Driving in Dynamic all the time

[aerospace100]

Firstly, I'm clearly still in the 'honeymoon period' with my C7 and I'm completely unable to drive the car in any other setting than dynamic. The sound, the feel, the whole thing just puts a smile on my face.

I intend to get an Akra system or even keep exhaust valves open all the time to get that noise permanently, but until then, which could be some time, is it OK to drive the car almost all the time in dynamic mode and in S?

Will it not put more strain on things or lower the life of certain parts?

[dasquade]

As long as you give the engine fluids (oil/coolant) time to cool bit down during driving (things get quicker hot and keep hotter) and especially reduce the heavy foot on the last part of your drive, you should be fine. You might want to shorten the oil intervals and use good oils (an oil change isn't that expensive).
I see you have a 2017, so you should be fine as those have the latest revisioned oil screen installed (small filter between engine - oil seperater - turbo's).

[aerospace100]

As long as you give the engine fluids (oil/coolant) time to cool bit down during driving (things get quicker hot and keep hotter) and especially reduce the heavy foot on the last part of your drive, you should be fine. You might want to shorten the oil intervals and use good oils (an oil change isn't that expensive).
I see you have a 2017, so you should be fine as those have the latest revisioned oil screen installed (small filter between engine - oil seperater - turbo's).

Good advice. A friend of mine has an old Aplina and he leaves the engine on for a while in park after a long drive to give things a chance to cool down. I didn't know if he was smart or stupid, but the car is in good order. I guess there must have been issues in the past with oil/heat if they revised the filter setup in 2017, or perhaps it was just the natural progression of endless improvement and tweaking.

[MikeFish]

Old turbo cars needed cooling down before turning off to stop the oil clogging up in the turbo. These modern cars have watercooled turbos so not an issue like it used to be many years ago, more important to warm it up properly before booting it. Having said that I still try to drive the last part of any journey off-boost. I also have a service every 9,000 miles or 12 months.

There is no issue with driving in Dynamic all the time. Mine is permanently in Dynamic. When I was doing a lot of motorway miles I sometimes had the suspension in comfort mode but other than that it's Dynamic all the time.
However, as you probably have noticed, when you start the car it always starts the engine and gearbox in Drive rather than Sport. This means the gearbox shifts earlier and the throttle mapping is less aggressive. So I am happy leaving it like this until I approach a junction, then I pull the gear lever to switch into Sport mode to drop a couple of gears and sharpen the throttle response up. Then I drop back into Drive once back to cruising speed or leave it in Sport for some twisty fun.

[aerospace100]

Old turbo cars needed cooling down before turning off to stop the oil clogging up in the turbo. These modern cars have watercooled turbos so not an issue like it used to be many years ago, more important to warm it up properly before booting it. Having said that I still try to drive the last part of any journey off-boost. I also have a service every 9,000 miles or 12 months.

There is no issue with driving in Dynamic all the time. Mine is permanently in Dynamic. When I was doing a lot of motorway miles I sometimes had the suspension in comfort mode but other than that it's Dynamic all the time.
However, as you probably have noticed, when you start the car it always starts the engine and gearbox in Drive rather than Sport. This means the gearbox shifts earlier and the throttle mapping is less aggressive. So I am happy leaving it like this until I approach a junction, then I pull the gear lever to switch into Sport mode to drop a couple of gears and sharpen the throttle response up. Then I drop back into Drive once back to cruising speed or leave it in Sport for some twisty fun.

That reminds me, a lot of my mates had old STI's and they had turbo timers which we thought were a lot of fun. They would park up, get out of the car and lock it but the engine would still be running until the timer kicked in and killed it. The red lights on the 6's rev counter are lit a third of the way round the clock which essentially limits the cars rpm - I never boot it until the lights have disappeared back to 6500rpm (of whatever it is). I normally use this as an indication on when the car is ready for action.

[Anth]

Good post aero, I think a lot had to do with the honeymoon phase I was the same dynamic is just the mode for me . I did notice I have done 1 ltr of oil in 1300 miles no trouble at all maybe a lick more!

I've set the individual up so everything is dynamic bar the suspension , but this isn't working right the sports exsuast doesn't seem to engage and "engine sound" dynamic isn't the exsuast ! And it's not a option to have on all the time it appears (Possibly Active sound of some type?)

So now as Mike said I flick the gear stick back for sport when needed and then I assume it just gives us comfort when you flick it again . I. Also a manual mode fan Also dropping down though the gears to listen to sports exsuast Audi .. Still not got old for me yet !

[MikeFish]

Old turbo cars needed cooling down before turning off to stop the oil clogging up in the turbo. These modern cars have watercooled turbos so not an issue like it used to be many years ago, more important to warm it up properly before booting it. Having said that I still try to drive the last part of any journey off-boost. I also have a service every 9,000 miles or 12 months.

There is no issue with driving in Dynamic all the time. Mine is permanently in Dynamic. When I was doing a lot of motorway miles I sometimes had the suspension in comfort mode but other than that it's Dynamic all the time.
However, as you probably have noticed, when you start the car it always starts the engine and gearbox in Drive rather than Sport. This means the gearbox shifts earlier and the throttle mapping is less aggressive. So I am happy leaving it like this until I approach a junction, then I pull the gear lever to switch into Sport mode to drop a couple of gears and sharpen the throttle response up. Then I drop back into Drive once back to cruising speed or leave it in Sport for some twisty fun.

That reminds me, a lot of my mates had old STI's and they had turbo timers which we thought were a lot of fun. They would park up, get out of the car and lock it but the engine would still be running until the timer kicked in and killed it. The red lights on the 6's rev counter are lit a third of the way round the clock which essentially limits the cars rpm - I never boot it until the lights have disappeared back to 6500rpm (of whatever it is). I normally use this as an indication on when the car is ready for action.

You should use the oil temperature to gauge if the engine is up to temperature or not. The rev limit changes when the oil is still relatively cold.

[MikeFish]

Good post aero, I think a lot had to do with the honeymoon phase I was the same dynamic is just the mode for me . I did notice I have done 1 ltr of oil in 1300 miles no trouble at all maybe a lick more!

I've set the individual up so everything is dynamic bar the suspension , but this isn't working right the sports exsuast doesn't seem to engage and "engine sound" dynamic isn't the exsuast ! And it's not a option to have on all the time it appears (Possibly Active sound of some type?)

So now as Mike said I flick the gear stick back for sport when needed and then I assume it just gives us comfort when you flick it again . I. Also a manual mode fan Also dropping down though the gears to listen to sports exsuast Audi .. Still not got old for me yet !

Whenever you start the car, even in Dynamic (or Individual with everything set to Dynamic) it will always start in Drive mode instead of Sport which means the exhaust valves are closed. Most people will then cycle the drive select modes back round to reselect Dynamic (or Individual) and this then puts the gearbox and engine and exhaust back into Sport / Dynamic. This is one of the benefits of disconnecting the valves as I don't need to cycle through the modes every time I start the car as my valves are always open; I just use the gear lever to swap between D and S.

[Anth]

Good post aero, I think a lot had to do with the honeymoon phase I was the same dynamic is just the mode for me . I did notice I have done 1 ltr of oil in 1300 miles no trouble at all maybe a lick more!

I've set the individual up so everything is dynamic bar the suspension , but this isn't working right the sports exsuast doesn't seem to engage and "engine sound" dynamic isn't the exsuast ! And it's not a option to have on all the time it appears (Possibly Active sound of some type?)

So now as Mike said I flick the gear stick back for sport when needed and then I assume it just gives us comfort when you flick it again . I. Also a manual mode fan Also dropping down though the gears to listen to sports exsuast Audi .. Still not got old for me yet !

Whenever you start the car, even in Dynamic (or Individual with everything set to Dynamic) it will always start in Drive mode instead of Sport which means the exhaust valves are closed. Most people will then cycle the drive select modes back round to reselect Dynamic (or Individual) and this then puts the gearbox and engine and exhaust back into Sport / Dynamic. This is one of the benefits of disconnecting the valves as I don't need to cycle through the modes every time I start the car as my valves are always open; I just use the gear lever to swap between D and S.

Hi Mike , yes noticed this total annoyance why if have to click on something and back on it to get it back . So if you had just got back in and car was in say comfort and you toggle the gear stick you won't get the full dynamic mode this way stock ?

[MikeFish]

I think if you have the car in Dynamic (by cycling through the modes) then pull the lever to go into D the exhaust valves stay open. But if you start the car in Dynamic it will be in D with valves closed. If you pull the lever to get back into S then the valves open but if you select D again they close. But if you cycle the modes to Dynamic then go into D the valves stay open I think. Can't check this now as mine are permanently open but I think I tried this when I first bought the car and I could hear the exhaust note change at idle when shifting gear modes in start-up dynamic but no change when in cycled Dynamic.

[aerospace100]

Good post aero, I think a lot had to do with the honeymoon phase I was the same dynamic is just the mode for me . I did notice I have done 1 ltr of oil in 1300 miles no trouble at all maybe a lick more!

I've set the individual up so everything is dynamic bar the suspension , but this isn't working right the sports exsuast doesn't seem to engage and "engine sound" dynamic isn't the exsuast ! And it's not a option to have on all the time it appears (Possibly Active sound of some type?)

So now as Mike said I flick the gear stick back for sport when needed and then I assume it just gives us comfort when you flick it again . I. Also a manual mode fan Also dropping down though the gears to listen to sports exsuast Audi .. Still not got old for me yet !

Whenever you start the car, even in Dynamic (or Individual with everything set to Dynamic) it will always start in Drive mode instead of Sport which means the exhaust valves are closed. Most people will then cycle the drive select modes back round to reselect Dynamic (or Individual) and this then puts the gearbox and engine and exhaust back into Sport / Dynamic. This is one of the benefits of disconnecting the valves as I don't need to cycle through the modes every time I start the car as my valves are always open; I just use the gear lever to swap between D and S.

Its a good point Mike, I always have to click back on to Dynamic after engine start to get full benefit. I noticed in another post that you permanetley have your exhaust vales open, was it a mission to do, or is this something Revolution can do when I get my spacers done?

[MikeFish]

Takes about 1 minute to do each side. Don't even need to jack the car up, I just laid on my back under the rear bumper and pulled the plug off to try it. I then went back in and tied it out of the way and plugged in modules to stop any codes and keep them clean.

[aerospace100]

Takes about 1 minute to do each side. Don't even need to jack the car up, I just laid on my back under the rear bumper and pulled the plug off to try it. I then went back in and tied it out of the way and plugged in modules to stop any codes and keep them clean.

Which modules did you plug in? Where from?

[MikeFish]

Milltek valve delete modules. About £45 for a pair. If you unplug them there won't be any warning on the dash, but if you plug a laptop in you will see a valve failure code. Not a big deal but as they were so cheap and they keep the dirt out of the car's connectors I thought I'd give them a go.

[aerospace100]

Milltek valve delete modules. About £45 for a pair. If you unplug them there won't be any warning on the dash, but if you plug a laptop in you will see a valve failure code. Not a big deal but as they were so cheap and they keep the dirt out of the car's connectors I thought I'd give them a go.

Got the Visa out now... again