salvadorik

Let me first share my experience with S3 and in particular with respect to the suspension. In my mind S3 is an awesome car, very fast, nimble and high tech. It does suffer however from a mediocre suspension. The one thing that I noticed when I moved from Lexus IS350 to S3 that Audi has a lot more body roll and pretty bouncy ride (even in comfort mode). IS350 was very dailed in and it felt planted with minimum body roll while being very comfortable and soacking up most imperfections that a road can throw at you. It felt like one piece because it had a very stiff chassis. Now my goal is to bring a similar handling to S3. Once S3 improves the handling and comfort there wont be any match to it.

So i started with H&R rear sway bar. I had it installed and I honestly say that the car turns better now. There is a noticeably less body but it is not enough to my liking. So I am going to order the H&R FSB and see if that will do the trick. Also do you guys know there are some strut bars both front and rear that we can use to stiffen up the chassis? In addition i want to change the damping and the springs. I just don't like this bouncy ride. Other than obvious H&R option what else do we have? Again my goal is improve both handling and comfort (if it is possible).

Thanks in advance.

Syrome

I've heard numerous rave reviews of the H&R Sports, I presume you have MagRide as you mention Comfort mode. Most people seem to think the ride quality doesn't suffer, very stock in terms of comfort and bounce. I think it's the perfect "adult" drop without slamming it to the floor and risking our plastic(!) oil pan. 19 wheels and a lowered car aren't going to do much for comfort though.

Fixeroh

I have the magnetic shocks on my S3 and I don't find any bounce in dynamic mode. I actually run my car in individual mode with all settings to dynamic except engine/transmission. Just have to pop the gear shift to S and it's full dynamic. Perfect ride for me. There is a slight bit of body roll and a bit of wheel hop under certain conditions. I can see sway bars but I'm not going to screw up an Audi engineered spring/shock setup at this time. Good luck on your attempts to tweak the car to your liking however.

Fairfax 4.0T

Hmmm, what suspension do you have, and what do you really want?

If you're unhappy with the suspension, I'm guessing that you don't have the adjustable magnetic suspension, correct?

You want a comfortable ride, and a good handling ride. Your main complaint is that the ride is too bouncy/soft. I have never heard that complaint before on an S3. I'm also surprised that a Lexus IS 350 would have a better suspension/handling than an S3. If the ride were too bouncy, don't you think the numerous car reviews would have said something about this. I'm wondering if there is something else going on here.

Any chance that you still have the shipping blocks installed in the springs? Have you met up with another S3 owner to see if their car has the same suspension issues is yours?

reyoasian

I'm coming from an IS250 AWD, don't have the S3 yet but hope to soon.
My IS had a bunch of suspension mods though so it was stiff and planted as hell (front/rear sways, rm springs, fsport shocks, figs bushings, isf steering ecu, etc.)
When I test drove the S3 it was definitely "softer", and soaked up more imperfections on the road. However it did not feel "bouncy". Wouldn't be a problem for me anyways as I would replace with coilovers.

salvadorik

As far as I concerned there is nothing really wrong going on. I have 19 Inch mag ride and I can firmly say that suspension in S3 even with mag ride is mediocre compared to IS350 F Sport. Read the reviews on Lexus and you will see that it (along with Cadillac ATS) has by far the best chassis and suspension in its class. As a result the handling of both Lexus and Cady is superb. They are very stiff and you feel that they like a one single piece with absolutely no chassis flex. Lexus suffers from many other shortcomings however, for example an old naturally aspirated engine, inability to tune it as Toyota completely locks up ECU, mediocre interior materials used etc etc. Also I love the styling of S3 a lot more than IS. In any case they both have pros and cons but the suspension is definitely not S3's highlight. When I drive on the freeway and I notice the car is very bouncy. You especially feel when you drive fast and encounter bumpy area on a freeway. I will argue with anyone who says it is not bouncy, even with mag ride. When you put mag ride to a dynamic mode then it becomes very uncomfortable to my liking. So definitively I need to modify it. Perhaps I would not react in such a manner should I not been exposed to a superb Lexus chassis.

salvadorik

You will feel bouncy ride when you take S3 on highway speeds and encounter some imperfections.

reyoasian

I did, test drove in local traffic, around curvy side roads, as well highway cruising. It's a soft ride but not bouncy.
Perhaps, your shocks are defective?

salvadorik

Hmm... damn it! I dont know about that.

Do you feel when you drive over speed bumps at moderate speed your car's rear end kinda feels it touches the ground? It is an odd feeling but it feels it.

bradenalexander

I definitely find the S3 to be bouncy when I have my mag ride in comfort.