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US S Line Sport Suspension Comparison to Standard, Anyone? Good Value?

3K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  WillF 
#1 ·
I've been doing some searching and I couldn't find any comparison. I know one member was very satisifed with the S Line suspension but just wanted to know if anyone has driven the S Line and the standard a5 back to back. I haven't been able to test any S Lines myself.

I'm trying to figure out if the s Line would be worth it for me, I'm primarily interested in the suspension, and the interior (I really prefer the aluminum inlays over the wood). The seats and exterior elements certainly are a nice touch along with the 19inch wheels. Just wanted to know what other's people's thoughts on the s Line were in terms of value?

I've talked to dealers and they all claim a drop on the suspension, (effective drop). Is there less of a wheel gap? I haven't read anythin definitive on that though so if anyone could confirm, that would be great. I'm in US by the way.

Sorry if this topic has already been covered.

Side note: a dealer quoted me a 2500 deposit for s line. Thoughts? Has anyone else heard of this, I'm guessing he's being unreasonable.
 
#3 ·
I have driven the S-Line but not the regular A5. The S-Line handles just as good or better than the S5 as far as i can tell. Further, in the US, the S-Line is lowered 10 mm, and apparently has same tire size and suspension as the S5.

And before i get flamed for that statement - it is the same suspension with less weight on the nose of the car, ergo, it should handle as the S5 does.

$2,500 is too much deposit - I ordered mine (S-Line) with $500 deposit.
 
#5 ·
Further, in the US, the S-Line is lowered 10 mm...
Where did you find that definitive information? There's been a lot of back and forth discussion about the 10mm drop (vs. no drop) with the S-line suspension on U.S. spec cars. The last thing I recall reading on this topic is that there is no S-line drop in the U.S.
 
#7 ·
This was posted by Starski on 14 Feb 2008

"Here is the official Audi Germany description of the S-Line suspension:

"S line Sportfahrwerk (quattro GmbH) (in S line Sportpaket plus (quattro GmbH)) mit dynamischerer Fahrwerksabstimmung und Tieferlegung um 10 mm"

So in translation this statement shows that at least in continental Europe the S-Line has a more dynamic suspension and is lowered by 10mm.

Also I contacted them directly and they confirmed that in the S-Line is lowered by 10mm."
__________________
 
#11 · (Edited)
For what it's worth, the US product guide says the same exact thing as Canada's.

I think wishful thinking is clouding some people's judgement. I have no vested interest one way or the other, but I can't escape the fact that the only official documentation available says "no drop." The most authoritative source for "yes drop" is dealer word-of-mouth...which is a terrible source. Dealers are known for being ignorant or untruthful regularly. It's not usually malicious...sometimes they're well-intentioned but just don't know the product as well as some of the customers. With some dealers, if they told me the sky was blue, I'd step outside to check.

The most reliable information available says that there is a drop in Europe, and there is not one in North America.
 
#14 ·
Probably not much help, but in the UK we don't get the S-Line as yet, only standard or sports models. The UK brochure specifically states that the sports models are lowered by 20mm from standard, and having seen two 3.0 TDis next to each other, one sport and one standard, both with 19" Y alloys, this looks about right. Even with 19" wheels, the standard car had horrendous gaps between the tyre and panel.
 
#17 ·
I wrote Audi from the Audi USA website and heres what they wrote back.

Dear Aaron:

Thank you for contacting Audi of America. We appreciate your interest
in the A5.

The S line version uses the sport suspension, which lowers the vehicle
by 20 mm. It also has stiffer springs and dampers, so the ride is
different from the standard suspension ride.

Again, thank you for writing; if we can help in any other way please let
us know.

Marjorie
 
#20 ·
Hmmm ... don't know about Audi customer service in the US but in the UK I've found that for new-ish cars they know far less than these sort of forums or even, dare I say, dealers!

For instance, whilst researching my A3 spec they told me that both glass panels would open on the Open Sky system (they don't, it's a standard tilt and slide sunroof with a fixed glass panel in the roof at the rear which turns the A3 into a noisy greenhouse on wheels) and that when it said the folding side mirrors came with heated washers then these were washers for the mirrors (they're not, they're just the standard windscreen washers).

Having said that, the info they've provided is consistent with the sport model suspension in the UK. I reckon our Irish friends are probably well placed to comment as they get S-Line options?
 
#21 ·
That's why I'm somewhat reserved in my joy. Sire turned up the best answer we could have hoped for! I just have to wonder whether, much like my call to book airline tickets today, his query got routed to India or beyond...or some hack with auto responder function keys. I have a really difficult time taking anyone's word as gospel other than actual owners in this forum!
 
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