Audi ride quality

[otolith]

I have an uncle who used to buy Jaguars, then had an LS400 and then a couple of Audi A8s. The ride quality of the old XJ Jags and the Lexus was markedly better than the Audis.

[HellDiver]

Yeah, Ford or Vauxhall will build a special order car for Joe Bloggs off the street? I doubt it.

Ford wouldn't even put decent engines in the police spec Focus Estates the local plod bought - they're lumbered with 1.6TDCi Focus estates that are pretty much useless when loaded up with 4 plod with body armor and all their kit in the back. Body armor is 3 stone, add that to 4 fatbodies and you're looking at 76 stone before adding kit. With kit that's nearly half a tonne of personel.

[thinfourth2]

kambites said:

Even that can't compete with something like a Citroen C6.

As only the french understand that a luxury car is completely different to a sportscar

Where as zee germans remove all zee springs to make zee car sporty

Quite how a 2 ton barge can be sporty i will never know

[Twincam16]

kambites said:

HellDiver said:

Take a Vauxhall Astra - 16" wheels are on the lower models with the 1.4 petrol and 1.3CDTi engines, neither of which I'd wish on my worst enemy.

So you're saying that they wouldn't give you a 2.0 or whatever on 16" wheels if you explicitly asked?

Precisely - honestjohn.com is always pointing out how, if you ask, higher sidewalls are always available, usually at no cost.

Problem is not 'what people want', but rather that people don't know what they 'want' so they're just 'told'.

It used to be the case that you went into the dealership and selected a spec piece-by-piece (think Ford - three letters on the boot related to interior, exterior and engine options on the Capri, Cortina, Escort and Granada).

Nowadays it seems every car has a silly name tacked onto it that'll suggest a selection of options commensurate with the image they're trying to put across and the people they're selling it to.

In short, if you want softer suspension, you'll have to go for OAP-spec, which as a package will probably be called something like 'Legacy' and will feature an anaemic engine, retirement-home seats and a crap stereo.

It seems most generic car ranges have three marketing-specific 'bands' they end up in.

'Young', which will be 'funky' and 'sporty' but cheap to run, so you'll get the wild colours and fabrics and a great stereo, but an anaemic engine. It'll be called something like 'FunkyFirst' or 'StreetStyle' and advertised with lots of 'urban' music and wide-mouthed, druggy-eyed young people in nightclubs.

'Executive', which will have bigger engines, but be numbed by a huge amount of electronic options-as-standard and will try and be an all-things-to-all-men sports-tourer, so luxury seats coupled with sports suspension. It'll be called something like 'SpeciaLux' and be aimed at men who think they're Daniel Craig - lots of cool monochrome images of the car speeding silently through the desert or slinking through a city at night.

'Senior', which will probably be 5-door/saloon-only, softer suspension and a leisurely engine for OAPs. Selling anything to OAPs seems to be a no-no so it'll be called 'Cruiser' or something and flogged as a family model, with the hip-replacement-friendly seats seen as a benefit for buckling kids into.

Then you get the parallel 'family' spec, which will be basic and practical and probably diesel/hybrid-only, which will be called 'Active' and supposedly aimed at twentysomethings who enjoy surfing and mountain-biking despite the fact that it's designed for people with four kids.

Thing is though, the idea of 'options' still exist, it's just they've been rigidly forced into packages that can be assembled en masse at the factory rather than picked out bit-by-bit and assembled as and when required, making it cheaper to organise.

Wheels, however, are one of the bits that can be changed at no extra cost to the dealership as they can be altered right there and then in the workshop. According to Honest John, no manufacturer in their right mind should have any qualms about fitting a higher-profile wheel from another options package for anything other than a nominal fee, if that.

[Solor]

This one was a early Sport not S-Line - don't really know what the difference is?! It undoubtably had sports suspension, but it also had what looked like 'boggo' 18" alloys with plenty of tyre depth - i.e not really low profile. I'd hate to see - or feel - what one with 19"s would be like.

Speaking to the driver (a client of my company) his wife refuses to passenger in it and i'm not really surprised! I mean it's essentially a 2-Door A4 with diesel engine, a luxury coupe which can seat 4 people it's not a 'sports car' (if it was i could live with it, but it's not!). I've never driven one so can't comment on what it's like for the driver, but as a passenger no-way...my back is still sore, and thinking about it makes it worse!

Jarring ; is the word i'll use to sum it up!

[Twincam16]

thinfourth2 said:

kambites said:

Even that can't compete with something like a Citroen C6.

As only the french understand that a luxury car is completely different to a sportscar

Where as zee germans remove all zee springs to make zee car sporty

Quite how a 2 ton barge can be sporty i will never know

Marketing.

It seems in hard-drinking Anglo-Saxon countries, to want anything other than hard sportiness is to admit you've lost your mojo. As a result, everything has a 'sport' package (usually aimed at young or professional buyers) whether it warrants it or not. Even MPVs are advertised according to how much extreme-sports equipment you can get in them.

It seems in slower-paced, sunnier, southern-European, predominately Catholic countries, even though you'll always get Italians building sports cars, it's seen as more acceptable to build a nice car to waft about in watching the world go by.

Weird thing is, the best cars for British roads are British, be they sports cars (which make lower speed limits fun as opposed to heavily-insulated German missiles), or luxury cars (a Jaguar will be far better on our potholed roads than a BMW), and yet in Britain all we seem to do is slate them without even bothering to try them, then buying slightly inappropriate German ones instead.

[Stu R]

Test drove an S8 this morning. Sublime car, but still felt overly sprung and under tyred - but a dab of right boot soon had me forgiving it of it's misgivings.

[Rawwr]

Actually, 'sport' is German for 'stiff as a corpse'.

[alfa pint]

Agree with whoever posted that it's not the car per se, it's the S line package.

B-I-L has an A6 S line estate and it's just awful, truly awful for ride comfort. The seats don't help either. Harder suspension, bigger wheels and lower profile tyres just ruin it. Got a mate with a normal A6 and it's actually ok, if not exactly jaguar comfortable.

It's not supposed to be a sports car, so why market it that way? It's supposed to be an executive car, so it should be comfort first, handling second not the other way round. BMW have lost their way here too, with their focus on runflat tyres - my mate's 330d improved considerably when he replaced the tyres for something non original.

[Pickled Piper]

kambites said:

Pickled Piper said:

You are quite right when it comes to the Germans.. However, if you want to experience a different level of ride comfort, try a Jaguar XF.

Even that can't compete with something like a Citroen C6.

I was thinking about luxury executive cars. The Xf is the only car of that type with large diameter wheels and low profile tyres that handles well and is fun to drive.

pp

[kambites]

Pickled Piper said:

I was thinking about luxury executive cars. The Xf is the only car of that type with large diameter wheels and low profile tyres that handles well and is fun to drive.

The C6 is a luxury executive isn't it?

[Seeker UK]

My A6 2.7TDI is fine but it's an SE with 16" wheels.

[Burnham]

I find BMWs are worse, my old S4 was not great, but bearable compared to my ex's 1series.

[AnotherClarkey]

kambites said:

The C6 is a luxury executive isn't it?

Nah, it is much cooler than that.

[CraigyMc]

HellDiver said:

Because to get a car with a decent engine, or decent interior spec, you're stuck with the blingy wheels and rubberband tyres.

Gone are the days of a V6 LX. Comfortable suspension, big tyres go hand in hand with the sub-100hp engines and no spec.

That. I'd add "runflat" to the list if you were talking about any current BMW except the 320d ED.

The sidewalls of tyres define a large part of the ride quality - it's not just size of the sidewall, it's also how tough they have to be to cope with the loads placed upon them. Obviously suspension has an effect too, but the wheels/tyres are overlooked too often. You can transform a car with the right decision on these, or ruin one with a poor decision.

C

[southpaw]

I've got an EP2 (last gen) Honda Civic Sport. I have regular access (as driver and passenger) to an Audi TT - the TT is a dream compared to my Honda - in my Civic, Honda seem to have connected the wheels to the chassis by bricks, the smallest stone on the road leaves me requiring a trip to A&E. The TT seems smoothly damped while firm enough to give confidence while driving fast.

Its all perspective...

Edited by southpaw on Wednesday 23 March 22:37

[CraigyMc]

southpaw said:

I've got an EP2 (last gen) Honda Civic Sport. I have regular access (as driver and passenger) to an Audi TT - the TT is a dream compared to my Honda - in my Civic, Honda seem to have connected the wheels to the chassis by bricks, the smallest stone on the road leaves me requiring a trip to A&E. The TT seems smoothly damped while firm enough to give confidence while driving fast.

Its all perspective...

Edited by southpaw on Wednesday 23 March 22:37

Coincidentally, that (TT) is what I drive day to day. What wheels/tyres/suspension does the TT you have access to run?

C

Edited by CraigyMc on Wednesday 23 March 22:46

[David87]

Is it really that bad? My Dad has an S5 (with the 20" wheels option!) and the ride is quite acceptable in my book. Compare it to my Clio, for instance, and it's positively limo-esque.

[Zod]

thinfourth2 said:

As only the french understand that a luxury car is completely different to a sportscar

Where as zee germans remove all zee springs to make zee car sporty

Quite how a 2 ton barge can be sporty i will never know

Tell that to Maserati.

[CraigyMc]

Zod said:

thinfourth2 said:

As only the french understand that a luxury car is completely different to a sportscar

Where as zee germans remove all zee springs to make zee car sporty

Quite how a 2 ton barge can be sporty i will never know

Tell that to Maserati.

2600Kg:
BRABUS SV12R

Edited by CraigyMc on Wednesday 23 March 23:17