amanion

I have a 2018 Q5. I feel a slight difference in the drive select when I change it but not a ton. I understand what the dynamic and auto does. But really what are the differences between all the others and what on earth is the "individual" drive select??

plat27265

Your new Q5's Owners Manual has a lot of information about your new vehicle. It does help a lot to read it end to end, at least, once to help you understand the other tech and features of your new Q5. Drive Select is explained in there in detail including how to set the "Individual" mode to suit your driving pleasure.

Individual allows the driver to set throttle response, suspension (if equipped with adaptive suspension), transmission, and steering (if equipped with dynamic steering) to either comfort, dynamic, or auto. For example, in my 2016 S5, I set Individual to all Auto except for engine sound which is always in "Dynamic". Sometimes, I switch Steering and Suspension to Dynamic just to change the characteristic of the car a bit and add some flavour to my day to day driving.

Drive Select for North American Audis have three modes: Auto, Dynamic, Comfort, and Individual. Comfort, I think, is self-explanatory. The car is quite sedate in this mode. Dynamic gives it a sporty response to the tranny shift points, engine sound, suspension, and steering. Auto is somewhere between Comfort and Dynamic.

To me Drive Select allows you to tailor the different characteristics of your car to your liking. It is sort of a Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde thing. Adds flavour to your car's soul.

superswiss

Adding to what @plat27265 said. The Drive Select system lets you change the car's dynamics depending on the current mood or driving situation. It sort of gives you several cars in one. You can have a comfortable car in 'comfort' mode and a more sporty/dynamic car in 'dynamic' mode, or anything in between by configuring your own personal profile in 'individual' mode. Having said that, on base models, the spread between 'comfort' and 'dynamic' is not all that great. It's too small for my taste, but it also depends on how you optioned your car. You get the most from Drive Select if you checked all the options boxes. For example if you didn't opt for the adaptive suspension, then the ride quality won't change between 'comfort', 'auto' and 'dynamic'. At a minimum Drive Select affects the steering, throttle response and transmission shift points. But if you add the Dynamic Steering and Adaptive Suspension, then the range of Drive Select increases and it becomes a bit more useful. On higher performance S and R(S) models Drive Select allows taming the car for regular driving and letting the beast out for sporty/dynamic driving. The R8 V10 Plus even has a 'performance' mode on top of 'dynamic' mode for even more sporty driving. Similarly to other brands like Mercedes that that give their highest performance models a 'race' mode on top of 'sport+'.

kanack49

I feel the info provided is nowhere near enough to really know whats happening. How much stiffer? How does is the shifting specifically changed? All the info given is relative and not that interesting. I would like to see a much more detailed breakdown of whats actually happening in each mode or as you mix/match in individual mode. Maybe thats just the engineer in me...

amanion

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the response and yes I still have to read cover to cover my manual...I want to figure out if one gives a better MPG than another.It is a premium plus model and so far I'm lovin' it, but I'm new to Audi all together so I've been doing a lot of reading and this was my first time post, so I appreciate the candid responses.

plat27265

I understand where you are coming from. It is difficult to quantify how much stiffer the suspension will be in Dynamic or how much softer, for example. Or, how much more response throttle response would be. But, stuff like this cannot be quantified. You have to feel it to appreciate it. The only way to get to know Audi Drive Select is to play around with the different settings in different driving conditions traffic, freeway, gravel road, twisties, etc.

I found a nice video made by Audi Canada that explains, in simple language, the differences in the Audi Drive Select modes. Note that this video was made back in 2012 or somewhere around that period so the Drive Select controls are obsolete compared to new cars of today. However, the different drive select mode explanations are still, generally, valid.

plat27265

Comfort mode will give you better MPG. Throttle response won't be too sensitive or aggressive. And, transmissions shifts will be programmed for smoother and early shifting compared to dynamic. In dynamic, the transmission will be more responsive (aggressive) and it will hold the gear longer (higher revs) before shifting to the next gear.

amanion

Thank you! This is SUPER helpful. I'm coming from a Diesel Grand Cherokee so I'm adjusting to gas again and feel like I'm living at the pump so I want try to squeeze it for all its got.

plat27265

To understand Drive Select, it is best to understand as much of the car's features such as adaptive suspension, steering, and sport differential. Once you get the idea of how these things work, it is going to be easy to understand the different Drive Select settings.

Here are some nice videos I found in the Audi Media TV and YouTube websites. Most, if not all videos, come with nice dynamic graphs and charts that attempt to quantify the differences in characteristics for each feature. Drive Select will apply to all of these features and more. Have fun, I hope you find these helpful:

Audi A5 Coupe equipped with Damper-controlled Suspension:
https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/amtv/videos/1874

Audi Q5 with Air Suspension:
https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/amtv/videos/2205

Audi A4 Dynamic Steering:

Audi Quattro Sport Differential

plat27265

Maximising efficiency is good for you and the environment. However, do not get carried away. Have fun with you car once in a while so you'll appreciate your new Audi better :-)