walkerhound1

I sent an e-mail to Audi of America a few days ago. Told them I appreciated my dealer's sales approach (Crisell-Annapolis MD). They gave me a good deal & the sales rep knew & liked the car, which makes for a better "buying experience" for someone like me...and a lot of you, I'm sure. Since it was a required field, I gave a phone number on the e-mail contact form & figured, yeah right, they'll never call...but I'm eating lunch (at my desk as usual) & damned if it isn't AoA calling.

It was kind of a free-flowing, shooting the breeze about the car, why I liked it, picked the options I did, yada-yada. I got around to asking about the difference between the sport v. base suspension. He said the sport shocks/springs offered 30% more damping & 30% more stiffness, respectively, than the base set. Told him I was surprised to hear it was more than 10%-- he stuck to that, though. Did not get a good answer on any anti-roll bar differences, dang it.

We discussed DSG a bit & he indicated that future A3s should be getting the hill-holding feature the A6s have. He sounded pretty confident about its durability...no surprise there. I chose to be reassured. Should have asked him whether it'll take to a chip and more than 260 lb-ft of torque.

Anyhow, I thought it was cool that Audi somebody at Audi took the time to talk with a customer, and basically say the door is open if you want to contact us again.

qfrog Ti20

We discussed DSG a bit & he indicated that future A3s should be getting the hill-holding feature the A6s have. He sounded pretty confident about its durability...no surprise there. I chose to be reassured. Should have asked him whether it'll take to a chip and more than 260 lb-ft of torque.

there are no longitudinal DSG gearboxes in production right now... none that I know of, only transverse gearboxes. So I am not sure what you mean about the A6 having DSG.

from what I remember looking up the clutch pack is the same between the 3.2 and the 2.0T so yeah it should be able to handle additional torque just fine with adjustments made to the TCM to account for the additional torque.

walkerhound1

Now that you mention it, the A6 transmissions are torque converter tiptronics, no? He did say that a hill-holding feature was expected on the A3's DSG-- he meant the TT instead of A6, maybe?

qfrog Ti20

and none on a hill so I cant say that I've had a chance to test that operation under those given circumstances.

walkerhound1

Torque converter or no, maybe the A6 tips do have a hill-holding feature. I guess the essential point is that (whichever tranny it goes with) there is a sensor that detects the attitude of the car & in effect triggers a signal to the braking system to hold for a second after you let off the brake pedal. The Audi rep mentioned it because I told him that, on a hill from a stop, the current DSG acts like a manual when the clutch isn't engaged.

Timmay

difference between sport and stock suspension settings. 30 percent is quite a difference!

BrandonLive

I don't think the original CVTs had the hill detection feature (like my mom's '03 A4 cab which rolls back a bit) but that it got added later. So maybe they'll add the same thing to the DSG?

Isn't the new Passat getting some wacky push-button parking brake also? Wonder if Audi will ever pick that up.

qfrog@work

and the C6 A6 since 2004 production... yeah some day VW will get that too.

walkerhound1

I'm a little skeptical that the difference is that much, since VAG cars don't usually have that great a difference between OEM sport & stock. I did test-drive both & it didn't feel like that much difference. Of course, I did not get near the limits, where you can really feel the difference, so I can't say it's far-fetched. I don't want to spread mis-information-- it's what I was told & I'll want a few more sources before I accept it as a cold fact.

mark_avant

Who did you talk to? Cust serv rep? Product manager? Engineer?