ldye

I noticed this today. I had the 5000 miles service done last week and while there they did a update to power steering. I don't know what this was but now I wonder if the update caused this. I had not noticed it prior to the dealer working on my car.

Stereodude

I had it before the update. I haven't noticed it since, but its only been one day.

hgilbert

I actually haven't felt it since my original posting, though I haven't spent any significant time at highway speeds since then. I do wonder if it is simply the tires and the alignment interacting with different road surfaces. The fact that it actually does come and go (as opposed to whether or not we notice it), would seem support this hypothesis.

I can think of a few constantly changing variables we might think about:
Tire pressure (and ambient temperature as a cause here)
Road surface type (asphalt, concrete, ...)
Road geometry (crown, cupping, ...)

The tire pressure idea comes to the top of my mind because just before I first felt this effect I had filled my tires with a portable pump with a dial indicator gauge. Maybe if the tires were actually above normal pressure the resulting convex tire surface could interact with some other factor to cause this behavior. I usually run the 39/36 pressures for light loads per the book.

Or, maybe all of our cars have been knocked out of alignment (I don't understand how this could cause such a strange behavior, but I'll acknowledge that I know what I don't know here). When I had the new tires put on, the dealer did an alignment and it was out of spec before, so I know that we can get these cars out of alignment...

Stereodude

I suspect it's some sort of hysteresis issue with the electronic power steering. I noticed it again the other day (after the reflash).

ayap

That sucks. The 2013s have a new steering technology - there could be a glitch there, but the other guy had a 2010 S4.

I've never experience this with my 2012 S5.

ocean1

I have this issue too on my 2013 S4. Drives me nuts. I hope it is fixed when I get 5000 mi service. Definitely not a tire or road condition issue as I have experienced it on multiple roads with both summer and winter tires.

nuccadoc

You guys with 2013's, you may want to check out this thread at Audizine about the steering issues. A lot of people are having problems, and right now, dealers seem to be replacing the whole steering racks. Becoming a safety issue. Unfortunately, parts seem to be on back order. It's a lengthy thread, but worth the read and the knowledge to take to your dealer.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ng-Issues-2013