Couple of questions

[Vertigo1]

Hi all,

Looking at getting (my third) A3 and was contemplating whether to get another 2.0TDI 170PS or go for the 2.0T. Issue with the latter appears to be economy as I've seen some reports that it's utterly diabolocal, returning low to mid 20s around town. The official urban figures are 46 & 29 for the diesel & petrol respectively which is a huge gap and I suspect the real-world usage will be even worse. 90% of my driving is urban and I don't have a light right foot and average around 33mpg in my current 2.0TDI 170, so low 20s in the petrol sounds likely - any experiences?

Secondly, has anyone here ordered the magnetic ride? What are your impressions of it? Whilst I have no problems with the firmness of the suspension on my current S-Line, passengers have commented that it's a bit "jarring" on long journeys so I was wondering if the magnetic ride would help.

Thanks

 

[GConn]

Magnetic ride is a nice extra and a bit more comfortable than the s-line suspension. At sport mode the damping is much stiffer. Supposedly it handles better too as it is a dynamic suspension, but I am really not sure I'd pay for it again if I had to order a car now.

I also had a 1.9Tdi VW golf before my S3. If economy is your first priority... DON"T DO IT stay with the Tdi. Urban consumption is a killer on the 2.0T if you drive aggressively. I guess you'd have to choose between performance and economy at the end of the day.

 

[Vertigo1]

Thanks for that. Regards the magnetic ride, is the "sport" setting roughly the same "firmness" as standard S-Line suspension and the normal then softer, or is the "sport" even harder than normal?

As for economy, I think the 2.0T is out tbh. S3 isn't an option as the company car tax would be ludicrous and I don't need that much performance. The 2.0T just doesn't offer enough additional poke over the diesel to warrant the (from what I've read) diabolical fuel consumption. I don't need a rocket-ship, just as long as the car isn't slow and I'd never call the 170PS diesel slow.

 

[sub39h]

hmm i just got my 2.0T and the fuel consumption around town is better than the 1.6 i just sold. on the motorway it's worse though. calling it diabolical is unfair, and i've been hooning it around like a bit of a moron and getting 30mpg out of it. ask your stealer if you can borrow one for a day each back to back and see how you get on, or at the very least go on extended test drives. if you go to a big dealer they'll have loads of used cars you can compare against each other.