dmg11eng Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Hi All Over the festive period I did around 1500 miles in my A3 S-Line. To say the least I am disappointed at the level of ride quality on the motorway!! The worst road was the M74 in Scotland, where it was verging on unbearably bumpy and uncomfortable!! I like a firm ride, thus ordered S-line spec, but I did the exact same trip last summer in my Mk5 GTI and the ride was much more compliant. Any opinions in comparison to Sport spec?? Other views?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kite Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Check tyre pressure maybe ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colmartin Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I thought the same when I first got my S-Line, however, give it a few weeks and you'll hardly notice it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmg11eng Posted January 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Tyre pressures checked and OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeDesmo Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 My A3 is the Sport not the S-Line and it's got a hard ride, I'm used to it but others often comment that it feels like it's got no suspension! I don't know what suspension differences (if any) there are between Sport and S-line but the 18" wheels must contribute to the harshness due to lower sidewalls, mine has 17" wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frodo Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 The S-Line has sport lowered suspension and low-profile tyres, both will make for good handling / control but a hard drive. Bear in mind Audi's are German cars built for German smooth autobahns not our excuse for roads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmg11eng Posted January 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I just can't understand why the ride comfort is not as good as my GTi was....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogal1972 Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 It's a running joke in the motoring press about harsh riding Audi's. You get used to it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I've got an A3 Sportback in Sport with the 2.0T and its a dream. Certainly not hard and not soft either, its a great balance and I have to say I'm very happy with it. I got mine before the S-line was out but your not the first person to complain about it. I love driving hard but also do a lot of motorway miles from time to time so ride is important. I think the sport is the best compromise even if I don't have larger looking 18s. There is a lot to be said about an extended test drive and driving the model you want to get. Far too many people go on the looks rather than how its going to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3fy Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Really, really hard drive. But you do get used to it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenjaminTDI Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 I agree that the golf mk5s ride very well and definately better than the audi s-lines i have driven. My A4 rides quite hard but my friends S-Line sportback rides harder I think. I think you'll get used to it, some days I think mine is really bad (like when I have a headache) others I think it's not so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewarta13wsb Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I've got an A3 Sportback in Sport with the 2.0T and its a dream. Certainly not hard and not soft either, its a great balance and I have to say I'm very happy with it. [/ QUOTE ] Me too, 2.0Tdi Sportback Sport, and just right (for me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmicblue Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Hi All Over the festive period I did around 1500 miles in my A3 S-Line. To say the least I am disappointed at the level of ride quality on the motorway!! The worst road was the M74 in Scotland, where it was verging on unbearably bumpy and uncomfortable!! I like a firm ride, thus ordered S-line spec, but I did the exact same trip last summer in my Mk5 GTI and the ride was much more compliant. Any opinions in comparison to Sport spec?? Other views?? [/ QUOTE ] What MY is your car? Audi seem to do a radical revision of the Sport/S-Line suspension that coincided with the 3 door getting the latest A Frame front grille. I have a 2 month old, 2006 MY S-Line and whilst the suspension was exceedingly hard for the 1st 700 to 1000 miles it has now mellowed considerably and the car is actually very comfortable, especially on the motorway. I came to the conclusion in the early days that is was actually the dampers that were to blame for poor ride quality as they seemed to over-damp any suspension movement. An indication of the ride quality today came from my ultra critical mother who whinged non-stop in my A4 Cabrio Sport (17" wheels) which was the hard end of 'firm' for its entire 25,000+ miles but seems very happy in the A3 to the point of commenting about it. The S-Line spec is more sensitive to road surface quality though - the stretch of M40 motorway between Junction 9 and 8a is especially poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 Our S-Line suspension is unbelievably soft next to the TT (and the S3). It's all relative but I find it really relaxing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harddrive Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I had a Mini Cooper S before my Audi and I have to say that the Audi is much softer than the Mini suspension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogal1972 Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I had a MCS too. I thought it was more down the sh!t runflats they put on the car than the suspension. Runflats are fcuking awful as you don't have any give in the tyre walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harddrive Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 I agree and the runflats hadn't been around that much when they start putting them on the MCS. I also found it really c**p that you could never tell if the tyre pressure was low without checking them with a guage. But saying all that it was still a fantastic little car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogal1972 Posted January 6, 2006 Report Share Posted January 6, 2006 And if you didn't check them you'd never know you were destroying the edges of your tyres which happened to me. MCS was a good car, but the S3 is a great car! Build quality difference is night and day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmg11eng Posted January 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 cosmicblue: My car is a 2006MY A3, collected nov. The ride quality hasn't changed discernibly, and I've done 2500 miles now. On a smooth stretch of motorway its fine, but get an older surface with a few bumps and it seems to 'pogo' along. Interesting you mention the A4 Cab Sport, I ran one of those two cars ago, one of the best ride qualities I have had on a car, an extremely accomplished cruiser. Then came my GTi, which was firmer than the A4, but passable due to its other handling merits, and also an accomplished cruiser. The S-Line though is just too firm, so much in fact that I won't be having another, if I had an A3 again, it would have to be a sport. However in the interim another GTi awaits.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d3fy Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 nice if you can.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmg11eng Posted January 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 One of the benefits of a company car with 6000 mile change point...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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