DRC & Sports Exhaust Questions

[peetysmith]

Hi All,

First post and first time here so please be nice. I have done some searching on these topics but never really got to a conclusive answer, so apologies if there is one out there that I haven't yet found.

Little one on the way in Jan and my current 3-door is not going to cut it. This has given me the excuse to buy a new motor and I intend on using that excuse to it's fullest! I was originally looking at a new Focus ST as it's got a bit of space and a bit of poke. A wise friend informed me that for the same cash I could get a B8 RS4 which is an estate (ticks the family boxes), automatic but tiptronic (we're in london so stop start traffic + the missus prefers automatics but means I can mess around with the flappy paddles to have some fun) and it's a V8 (likely the last chance to own one before we're all in hovercrafts).

So I test drove one the other week and it seemed to tick the boxes... in comfort it was quiet, reasonably smooth given 20" wheels and shadows for tyres. Pop it in dynamic, flick the gearstick in to manual, kick it down 2 gears and it roared. All boxes ticked. The twin personalities of the car seemed to perfectly match the twin personalities of it's would be drivers.

Now when I drove this particular car I'd done little research, I just wanted to see one in the flesh and get behind the wheel. Having done my research I'm still not too sure I would be able to answer some of these questions so I'm asking them here. Also, these cars are relatively difficult to find and my search is going to span the nation and I want to be able to get as much as I can from Autotrader/ads / pictures before running off to see the cars themselves.

DRC - What does it mean in practical, day-to-day terms?
Is my understanding correct that without DRC you can still make adjustments to the ride/drive config but that they are just not as notable? So comfort won't be quite as soft and dynamic won't be quite as harsh? Or is it that you lose some of these options?

DRC - How to tell if it's there
I've read some forum posts that say if you've got the options to configure between Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, Individual then that means it's there. Is that the case? Others have said that you would have all the options but the only way to tell is to try them and see if the difference is more exaggerated.

How to tell if the car has the sports exhaust
From the readings it sounds like I need one of these to tick the fun box. Apparently the sports exhaust have black tips, I'm assuming therefore the non-sports ones do not. However I've seen cars on 19" wheels with, so no sports pack, with no mention of sports exhausts that seem to have black tips. Could anyone shed any light on this, maybe a picture of with/without so I can try and glean more from the pics.

Thanks in advance for any help. Hoping to join you all as an owner soon!

Cheers,
Pete

[Boredofthis]

Hi Peetysmith,

All good questions, and it took me a while to understand as well before I purchased mine recently. I have attached the Audi brochure from 2014 (not sure anything really changed between years)

As for DRC, it is an option on its own or as part of the Sports pack. All cars have the drive select button but this does not mean you have DRC. As such without it you cannot adjust any ride comfort or suspension settings but you will still be able to adjust engine/gearbox response and gearbox flap settings (assuming you have sports exhaust). From experience, comfort does an amazing job at smoothing out the ride considering the ride height and 20" wheels. Never used Dynamic other than to test it. Individual is great as you can have sport engine/gearbox/exhasut but with comfort suspension which is perfect for most roads.

Also, just becasue a car only has 19" wheels does not mean it doesn't have the sport pack as some people opted to use 19" wheels for comfort. And of course you can fit your own black tail pipes

So in summary, NO DRC = NO RIDE ADJUSTMENTS

Do you have DRC? - I presume non-DRC cars will not have the suspension setting available in the menu (but I could be wrong, never sat in one like this) however you should feel the difference when driving on anything other than perfect road surfaces. Also, maybe if you know what to look for you might see the extra pipework/wiring etc on the dampers

Sports exhaust has valves/flaps which open and close depending on setting, you can see them if you shine a torch into them. From memory they are on the inner most pipes. You will also hear the difference if you change to sport mode or comfort mode while stationary (assuming they aren't stuck)

[peetysmith]

Thanks for getting back to me!

Could you do me a massive favour and let me know the screens/options on the screens that you have access to if you have DRC and the sports exhaust?
From what you've said it sounds like going in to Individual Mode and then confirming you have a Suspension/Ride Comfort option and an Exhaust option - is that correct?
If you could grab a quick snap of them that would be immense - should I purchase my RS4 I will drive to you with a beer!

On the topic of sports exhaust... I'm being told this is a sports exhaust but based on the silver tailpipes I'm assuming that is not correct and this is NOT a sports exhaust...

Thanks.

[johnnydog]

Looks a well presented car, but photos can deceive! Those tailpipes indicate it is a standard exhaust, and the wheels are 19".
You used to able to ring Audi UK and get the spec / service history of any vehicle prior to purchase. Whether this is still the case, it whether it has been tightened up with GDPR, I'm not certain, but worth trying if you are in any doubt about the factory options when looking at available cars. Maybe your local Audi dealer may also be able to help with this, especially with the prospect of future servicing work.
I noticied when looking for mine that some dealers listed options that weren't on the car when it was seen in the flesh, which in some cases meant a wasted journey.

[Boredofthis]

Hey, I just went and had a look at my screens. I do not have an option for suspension control, so it would appear that I too do not have DRC I have four options as you can see which is Engine/Gearbox, Steering, Sport diff and Engine sound (exhaust)

I found another picture from different forum. If you scroll down you will see a longer list which also has Suspension as an option and also Dynamic cruise control
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/s ... 177/page-4
Hope that helps, I presume as well if you do not have the Engine sound option then you probably do not have sports exhaust. I know that the black tips are very prone to corrosion issues though so perhaps they were replaced with standard chrome ones?

Thanks for getting back to me!

Could you do me a massive favour and let me know the screens/options on the screens that you have access to if you have DRC and the sports exhaust?
From what you've said it sounds like going in to Individual Mode and then confirming you have a Suspension/Ride Comfort option and an Exhaust option - is that correct?
If you could grab a quick snap of them that would be immense - should I purchase my RS4 I will drive to you with a beer!

On the topic of sports exhaust... I'm being told this is a sports exhaust but based on the silver tailpipes I'm assuming that is not correct and this is NOT a sports exhaust...
RS4 - sports exhaust or not.jpg

Thanks.

[morski]

If you have DRC then look for the PR code in the service book or rear trunk area and it will be 2MC

[peetysmith]

Hey, I just went and had a look at my screens. I do not have an option for suspension control, so it would appear that I too do not have DRC I have four options as you can see which is Engine/Gearbox, Steering, Sport diff and Engine sound (exhaust)

I found another picture from different forum. If you scroll down you will see a longer list which also has Suspension as an option and also Dynamic cruise control
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/s ... 177/page-4
Hope that helps, I presume as well if you do not have the Engine sound option then you probably do not have sports exhaust. I know that the black tips are very prone to corrosion issues though so perhaps they were replaced with standard chrome ones?

Thanks for this - exactly what I was looking for... thanks!