Technical data

34 Audi drive select
Why does the Audi SQ5
TDI suit you so well?
Because it adapts itself
to you so well.
Audi drive select.
comfort
dynamic
auto
individual
efficiency
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Everybody defines driving dynamics differently.
We define it like this: drive exactly how you feel.
With the optional Audi drive select, you can
influence individual vehicle components at the
push of a button and so change the character of
your Audi.
You have five modes to choose from: comfort, dy-
namic, auto, efficiency and, in conjunction with
an optional MMI navigation system, individual
mode, allowing you to determine yourself how
the associated vehicle components should be-
have. The comfort mode is especially suitable for
providing the most relaxed driving possible on
long journeys. The auto mode offers a generally
comfortable yet firm driving experience. For par-
ticularly sporty driving, for example on winding
roads, there is the dynamic mode. The efficiency
mode helps to improve the car’s overall con-
sumption. As an integral part of Audi drive select,
it is characterised by more energy-efficient opera-
tion of the engine and auxiliary consumers, and
a modified gear change program in models with
automatic transmission.
In every mode, the vehicle adjustments depend
on the equipment present. Audi drive select influ-
ences the engine, the steering and, in the case of
tiptronic, the gear changing behaviour of the au-
tomatic transmission. The engine and gears react
more spontaneously or in a more balanced man-
ner to movements of the accelerator, depending
on the mode chosen. Moreover, the engine
speeds at which gear changes take place are var-
ied – in dynamic mode, they only happen at high-
er engine speeds, while in comfort mode they
take place at lower ones. The steering can also be
adapted to the driving situation, from sporty and
firm to comfortable. Audi drive select also influ-
ences other optional equipment such as dynamic
steering and adaptive cruise control.
The fuel consumption and CO₂ emission figures can be found on page 58.
engine/accelerator
dynamic steering
electromechanical power steering
automatic transmission
adaptive cruise control
With dynamic steering, Audi's engineers have
solved a problem that has kept many vehicle
manufacturers busy: how to develop a steering
system where the steering ratio and steering force
adjust automatically to the driving speed. In the
search for a gear system that reacts to the current
vehicle status, the Audi engineers came across a
system that was originally developed for NASA:
strain wave gearing, characterised by an elastic
transfer element. It was used for the first time in
1971 for the Lunar Rover reconnaissance vehicle
during the fourth moon landing, and again in the
Mars Sojourner that explored the Red Planet
autonomously in 1997. It is currently being used in
the Mars Spirit vehicle. Audi uses strain wave
gearing for its dynamic steering, where it ensures
an excellent and dynamic steering feel, whatever
the speed. For this steering system, Audi was
awarded the inaugural “Award for Mechatronic
Innovation” by the VDI (The Association of German
Engineers) in 2009.
About dynamic steering
Strain wave gearing
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