A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI 140 Sport for the day

Matt

Matt

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In Liquid Blue.

The ride is shocking... the best way to describe it is like its had stiffer springs put on it but the damping hasn't been changed to suit. So you intially get a firm ride as you go over a bump that then turns into a series of bounces. Feels like I'm driving a car made of jelly. Very unsettled and jiggly.

Rest of the car is as expected. You dont gain any extra rear legroom, just easier access to the rear.

Engine doesn't have the punch of mine and is a bit noiser but its not bad. Feels happier crusing at lower revs than the 170. Not driven an SE but based on the ride of this Sport I would get one over it. Really is bad!

Anyone else found the same thing about the ride?
 
I've driven a few Sports and the other day I had a 1.8TFSI S-line as a loan car. Personally I much prefer my SE. The 1.8TFSI engine was OK but it had nowhere near the torque of my 170. A little quieter at low speeds but not by a lot and no difference at higher speeds.
 
Matt said:
In Liquid Blue.

The ride is shocking... the best way to describe it is like its had stiffer springs put on it but the damping hasn't been changed to suit. So you intially get a firm ride as you go over a bump that then turns into a series of bounces. Feels like I'm driving a car made of jelly. Very unsettled and jiggly.
Click to expand...

What you describe is harsh high speed damping, then poor low speed damping.
High speed damping controls how the car reacts to bumps.
Low speed damping controls body movement.
Too much of one, too little of the other.
 
Even the S3 has this problem with the damping....I think it's ****** dangerous!
 
I'm amazed adjustable suspension isn't run-of-the-mill on cars, these days.
Basic (rebound) damping adjustment has been available on pretty much any bike for years.
Full high and low speed adjustment (compression and rebound) has been available on sportbikes for a while now too.
80% of drivers would just keep it at the factory settings, I'm sure, but it would still be nice to have it.
If it can be made available on a £7k bike, it can't be a cost thing.
 
Even my mountain bike has adjustable compression and rebound so i'm inclined to agree with you Bowfer.

I really noticed how crap the standard suspension is this weekend, the travel isn't progressive at all and the rebound is far too harsh; there can be times when the car is more or less acting like a pogo stick at high speeds.
 
It's as I've always said about the A3, whether it's SE, Sport or S-Line - the ride isn't great and it's no use pretending it is.

For reference, the week before last I test drove a Toyota Prius (more on this soon in another post probably!) and the ride quality was absolutely stunning next to my Sportback, even in SE trim. In fact as I drove back to the office in my Audi I was stunned at how bad it was!
 
Audi seem to think that hard suspension is sporty ... they need to have a quick spin in a Focus ST3 to see how comfortable and well balanced a sporty GTesque style a car could be.
 
Got my car back. Rides much better than the Sport! Its like a rocket in comparison to the 140 too :)
 
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