Hi all, So I have a 14/63 plate Black Edition saloon, I love it, but my other half hates the harsh ride, I thought I could VCDS the MMI to enable adaptive settings, but it seems I need to change the hardware, can someone tell me the best way to go about this please; do I need to change the springs or the struts, or both? Thanks in advance Baz
So not a straight swap; thought I'd be able to just swap out with adjustable ones, are they an air kit then? I've seen aftermarket kits circa £2.5k, which is a bit much & a lot of work, would softer springs do the trick, or mess up the handling?
Having a black edition myself can't say I've noticed a harsh ride or had anyone comment on the suspension. Seems a whole lot of work and messing about, just tell the wife the tyres were too overinflated which made the ride hard, you've now sorted it. Never know might work Sent from my Note 4 using tapatalk
AFAIK, The adaptive dampers use a fluid with iron filings and an electric current to alter the viscosity of the fluid as it passes through the valve in each corner. As someone who has adaptive dampers, they are brilliant and really increase the car's spectrum from motorway cruises in comfort, to a much firmer set up in the twisties. You can feel the difference both in terms of less / more body roll and also the secondary ride over bumps. I absolutely love it, and usually switch between modes most drives to suit. But I wouldn't pay more than about £1200 to retrofit it. It's not just that important.
There's more than one system in use. I think the magnetic one is used on the A3/TT platforms and the A4 uses a simpler hydraulic system which has motor adjustment, but I could be wrong. Either way, of course its not just the dampers that need changing, but a wiring harness would need to be added. So as others have stated, by no means a simple retrofit.
