After 3 years and 62000 fault free miles it has been goodbye to my 1.6TDI Sport Sportback and hello to a 2.0TDI Sport Saloon. Rather than wait to Sept for delivery of a new build FL A3 I bought a 6 month old saloon from an Audi dealer. The car is great and I'm enjoying the extra power with not a huge drop in mpg, about 10% down on the 1.6. But one thing I have noticed is that the suspension seems harder than the Sportback. I've checked with the dealer and Audi UK and they both confirmed the car has the Sport suspension 'deselected', so it cant be that. The saloon does have different tyres, Pirelli, compared to the Sportback, Dunlop. Could this be contributing to the harder ride?
Stiffer suspension on saloon?
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Both Sportback and Sport had/have 225/45 R17 91 tyres. Only the brand is different.
62k miles on the sportback may have a lot to do with it...then jumping into a newer car
RichardT
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I have SE suspension on my saloon. It is fine, but definitely harder than many other cars, including my previous car (Toyota Avensis).
You didn't say what suspension you had on your previous A3 Sport. If it was Sport suspension, I would have expected the new car to be noticably softer. We test drove a saloon with sport suspension and it was significantly harder - particularly noticable on country roads.
You didn't say what suspension you had on your previous A3 Sport. If it was Sport suspension, I would have expected the new car to be noticably softer. We test drove a saloon with sport suspension and it was significantly harder - particularly noticable on country roads.
Sportback also had the sport suspension 'deselected'. So in theory both cars have the same suspension setup.
Sportback may be tuned to cope with extra load on the roof rails and therefore may be more compliant than the saloons ?
Don't know for sure just putting it out there.
Don't know for sure just putting it out there.
I chuckle at this, Audi suspension names standard suspension, sport suspension....what suspension have l got on my car S3 ?it's certainly not a sport's suspension it's not in the slightest way firm?
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No hard ride/stiff suspension here although I think the mag-ride makes a fair bit of difference.............thought most folks complained the ride was too soft/bouncy?
Yes, though whether it's stiffer suspension or less body flex etc. is hard to say. Autocar I think noted that each version of the A3 (3-door, SB, Saloon) seems tuned differently - 3 door firmest, SB most compliment and the Saloon somewhere in between.
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The 1.6tdi has a different rear suspension to the 2.0tdi. 2.0tdi has a multi link rear suspension while the 1.6tdi does not. The 1.6tdi features a torsion beam suspension. The whole a3 range has this multi link suspension except the 1.2tfsi and 1.6tdi. This is why you are probably feeling the difference
