait for a car to be built ..

[IIIAWOLIII]

What qualifies as adj. suspension? ADS? comfort, dynamic, indiv.? if so my 2015 also has it plus a rare color but i can only drive in dynamic mode since the car tram lines everywhere in comfort.

Go into the Car menu and choose Individual Settings. If you have Suspension listed as a configurable option, you have adjustable suspension.

[doug97gxe]

Go into the Car menu and choose Individual Settings. If you have Suspension listed as a configurable option, you have adjustable suspension.

this is only if you have NAV .. if you have a Drive Select Button it means you have adjustable suspension

[justr0]

What qualifies as adj. suspension? ADS? comfort, dynamic, indiv.? if so my 2015 also has it plus a rare color but i can only drive in dynamic mode since the car tram lines everywhere in comfort.

ADS qualifies as adj. suspension. Comfort, dynamic, individual, Auto are all drive select mode's which if you have ADS will also affect the suspension settings.

[justr0]

Not rare at all. TBH the Quattro system is quite good by itself at handling corners at upto 70mph, trust me you'll brake from fear long before the Quattro system loses grip. The Sport differential helps counter the famous Audi understeer issue and boy does it make it FUN to take onramps!! Be Warned, it wreaks havoc on outer rear tires :-p....if you ask me, people without it are truly missing out, unless they drive like sensible people, in which case they won't miss it at all lol.

[Reckon]

I was lucky with my 2014 DSG. Came with everything except adaptive cruise control (which would actually be nice now that I am taking the chariot on road trips) and the adaptive suspension. I have the usual ADS (driving modes) but not the full ADS. I didn't think much of the sport diff at first, but when you actually push the car in corners, it becomes extremely noticeable. Love it and glad I lucked out with the one I had.

[IIIAWOLIII]

this is only if you have NAV .. if you have a Drive Select Button it means you have adjustable suspension

Not sure that's accurate. I seem to remember test driving several 2015s with drive select buttons that did not have adjustable suspension.

Most of the cars available had the sports diff, but very few also had adjustable suspension.

[doug97gxe]

Not sure that's accurate. I seem to remember test driving several 2015s with drive select buttons that did not have adjustable suspension.

Most of the cars available had the sports diff, but very few also had adjustable suspension.

the Drive Select button comes with the Adjustable Suspension .. however only on NAV cars you have the ability to change individual settings in the Car menu

[IIIAWOLIII]

the Drive Select button comes with the Adjustable Suspension .. however only on NAV cars you have the ability to change individual settings in the Car menu

Understood. But just because you have a drive select button, doesn't necessarily mean you have adjustable suspension.

In cars without NAV, you may need to physically check, which is easy enough to do.

[doug97gxe]

Understood. But just because you have a drive select button, doesn't necessarily mean you have adjustable suspension.

In cars without NAV, you may need to physically check, which is easy enough to do.

I do believe the reason for the Drive Select button is for Adjustable Suspension, Steering, Throttle Response and Sound .. others have added the features with the exception of Adjustable Suspension via VAG-COM .. this is my understanding from reading the forums

[jsh139]

Very easy to tell in 2010 - 2012 cars. If the car has the Auto - Comfort - Dynamic - Individual buttons, it has at a minimum the sports diff. The 2013+ cars you need to do some digging.

[GTItoS4]

I do believe the reason for the Drive Select button is for Adjustable Suspension, Steering, Throttle Response and Sound .. others have added the features with the exception of Adjustable Suspension via VAG-COM .. this is my understanding from reading the forums

Drive Select button does not mean you have the adjustable suspension. I promise.

[XxSullyxX123]

yea I have the drive select button on my 2015 and no adjustable suspension.

[604bking]

I do believe the reason for the Drive Select button is for Adjustable Suspension, Steering, Throttle Response and Sound .. others have added the features with the exception of Adjustable Suspension via VAG-COM .. this is my understanding from reading the forums

No. Drive select button doesn't mean you have ADS, even without NAV. If that's true then how do cars without ADS select steering, engine, and engine sound settings?

[jimrobbington]

I found it rather difficult to find a 6 sp with a sports diff when I was looking for my car.

It took me a while too, but they do exist.

Understood. But just because you have a drive select button, doesn't necessarily mean you have adjustable suspension.

In cars without NAV, you may need to physically check, which is easy enough to do.

Exactly. I have ADS, prestige, sports diff, no dynamic suspension.

[justr0]

It took me a while too, but they do exist.

Exactly. I have ADS, prestige, sports diff, no dynamic suspension.

Isn't ADS -> Adaptive Damping Suspension??? unless you mean Audi Drive Select lol

[jimrobbington]

Isn't ADS -> Adaptive Damping Suspension??? unless you mean Audi Drive Select lol

I think they are both called ADS, yes, which makes it even more confusing. But yes, i have drive select, where adjustable suspension is all that i am missing.

[doug97gxe]

Ok now i'm even more confused .. Drive Select goes with Sports Diff? or Drive Select goes with Active Damping Suspension? unfortunately i have both so i am not sure

[jimrobbington]

Drive select goes with nav? Lol

[doug97gxe]

Drive select goes with nav? Lol

no Drive Select with Nav allows Individual adjustment.. since i don't have NAV i just have Comfort, Dynamic and Auto which shows on the Dash .. even though i have ADS and Sports Diff

[jimrobbington]

no Drive Select with Nav allows Individual adjustment.. since i don't have NAV i just have Comfort, Dynamic and Auto which shows on the Dash .. even though i have ADS and Sports Diff

So that should be called ADS+? Lol. So only with nav, you can put comfort steering with dynamic sport diff etc...?

[doug97gxe]

So that should be called ADS+? Lol. So only with nav, you can put comfort steering with dynamic sport diff etc...?

yeah

[IIIAWOLIII]

So that should be called ADS+? Lol. So only with nav, you can put comfort steering with dynamic sport diff etc...?

Yup. My Individual is everything set to dynamic except suspension, which is set to auto. Good balance of comfortable ride on the highway while still having tight steering and better engine response. Once at cruise I just bump the gear selector down to go to D.

[SteveYem]

Very easy to tell in 2010 - 2012 cars. If the car has the Auto - Comfort - Dynamic - Individual buttons, it has at a minimum the sports diff. The 2013+ cars you need to do some digging.

Agreed except for two caveats:

1) This would be extremely rare, but documented on the Audizine forums - it is possible to retrofit the Auto-Comfort-Dynamic buttons into a non-ADS / non-Sport Diff S4, unlock the 'ADS-Lite' functionality within the MMI system (which allows the user to toggle between Comfort-Auto-Dynamic modes for Steering and Engine in a non-sport diff car), and program the system to recognize the physical buttons just like the ADS / sport diff cars do. I doubt many people did this because the parts were expensive (the ADS button console was something like $200, and you would also have to buy a "right had side" traction control button because the default "left hand side" button would be displaced by the ADS buttons), but it was possible, was executed by a user on AZ, and it's possible that his car is out there floating around somewhere. It's possible there are more cars like it. Best bet would be to have the dealer send you the Monroney (window sticker) for the car. If the car has the sport diff it will say something like "QUATTRO with Sport Differential".


2) IIRC, the driveSelect button in the center stack became standard on 2014 model year. This means that all 2014+ S4's, regardless of option package, give the driver the ability to toggle between Comfort-Auto-Dynamic for Steering and Engine. (Possibly it allows the user to select the Engine Sound setting, too....but I cannot confirm that). But in 2013, I believe that only ADS and/or sport diff equipped cars came from the factory with the driveSelect button, i.e. the same basic philosophy as the 2010-2012 models, except the button was different. So if you see a 2013 model year car with the driveSelect button in the center stack above and to the left of the HVAC controls, the car likely has sport diff or the full ADS package (aka sport diff and adjustable damping suspension).
Best bet would be to have the dealer send you the Monroney (window sticker) for the car.

[rudyr]

Sport diff was mandatory for me. At $1100 that's a super cheap price to pay any sort of differential upgrade. I think the LSD option on the 235M is like $3k+.

Easiest route is to ask dealers for a copy of the window sticker. Pretty much every dealer I contacted sent it to me in under an hour.

Also, I guess I had the option to buy one of the "rare" sport diff + adj. suspension cars but passed on it. In my experience, unless it's something like GM's magnetic ride, adj. suspensions are essentially the same as basic 3-way adjustable shocks w/ the hardware to change the settings via push button. For long term cost/replacement purposes my preference was a standard spring + shock setup that would allow me to do whatever I wanted w/ the suspension in the future.

For anyone actually looking for that configuration, it's still available at Royal Audi in SF, price has since dropped to $44k for '14 Prestige w/ 5k miles.

[jsh139]

I found it rather difficult to find a 6 sp with a sports diff when I was looking for my car.

It took me a while too, but they do exist.

Definitely. I was looking for 6MT, Prestige pkg, sports diff, and alcantara in a blue, black, or silver car. It took me a very long time to find the right car. That's the price you pay when you buy used and you're picky.