Argelius1

Anyone care to comment on the usefulness of Drive Select as an option? (The dealer didn't have a car with it readily available for a test drive)

Couple questions:
[1] If the settings are left on "auto" does it drive any differently than a car without Drive Select?
[2] Supposedly "comfort" improves fuel economy (probably only slightly). Is this true?
[3] People that have it -- do you really change it that much or do you just figure out what you like and keep it there.
[4] Since I'm a luxury car kind of guy (don't hate me), I'm thinking I'll want use "comfort" quite a bit. Does that soften the ride considerably?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

markcincinnati

1. I assume it does, I have driven three A4's, 2 A5's and only mine has ADS -- I can tell the difference in my car, but have not done any back to back to make any other comment other than I assume so.

2. I have no clue -- it seems it would, since it upshifts quickly (too quickly if you ask me) and the revs stay pretty low

3. I use three of the settings regularly: Individual, Auto and Comfort, in that order. I like Individual a lot : dynamic, dynamic, auto is how I set mine.

4. I use comfort on the Interstate when I can set the cruise control for a high double digit number and enjoy the B&O system

The difference between comfort and dynamic are very clear -- and comfort IS more comfortable, but it also allows much more body roll. In comfort mode the entire thing feels, er, lazy.

Some writers seem to favor individual set to dynamic, dynamic, comfort -- giving you the engine, transmission and steering you expect from an Audi and the comfort you might not imagine possible (mine has the 19" sport package which also gives you 35 series summer only tires -- which are also, quite, firm.

Hope this helps.

Argelius1

Thanks, Mark. Totally appreciate your thoughts. I'm going insane trying to balance my need for immediate gratification and waiting for a car with my desired exact combination of colors and options. At this point, I'm going to still to keeping Drive Select on my must-have list...

BMWBig6

I just came back from a road trip and over concrete slab highways you could feel the thu-thump over every joint in Auto and Dynamic. I changed to Comfort and the cracks in the concrete disappeared like the road was smooth as glass. My wife and I really appreciated it over the several-hour trip. (I have the 19's like Mark.)

JerryS4

Basically the ADS greatly varies the normal car and makes it both soft and sporty and all in-between. Not worth getting the ADS for S-Line since the car starts off pretty stiff/sporty and I could have just moved the mode to "S" to get what I need. I always drive in individual @ dyn, auto, & comfort but I have a stiff A5 S-Line.
I have my future eyes on the S4 and would get it without the ADS but with the Sport differntial, as an example.
If you go with a standard A4 then the ADS is a great addition and makes the cars porty when you are in the mood.

BMWBig6

First, Drive Select makes the sport suspension even sportier:

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/14154/a4_ads_suspension.jpg">

Secondly, Drive Select includes more than just suspension control. I really appreciate the ability to vary the effective steering ratio and the resulting change in relative steering effort required in each mode.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/14154/a4_ads_steering.jpg">

Re: Drive Select's throttle behavior changes, I haven't experimented enough to say that Dynamic is significantly better than "S" mode on the standard Tiptronic, or that "Comfort" is much better than leaving it in "D." And for those with a manual transmission, they probably don't care about this anyway.

Of course, the original poster asked about Drive Select's "usefulness" and that is inviting subjective answers so everyone's opinion is different. It just happens that I disagree with JerryS4 (today, at least).

markcincinnati

The ADS "completes" the sport suspension -- and facilitates the greatest control possible over the range of comfort to dynamic modes.

Having said that, my ONLY issue with ADS is it seems perhaps 33% too expensive (but it is new and perhaps the components really are expensive and we early adopters pave the way, so to speak, for the other folks. The reality is, "you can pay too little," for if you are happy with what you got [and I am] I, by definition, got what I paid for.)

The sport package: lower and stiffer springs, thicker anti-roll bars, 19" wheels and max performance tires, sport seats, sport steering wheel with paddle shifters. Add ADS and the thing can be hard, harder, hardest in dynamic mode or compliant with pretty well controlled body roll in comfort mode (but comfort mode has too much roll for my tastes, perhaps because the 19" tires encourage higher cornering speeds).

In individual mode, you can set three parms -- and each parm can be set one of three ways.

I set the steering to dynamic (this is a no brainer).

I set the engine and transmission to dynamic (this is probably arguable, for it typically keeps the revs high(er) and hence the mileage would, logically, suffer -- some might consider this too high of a price to pay for the additional responsiveness this mode imparts.)

I set the suspension first to comfort (which is great on the interstate) then found the conflict between the 19" 35 series tires great grip and the softer "shock setting" to be, er, the cause of cognitive dissonance, so I set it back to auto -- which seems to know when to revert to comfort and when to better control jounce.

Let me be clear: on long interstate trips (say between Cincinnati and Columbus (~100 miles) @ about 80+MPH, I set the cruise control, set SiriusXM / B&amp;O radio to Deep Tracks [with surround mode set to 75% rear] and set the ADS to comfort. If the thing would steer itself on this boring 100 minute trip, I'd be in pure bliss -- but the above combination is as close as possible to automotive nirvana.

Drive it like YOU live.

JerryS4

diminishes in value. I can live with basic steering since it is now much closer to BMW's feel and "S" mode gets you the engine and throttle shift points like from the ADS. So my opinion is that the base model gets much more bang for the ADS buck. Don't get me wrong, I love my loaded A5 but some folks may be looking to make $ trade-offs and I'd go with either S-Line OR ADS if money is tight.
Going logically even further, I would have preferred the S5 over the loaded A5 more but I had other reasons to not get it. Would have been happy as a clam with a S5 w/o ADS since the factory tuning is sweet.

Argelius1

All great comments, everyone. Thanks.
My biggest concern about going with S-Line are the summer tires (don't want to have to worry about swapping them every winter) and the sport-tuned suspension which I imagine isn't very pleasant on our crappy, Chicago roads. I don't want a luxury cruiser, but am concerned that S-Line would be too rough riding.

BMWBig6

Agree that ADS is no bargain value. Hey, where in the "mid-atlantic" are you?