Ok let me first start by saying i dont own a Audi I own a subaru wrx sti. Big bro brings over his new s4 that he got from an auction. Its pretty beat up. I noticed when driving it immediately that the steering and AWD wasnt right. Im a subie specialist and I know what AWD feels like. First off really bad body roll but thats fine it is a luxury fast heavy car but I swear to god that, that car felt not right it felt exactly like it was FWD. So i got out of the car and looked at the tires. The tires in the front were completely bald but the back ones were brand new (tires were replaced at the same time)?!?!? In my subaru all tires pretty much are equal the front are a lil more worn due to steering. Does anyone know the answer to this bizzare question or is that just the way Audis are?(no offense) also which is the best chip/ecu programmer for an Audi?
Any suggestions or answers would be greatly appreciated thanks guys hope we can figure this out. P.S.- i can take my subie around a sharp turn at 60mph if i did that in his audi we would of gone off a cliff if that helps at all. Again thanks alot guys

 

im deff. no expert, certainly no guru. you being subie specialist will know more then me. Alot of guys on this site know ALOT, an excelent resource

what iv been told when i got new tires was
well it is a 4x4 car tell him to do a 5 tire rotation even spare more often then regular . The s4 has a full size spare if he ends up having to use it it wont be uneven next to all the others wich will wear the others down quickly too.

chip i have giac i think its great im sure some people might agree,

good luck im sure more will chime in with better info

 

Thats getting a little away from my question sorry if there is confusion. Im wondering about the steering and why is felt like a front wheel drive car. the tires were just evidence.but i swear to god that car drove like my fiancee's honada accord. Bottom line is do audis drive like stis and evo's with their awd or does it just feel regular. Thanks alot guys.

 

Well i dont think subaru and audi AWD are the same. Audi uses a torsen mechanical center differential to distribute power, and i believe the performance subarus like yours use a viscous clutch center diff as well as 2 electronic LSD's that controll wheel slip. This might make it feel a little different. Subaru does have a couple slightly different AWD systems, while audi uses the torsen almost exclusively with the exception of FWD models, the TT and S3 which use a haldex.

Also your car has massively bigger(and better) brakes, more power, and a much better suspension from the factory. So its going to feel very different.

Yes the stock S4 will roll in corners the suspension is nothing like your STi, and yes it is designed to understeer from the factory, its safer than oversteer but not nearly as fun. The worn tires in the front is really going to make this apparrent and much worse. Usually you get 4 new tires, if not your supposedto put the new tires on the front so you can still steer, its not a RWD car so its not like new rear tires is gonna help you get traction. But If your brother just got the S4 i doubt he knows when the tires were last changed. I change em all at the same time, some people dont. Theyre supposedto be very close but as long as you keep like tires on the same axle it wont do any damage, but its not really a good thing

The tires shouldnt wear like that though. When you lower the car it causes alot of negative camber so if you drive like a maniac (autox, track) the inside of the tire will become more worn than the outside, and front tires will also wear a little more from steering/understeer and the weight. This shouldnt happen unless your really throwing the car around, its probably hard to do it enough on the street.

What was the steering problem?

stage 1/2 chips are pretty similar, GIAC is a solid choice probably the highest power

So no, thats not "just the way audis are"

The problems with your brothers car may be because the car was abused, tires are ****, suspension is wearing out. No its not going to feel anything like an evo or sti, its a completely different kind of car. You get leather, the doors and trunk dont sound like tin cans when you close them, no foolish wing. You can make it just as fast as the sti or evo, but its never going to feel the same, it wasnt built with the same things in mind.

Add a chip, coilovers, and some sticky 235/40/r18's and youll feel much differently.

 

I wasnt trying to get into a discussion about which car is faster better handling etc...I was simply trying to figure out why his AWD car wasn't up to what I thought it should be. I respect you guys and Audi makes a solid car. lets compare here sti brand new 35k top of the line s4 100k+. The whole reason I came to you guys was just information on why the 2 AWD cars drive diff. and to help my brother out. If any disrespect came off I apologize but please dont knock STI's and EVO's they are fantastic machines that are insanely engineered cmon, boxer engine genius. and I give audis respect and I think that you should give the same in return.In your remarks about big spoilers and tin can doors and trunks cmon dude we are not 18. STIs are pieces of art to me. Bottom line I just wonderd why audis AWD is diffrent and how. You did give me alot of good info and I appreciate it I just dont like the way you started knockin Subies. I really appreciate all the comments and answers.

p.s. he had the tire receipt from when all 4 were replaced and it wasnt just the inside it was the whole wheel (weird huh?) but still I tell you guys it felt like front wheel drive car. my theory is the way that the electronics in the car are adjusting to the way the previous owner drove it.

 

Im not knocking subies i have alot of friends that drive them, the STi is an awesome car. But there are significant differences between the two, the B5 S4 is a 12 year old design, came to the US 9 years ago, and the STi is quite a bit newer. Theyre also designed so differnetly, the s4 is the ultimate "sleeper" while the STi is anything but that, it screams "look at me"

The price difference isnt quite as much as youd like to think either. B5's were $38,000 new and are down to $10,000 or so now, brand new ones are a little more expensive but come on an R8 has an MSRP of $114,000 an s4 is nowhere near 100k

Iv been trying to figure out what the exact differences are but its difficult to sort through the BS. Audis AWD system is torsen based with the exception of the TT and A3 which use haldex like i said earlier. The torsen is a mechanical differential that distributes power to front and rear. It has a set torque split bias that it can not exceed; i believe from the factory its 2:1. Front and rear diffs are open, at low speeds they rely on the ABS system to monitor them and apply brakes (they call it EDL, electronic diff lock which isnt actually locking the diff at all) but the diff must be open to allow the wheels to spin at different rates when you corner. You can change the front/rear bias by modifying the torsen unit, we have several 4:1 torque split differentials available to us which make the car more neutral in the corners by allowing more power to go to the rear wheels when exiting a corner and the car will behave more like an RWD car.

Maybe you can help me here, from what i understand Subaru has several different types of AWD. some are better than others, notably the automatic subarus arent as good from what i have read because they have a different, mostly front wheel drive system.

BUT Some of the subaru AWD systems are much more complex than audis simple torsen AWD and have the ability to completely lock up the front and rear differentials.

The EVO is even more complex because it has yaw sensors that can make adjustments based on how the car is behaving. While an EVO might use electronics to correct a slide on snow for you, with the audi you apply throttle and the back comes around.

The nissan skyline also has a very complex AWD system...

Basically the electronics cant adjust anything that would make it feel different. Unlike alot of subarus the audi AWD system is purely mechanical. What WOULD make a huge difference in how it feels is the fact that its a 3800 lb nose heavy car with bald front tires. And even stock the S4 isnt really anything too great, its when you mod it that the fun happens

Your STi is about 600 lbs lighter, the doors and trunk are extremely light. Im not insulting you by saying that, i WISH my S4 wasnt such a fat pig. Thats all the tin can comment ment, i was in a 2.5RS 2 hours ago, the doors and trunk feel like feathers compared to the bricks on my car.

But come on you must wish sometimes you didnt have the big spoiler

I dont really get what you mean by it feels like a front wheel drive car though. The S4 is a heavy car, it likes to understeer from the factory. Bald tires are going to make this much much much much worse.