8.5Y vs M2

Racer Sam loves the RS3. He said something like it's night and day better Vs previous versions.

TX.
 
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Its very noticeable that the programming of the 'magna' diff has been changed, my 22 car felt like the rear was on tip toes and shuffled about a little when pressing on compared to the same unit in the Golf Mk8R, my facelift RS3 feels more like or maybe better than the Golf's set up, just inspires confidence :)
 
Mike.46 said:
Its very noticeable that the programming of the 'magna' diff has been changed, my 22 car felt like the rear was on tip toes and shuffled about a little when pressing on compared to the same unit in the Golf Mk8R, my facelift RS3 feels more like or maybe better than the Golf's set up, just inspires confidence :)
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I'm surprised i haven't been offered a software upgrade package for that!

Here's what Gemini thinks

The Software Changes​

For the mid-cycle refresh (introduced for the 2025/2026 model years), Audi left the mechanical drive unit untouched and updated the Modular Vehicle Dynamics Controller (mVDC) algorithms:

  • Tighter Integration with Wheel-Selective Braking: The 2022 model used the torque splitter and brake-based torque vectoring in somewhat segregated layers, which could occasionally produce slight understeer before the rear clutches actively intervened. The revised algorithm meshes torque split, damper valving, and inside-wheel brake pulsing simultaneously on turn-in, pulling the front end tighter into the apex.
  • Earlier Throttle Application: Because the clutches ramp up pressure earlier and more accurately based on steering angle and yaw rate, the car rotates sooner mid-corner, allowing earlier throttle application without washing wide.
  • Refined "RS Torque Rear" (Drift Mode): In the 2022 calibration, breaking the rear end loose required aggressive throttle input to overcome front-axle traction. The updated logic reacts faster to steering inputs, making slides easier to initiate and modulate with the throttle.
 
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IanL-RS3 said:
I'm surprised i haven't been offered a software upgrade package for that!

Here's what Gemini thinks

The Software Changes​

For the mid-cycle refresh (introduced for the 2025/2026 model years), Audi left the mechanical drive unit untouched and updated the Modular Vehicle Dynamics Controller (mVDC) algorithms:

  • Tighter Integration with Wheel-Selective Braking: The 2022 model used the torque splitter and brake-based torque vectoring in somewhat segregated layers, which could occasionally produce slight understeer before the rear clutches actively intervened. The revised algorithm meshes torque split, damper valving, and inside-wheel brake pulsing simultaneously on turn-in, pulling the front end tighter into the apex.
  • Earlier Throttle Application: Because the clutches ramp up pressure earlier and more accurately based on steering angle and yaw rate, the car rotates sooner mid-corner, allowing earlier throttle application without washing wide.
  • Refined "RS Torque Rear" (Drift Mode): In the 2022 calibration, breaking the rear end loose required aggressive throttle input to overcome front-axle traction. The updated logic reacts faster to steering inputs, making slides easier to initiate and modulate with the throttle.
Click to expand...
They’ll want you to buy the new one.

Very rare they’ll apply a newer car software update to an older car even if it’s literally a few years between them, they’ll not have tested it so won’t want to put any research into what is technically the same car with slight software tweaks that affect its dynamics.
 
That's mostly the case, but there may also be some minor component changes that would require the newer software to be programmed specially for a retrofit, where I wouldn't see any point if I was a car manufacturer.

One Audi mechanic once told me that virtually the same cars can have very different components and even slightly different layouts in the engine bay, even though they are built just few months apart. This sounds like they might have slightly different coding too, so enough work in keeping the software up for the new cars, and fixing the bugs from the ones that are still under warranty.
 
I would imagine it's not just the magna diff that would need the software updating, it would more than likely be every ecu involved that helps the car move, engine/gearbox/abs/steering/stability and probably more.

As said Audi are not going to offer it as a retrofit upgrade, they will hide behind 'safety' and 'development' saying if you want the latest development you can buy the newer car, it is a huge difference, looking back through those 'rose tinted glasses' at my test drive of the Golf 8R (once 'sport' was selected in the 'Brakes' programme of all places, not easy to find tbh and maybe a way of making it a series of very deliberate actions to find it?)
The Golf 8R would then come out of a roundabout in a perfect controllable 4 wheel 'drift' egging you on to push it even harder it felt that good, my FL RS3 is very much along these lines whereas my previous 8Y RS3 would feel nervous and timid.
Interesting though the Golf 8R wouldn’t go anywhere near this 'Sporty' behaviour in it's normal mode, it would just flash the stability light and ease off, maybe that's why getting to the 'Sport or Off' modes was not obvious? even the dealership at the time had zero clue as how to switch it to 'Sport' telling me that option was only available with the 'Performance Pack'

I just wish I could get to the sequence of selections that allow me to move the car in and out of the garage without having to 'buckle up' sometimes it lets me and other times it refuses to move :laugh:
 
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