Fazzzman Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Went for a 2 hour test drive in a 170 bhp TDI A3 Sportback last week. Hadn't realised until I got there that they were providing S-Line rather than a Sport. I was pleasantly surprised that the ride wasn't too hard and I suffered no ill effects! I’m now seriously considering getting S-Line as I’d upgrade the Sport’s cloth seats to Leather/Alcantara, it doesn’t cost much more to just upgrade the whole car to S-Line and get full leather, all the S-Line touches and bigger wheels thrown in. My question is - has the S-Line really got softer, or was it always soft, or maybe they softened the test car, or maybe I was just more numb than usual on the day of the test drive? I did see a note in one of the motoring columns that the A4 S-Line has been softened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nelson_R32 Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 The Single Frame Grille facelift softened the Suspension slightly; but also bear in mind they tend to get softer after about 7000-10000 miles as the shocks wear in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briggs Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Personally, I've never found my S-Line too firm at all - but I guess it depends what you're used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 S-line is the same as sport (except that it comes with 18 inch wheels as standard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 OH, and I find it pretty firm. TO the extent I wondered if they had left the transport chocks in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazzzman Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Thanks for the info. Sport feels just fine - its the effect that the 18" wheels have that I'm concerned about. Is there any evidence that Audi soften the ride to compensate for lower profile tyres? Also, do the bigger wheels or lower profile tyres create more road noise? Anecdotes like edowen's are causing me to think twice - but those 18" wheels are calling to me ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark88 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 My S-Line suspension was pretty spot on when I had it I felt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 I dont think they change based on wheels. I would try and drive or get in an S-line with 18's before ordering. If you are in or near guildford or southampton I can take you out of that helps. If not you shouldnt have any trouble finding a dealer with an S-line with 18"s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russk Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 Are you sure it's the same as sport? I used to think it was but a friend was convinced otherwise. Also, I went from an 06-reg reg Sportback sport to a 56-reg S-line 3 door and the ride is completely different. For a start, it rolls much less so that can't be just down to wheel size... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 confirmed by Alistair of Audi. S-Line is spec/body kit thing. No change to suspension. Bigger alloys as standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo1 Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 I used to think the Sport and S-Line suspension were the same but then loads of people said the S-Line was slightly lower still, is this not true then? Suspension aside, the S-Line will ride slightly harder by virtue of the larger wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandle Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 [ QUOTE ] confirmed by Alistair of Audi. S-Line is spec/body kit thing. No change to suspension. Bigger alloys as standard. [/ QUOTE ] Not according to my MY2006 UK brochure. S-line is 10mm lower than ambition(which is what the Germans call the sport). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 German specs are comletely different. Get youself a UK (MY007) brochure. Sline mentions nothing about suspension changes over the sport on which it is based. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edo Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Fazzzman, you might want to put a call into Audi customer services to get an answer once and for all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazzzman Posted April 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Good call edowen - I'll let you know when they get back to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazzzman Posted April 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 Response from Audi Customer Service ... "After speaking with our Technical Support team, I can confirm that the A3 Sportback S-Line model does have a firmer suspension to that of the Sport model. However, with each different engine specification, the suspension will also differ." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandle Posted April 27, 2007 Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 [ QUOTE ] German specs are comletely different. Get youself a UK (MY007) brochure. Sline mentions nothing about suspension changes over the sport on which it is based. [/ QUOTE ] It is the UK 2006 brochure that I was talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xedos Posted April 28, 2007 Report Share Posted April 28, 2007 Same spring dampers across all models would still give a different ride because weight. All engine variants are different weights, this will compress it more, making it more firm. The brochures even claim 'quattro suspension' as if its different to a FWD s-line, so what does that make quattro s-line over fwd sline? Crapper over crap to begin with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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