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Proposed spec for A4 order, thoughts ?


AZURES3
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I had a S-line (the one without quattro!!) with 19's and stock "Sports" suspension (20mm drop) and initially I thought it was fine and even a little "sporty". However after a while I found that the car was firm over little bumps but would roll and was not doing a great job when pushing on..... almost the opposite of what you want. Maybe 18's make a difference.

When we re-ordered I added the dynamic suspension and have zero regrets. It will go softer than Sports and harder than Sports and it reacts quicker. Three modes and all are apparently reactive to how and where you're driving. I've coded my car so that on ignition on we get Comfort instead of Auto as it's mainly running around town. I often change modes though depending on use and mood. Of course you also get the benefit of choosing the throttle responsiveness and the steering wheel weighting due to the Drive Select. Automatics also get different change points etc and if you really want to go for it then the Dynamic Steering varies the actual steering ratio and not just the weighting. I just went with the suspension.

Wife, 18month old (was 6 months old when we got it) and 5 year old all seem perfectly happy with it and the wife much prefers it over the Sports suspension which admittedlt she did say she could have got along with.

When you play with the modes it really feels like the road surface changes. Love it!

If you go for Dynamic Suspension then it will be 20mm drop. The S-line suspension (30mm drop) is not dynamic.

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So the dynamic suspensions is still the lowered Sline so doesnt look too high but has the ability to change mode, is there a real noticable difference in the different modes. I have driven my sister sline and it seemed ok but she didnt specify any suspension, do you have to actually specify the 30mm drop suspension.

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There's three options :

[1] The default on S-lines : "Sports Suspension" which gives a 20mm drop over standard

[2] A free of charge option that you can choose to go for : "S-line suspension" which gives a 30mm drop and of course this makes it stiffer.

[3] Dynamic Suspension which is a cost option and gives a 20mm drop over standard.

Dynamic has three modes :

Comfort, Auto and Dynamic

Auto is the closest to Sports but works better as it adapts all the time.

Comfort is far more compliant.

Dymanic feels like the shocks have been tightened considerably.

Changing modes really does feel like you've driven off one road surface and onto another.

Get a test drive of it and then decide ;)

p.s. If you're ordering satnav along with the Drive Select then you get a fourth mode "Individual" which isn't really another choice of suspension but lets you mix the modes of Steering, throttle and suspension

e.g. You could set it to :

Steering : Auto

Throttle : Dynamic

Suspension : Comfort

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Sterring ratio changes are the Dynamic Steering add on.

As standard you get Servotronic which makes it light when slow/parking and it weights up at speed. You notice it changing for the first day or two and then it just works without you realising.

How does the dynamic suspension work ? Not sure to be honest. I'm pretty sure it's not the magnetic fluid as used in some cars. I believe it's a electronically controlled valve that opens/closes to adjust the rate/amount of fluid moving within the shocks.

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A good test is to find a road where you can safely drive over the cats eyes or a rough section. Do it in auto, dynamic and then comfort. You'll swear that the road conditions must have changed.

Have a real good play in all modes and remember that they're all adaptive so the feeling for a breif period can change i.e. auto on twisties is different to auto on a motorway.

I'll wait to read your report ;)

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A good test is to find a road where you can safely drive over the cats eyes or a rough section. Do it in auto, dynamic and then comfort. You'll swear that the road conditions must have changed.

Have a real good play in all modes and remember that they're all adaptive so the feeling for a breif period can change i.e. auto on twisties is different to auto on a motorway.

I'll wait to read your report ;)

Unfortunately they only have a fwd Sline A4 without dynamic drive :rolleyes:

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eh??!??!?

When I told my dealer I was thinking of adding the dynamic suspension but I obviously needed to try it first, they got a car from another dealer to mine within 36 hours. They even apologised as it was a 3.0TDI Avant and I was buying the 2.0TFSI.

Do you ever go up the M11? You can try mine.

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eh??!??!?

When I told my dealer I was thinking of adding the dynamic suspension but I obviously needed to try it first, they got a car from another dealer to mine within 36 hours. They even apologised as it was a 3.0TDI Avant and I was buying the 2.0TFSI.

Do you ever go up the M11? You can try mine.

We ended up with a 2.0 TDI SLine, without dynamic suspension but to be honest the wife thought the suspension was fine. Her Mazda 6 Sport Estate has 18" wheels and sports suspension and the test drive ws over bumpy rutted roads and she felt it was fine. The main problem is paying an additional £17k after part exing her 2.5 years old car, for a car that she felt wasnt a huge step up. I think we may look at the Q5 next as its something completely different and meets the original requirement of being good in the snow/ice.

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My wife really liked the Q5 (we were ordering the A4 at Q5 launch time so it was very fresh and new).

We tried it out and came to the conclusion the A4 Avant was more suited to our needs. The Q5 was pretty but I couldn't see where the extra money was going.

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My wife really liked the Q5 (we were ordering the A4 at Q5 launch time so it was very fresh and new).

We tried it out and came to the conclusion the A4 Avant was more suited to our needs. The Q5 was pretty but I couldn't see where the extra money was going.

We really like the Q5 but as you say the additional £5k for the same features as the A4 Quattrol is hard to justify. We are looking at the Q5 2.0TFSI Special Edition, has some great standard kit.

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