B8 S4 Ownership

[silentbrown]

Chiefbadger said:

Agree with Adrian re the steering - comfort is a little light, but it's the best compromise in my book. Dynamic just feels dead and auto is just unpredictable.

Do you guys have the dynamic steering option (which adjusts the ratio) rather than the standard (which adjusts the effort required)? I don't, and can't say I notice a whole lot of difference between the comfort and dynamic modes for steering. (I have 18"s, which probably helps)

My "individual" setup is Engine/Box/Noise in 'comfort', diff and steering in 'dynamic'. If I'm lazy and pottering it stays in 'D', otherwise I switch to 'M' and use the paddles. I never, ever bother with 'S' mode.

I love my S4, but I'd love it more if it was a: manual and b: didn't have that pointless, annoying electric tailgate.

[mrdanbartlett]

Hello,

Thanks for posting. Out of interest can I ask a few questions about the C63 please?

- How does the s4 compare in terms of grunt? I've driven a 2015 SL55 AMG which had noticeably more power, a real thrust on full throttle, I think that was running 530bhp though so naturally would feel a league up.

- How long did you have the C63 and did you have any issues with it?

- 21mpg is impressive! I get 24-27 out the S4 with mixed driving and mine is manual....meant to be worse.

- How did was it putting the power down, especially in the Winter months? TC going mental all the time? I've found the S4's traction is stunning, just grips and goes in any weather (1st AWD car after a RWD one)

[mrdanbartlett]

Also guys - my friend from Switzerland drove back over Xmas in his Revo mapped S4 (Auto) and we had a v quick roll on a couple of times, mine is a standard S4 manual.

I fully expected him to pull away v quickly as he must be 70bhp up on me at least, yet he only really seemed to pull away during the gearchange, I guess the DSG is just super fast to change. There really didn't seem to be a huge difference in the power! So I've put my 'I need a remap ASAP' thoughts to bed for a while.

Id like to do more testing vs a mapped car over longer runs, but from a quick comparison I was not that impressed. Id driven his car once before (at the Ring) and been in it a few times and it did feel v strong, but this was before I had mine.

[SimpleSimonSays]

mrdanbartlett said:

So I've put my 'I need a remap ASAP' thoughts to bed for a while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYFcSPQnCc&sns...

You know you want to!!

Edited by SimpleSimonSays on Saturday 16th January 11:53

[Adrian E]

silentbrown said:

Do you guys have the dynamic steering option (which adjusts the ratio) rather than the standard (which adjusts the effort required)? I don't, and can't say I notice a whole lot of difference between the comfort and dynamic modes for steering. (I have 18"s, which probably helps)

My "individual" setup is Engine/Box/Noise in 'comfort', diff and steering in 'dynamic'. If I'm lazy and pottering it stays in 'D', otherwise I switch to 'M' and use the paddles. I never, ever bother with 'S' mode.

I love my S4, but I'd love it more if it was a: manual and b: didn't have that pointless, annoying electric tailgate.

Yeah, ours was specced by original owner with dynamic steering - most with ADS seem to have it. Wish they'd ticked the damper control instead....

Non-ADS car on 18s is a nice steer, based on a really shed-like one I drove on mis-matched tyres that still actually drove nicely!

ADS loses S mode on the gear selector, which is a pain as you need to mess with ADS to switch to dynamic (or individual) which involves more fiddling. Wish there was a mode button on the steering wheel as well.

I do love ours, but just use it in auto most of the time

[Chiefbadger]

silentbrown said:

Do you guys have the dynamic steering option (which adjusts the ratio) rather than the standard (which adjusts the effort required)? I don't, and can't say I notice a whole lot of difference between the comfort and dynamic modes for steering. (I have 18"s, which probably helps)

My "individual" setup is Engine/Box/Noise in 'comfort', diff and steering in 'dynamic'. If I'm lazy and pottering it stays in 'D', otherwise I switch to 'M' and use the paddles. I never, ever bother with 'S' mode.

I love my S4, but I'd love it more if it was a: manual and b: didn't have that pointless, annoying electric tailgate.

I've got ADS and adjustable dampers but not the dynamic steering

[DTB77]

mrdanbartlett said:

Hello,

Thanks for posting. Out of interest can I ask a few questions about the C63 please?

- How does the s4 compare in terms of grunt? I've driven a 2015 SL55 AMG which had noticeably more power, a real thrust on full throttle, I think that was running 530bhp though so naturally would feel a league up.

- How long did you have the C63 and did you have any issues with it?

- 21mpg is impressive! I get 24-27 out the S4 with mixed driving and mine is manual....meant to be worse.

- How did was it putting the power down, especially in the Winter months? TC going mental all the time? I've found the S4's traction is stunning, just grips and goes in any weather (1st AWD car after a RWD one)

I had the c63 for just under a year. Loved it. Favourite car I've ever owned as that v8 made you laugh from start up all the way through to silly speeds. Never had any problems. I thought it was a keeper, but 8 months 363 days after buying it, it suddenly became impractical with the arrival of my little girl (and shortly after that a new work contract with longer commute).

My 63 was standard, so 'just' the 457hp. It still felt in a different league to the s4 grunt-wise. Acceleration feels so effortless in the s4, in the 63 you heard and felt the effort, it was brutal!

[DTB77]

That's 3 votes for comfort steering then (including my salesman) - I guess I'll give it another, extended, go and see how I get on.

To be fair, I Played around with the seat on my commute home last night and it felt better, not perfect but better. Couldn't work out how to adjust the steering column as it was dark so will have to look this weekend in the light.

Agree with the comments around the gearbox, so far it does seem to be very good and I've not yet explored it fully, so something to look forward to...

[mrdanbartlett]

DTB77 said:

I had the c63 for just under a year. Loved it. Favourite car I've ever owned as that v8 made you laugh from start up all the way through to silly speeds. Never had any problems. I thought it was a keeper, but 8 months 363 days after buying it, it suddenly became impractical with the arrival of my little girl (and shortly after that a new work contract with longer commute).

My 63 was standard, so 'just' the 457hp. It still felt in a different league to the s4 grunt-wise. Acceleration feels so effortless in the s4, in the 63 you heard and felt the effort, it was brutal!

Thanks, I do really love those Merc engines, just was put off by the MPG as I'd heard it was more like 17ish. Also my trips are all short so doesn't help! Also I just can't stomach £500 a year tax.....even though in the grand scheme of things its not much different to £300, it does seem to hit the resale value hard on cars when they dip below 5 figures.

Also the real shame IMO is that the pre 2012 cars had horrid interiors, that dash is not nice. The facelift interior is such a huge improvement.

[mrdanbartlett]

Hi all,

My car has developed a slight rattle from the exhaust, so say when the car is at standstill you blip the throttle and get that lovely gruff note from the exhaust.......well now after that I have a slight rattle/baffle noise.......hard to describe but its like when you blow through your month with your lips closed when doing horse impressions (that is about the best way I can describe it!)

Is this a common issue, any ideas?

[Hol]

mrdanbartlett said:

Also guys - my friend from Switzerland drove back over Xmas in his Revo mapped S4 (Auto) and we had a v quick roll on a couple of times, mine is a standard S4 manual.

I fully expected him to pull away v quickly as he must be 70bhp up on me at least, yet he only really seemed to pull away during the gearchange, I guess the DSG is just super fast to change. There really didn't seem to be a huge difference in the power! So I've put my 'I need a remap ASAP' thoughts to bed for a while.

Id like to do more testing vs a mapped car over longer runs, but from a quick comparison I was not that impressed. Id driven his car once before (at the Ring) and been in it a few times and it did feel v strong, but this was before I had mine.

Did he also have his gearbox remapped to delay autobox changes until peak/power and torque?

If not, he wont get the benefit/gains over your manual unless he paddle shifts.

[silentbrown]

Hol said:

Did he also have his gearbox remapped to delay autobox changes until peak/power and torque?

If not, he wont get the benefit/gains over your manual unless he paddle shifts.

That sounds plain wrong (I'm being polite here...)

a: Peak Power is nowhere near peak torque
c: Paddleshifts wouldn't change things as the DSG box will still automatically shift at the same RPM unless the box is mapped.

Not saying a gearbox map wouldn't help, but a Revo map should give more torque and power from low revs up to the red line.

More likely that the mapped car is gaining at gearchanges because at high RPM is where the power difference between stock and mapped is greatest.

[Hol]

silentbrown said:

Hol said:

Did he also have his gearbox remapped to delay autobox changes until peak/power and torque?

If not, he wont get the benefit/gains over your manual unless he paddle shifts.

That sounds plain wrong (I'm being polite here...)

a: Peak Power is nowhere near peak torque
c: Paddleshifts wouldn't change things as the DSG box will still automatically shift at the same RPM unless the box is mapped.

Not saying a gearbox map wouldn't help, but a Revo map should give more torque and power from low revs up to the red line.

More likely that the mapped car is gaining at gearchanges because at high RPM is where the power difference between stock and mapped is greatest.

In a manual you can choose when to change gear and after a period of ownership learn where the sweet spot is for that engine/chassis combo.


My understanding from looking at upgrades it for my own car is that the gearbox map shifts gear at the perfect moment in sport mode. Hence its recommended for remapped engines to get the full performance.

By paddle shift, he is again changing gear manually and choosing the revs/exact point himself to to shift up - instead of the gearbox doing it for them.

Edited by Hol on Wednesday 20th January 21:03

[Hol]

I wish my S4 was manual, like the previous RS4.

[silentbrown]

Hol said:

In a manual you can choose when to change gear and after a period of ownership learn where the sweet spot is for that engine/chassis combo.

But unlike a manual the paddles don't allow you to change up later, only earlier. So you'd be shifting before reaching max power. One of the 'benefits' of DSG is that any fule can hit the manufacturer's 0-60 time without skill.

Yes, a mapped gearbox will match the engine map, giving higher RPM changes ro match the higher RPM peak power. But you'd get a significant performance increase without it. Check out the HarrisMonkey RS4 vs S4 video. No gearbox map there.

I drive mine on the paddles mostly because in "D" the car feels asleep, and "S" is pointless anywhere with other road users or speed limits.

[Scuffers]

silentbrown said:

I drive mine on the paddles mostly because in "D" the car feels asleep, and "S" is pointless anywhere with other road users or speed limits.

I just use D and my right foot to change gear, ie, tap the throttle, it changes down, faster you tap, more gears to drops.

[silentbrown]

Scuffers said:

I just use D and my right foot to change gear, ie, tap the throttle, it changes down, faster you tap, more gears to drops.

Tapping the throttle as you slow down for a hazard feels ... disconcerting... Do you left-foot brake?

[Scuffers]

silentbrown said:

Scuffers said:

I just use D and my right foot to change gear, ie, tap the throttle, it changes down, faster you tap, more gears to drops.

Tapping the throttle as you slow down for a hazard feels ... disconcerting... Do you left-foot brake?

No.

Try it, you bitterly have to just tap it, very little actual travel, it's all about rate of change.

(If you do two foot it, the ecu will drop the throttle)

[mrdanbartlett]

From my understanding the Remap allows you to left foot brake /keep on the throttle whilst braking.

[MattS3]

Anybody know if the rear leg room in the S4 is the same as the S5 sportback?
I can live with the strict 4 seater but not at the expense of the kids not having enough room.

Thanks.

Edit Ti add - just googled it. Same leg room but headroom is down 5mm.

Edited by MattS3 on Thursday 21st January 23:24