hawkeyedad

I have a USA-spec 2019 Premium Plus A5 Sportback S-line. My window sticker doesn’t say anything about suspension—in particular, it doesn’t say anything about suspension in the S-line section, and there is no “sport” anything. I have the 5-spoke 18” standard wheels and standard tires.

My suspension feels incredible harsh. Goin g over gaps between concrete slabs in the winter I feel the whole car jump. THUD! every. THUD! gap. Similarly, driving on a road with lots of cracks in the pavement (I-76 about 100 miles east of Denver) I felt like the car’s tire had gone flat, the car was shaking and there was so much bad noise coming from the suspension. Every small pothole feels like it’s destroying the car. The ride feels harsher than any sports car I’ve ridden in (admittedly, not many). Passengers have commented about how terrible the ride is. T’s been like this from 100 miles in to now, 6,000 miles in. This all makes me think the suspension has a significant defect.

1. How can I verify that my car is actually fitted with the stock suspension (and not sport suspension) by inspection?
2. How can I check that my suspension is operating within spec?

i am extremely happy with the car other than this issue. I don’t want to upgrade to the S5 to get adaptive suspension because I prefer the A5 transmission and fuel economy.

m444

Did you check the tire pressure and set to normal load (32 PSI front and 32 PSI back, assuming 245/40R18 97H tire rating) for your car and tires?
The load rating 93Y tire is 29 PSI for the rear. It appears to have standard suspension at S5 height.

superswiss

Other than subjective perception of harshness, tire pressure is the first thing to check. More often than not, it is incorrect. In the USA, the recommended pressure on the door sticker is too high for normal driving. That's the max load recommended tire pressure. See post above. The other thing while rare, but not unheard off are the shipping blocks left in the springs by the dealership. They are supposed to be removed during the PDI, but can be forgotten and the result is a horrible ride. If you google shipping blocks you can see pictures of what they typically look like and take a peek to see if they might have been left in your springs. After 6000 miles I would expect them to have been shattered in pieces at least partially, but worth taking a look and making sure they are not in there. These shipping blocks keep the cars from rocking and bumping into each other while crossing the ocean. A common giveaway that they are still in there is an abnormally large wheel gap as they lift the suspension somewhat.

Glisse

Based on your description, there is something wrong. Even if you had the sport suspension and 19" wheels, it would not ride that badly. An A5 on Sport suspension and 18" wheels will have a similar ride quality to an S5 with S adaptive suspension in Comfort mode, so don't rush to buy an S5 just yet.

The car's Data Label in the trunk (under the floor - spare tyre area) will list the suspension's PR code, along with the codes for everything fitted on your car. The height of all A5 models, regardless of suspension type is the same. You can't tell by looking at the car. Standard suspension is 1BA, and sport suspension is 1BE.

I agree with the previous posters that you need to check you are running the correct pressures, as posted by m444. But the car shaking and bad noises coming from the suspension? I think Superswiss is likely correct to suggest the shipping blocks were not removed by the dealer. This happens regularly enough, unfortunately, eg:
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...match-2941385/
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...nsion-2980033/
https://www.audiworld.com/forums/aud...neven-2966566/

But suggest you take the car to your dealer, and get them to diagnose the issue.

hawkeyedad

I will check the tire pressure. The thing is, sometimes I carry heavy stuff in the hatch and back seats. That’s one of the big reasons I bought it over the A4. In fact, I am moving across the country right now with the back completely full. So, if I reduce the tire pressure to 32 PSI, would I be making it unsuitable for hauling stuff? My typical load is 175lb driver, maybe 120lb front passenger, maybe 50lb rear passenger, trunk empty or trunk filled with suitcases.

Also note that Audi themselves filled these tires “to spec” To 35 PSI just last week.

Audi already lifted the car once to fix a suspension squeak—something about the bump stop not being in the right position. I mentioned the harsh ride then too but they didn’t report finding any issue that would cause it. They sent me the preliminary inspection video and I could see the springs didn’t have the blocks on them. That was the day before the Coronavirus shutdown and they were eager to get rid of me at the time.

superswiss

That depends on the gross vehicle weight when you have all your stuff in. The safety certificate found on the side of the door or the driver's door pillar lists the maximum permitted total weight of the vehicle. If you load it close or at that weight then you need to use the max load tire pressure. The difference between the curb weight and the gross vehicle weight rating is the maximum permitted weight you can load the vehicle with. The owner's manual also states how much of that can go on the roof. Normal load tire pressure is good for 3 passengers, but if you load a lot of stuff in the trunk on top of the three passengers that pushes the car closer to GVWR, then you need to increase the tire pressure.

FWIW, I never increase the tire pressure for trips. Normal luggage is not that heavy if you stick with what you essentially could check in on a flight. Two suitcases are around 100 lbs. I've driven on the German Autobahn at very high speeds at normal load pressure with me and my wife, two suitcases and some random bags. Never had an issue, but I kept it below 155 mph as above that tire pressure needs to be increased on most cars to cope with the speed. Same here domestically, I always drive with normal load pressure on road trips and all other times. Now if you make a home depot run and fill the trunk with a bunch of cement bags, that's a different story.

hawkeyedad

Thanks for the recommendations regarding the tire pressure. I decided to finish my road trip at 35 PSI because I understood that would be better for fuel economy, and also I wanted to pay more attention to which circumstances the harsh ride occurs.

i found the ride is mostly pretty good. Things seem to get really bad Only when the road is bad. For example, a road that had its cement buckle & crack every 10 feet seems to be one of the worst-case scenarios for this suspension. Also, potholes of any significance feel jarring. I also noticed that small dips cause the car to bounce a lot. But other annoyances like speedbumps are handled surprisingly well.

Tomorrow I will let out about 1 PSI of air from each tire, and then next week I’ll do it again. I’lll report back here the difference.

dpcompt

Another thing to consider, if you run your tires at high pressures( especially in the rear) you will have premature wear in the middle of your tires' tread.

bruce_miranda

In the UK atleast, the S Line comes with a Sport suspension. That would drive my wife mad. So we opted for the Comfort suspension. So if there is no mention of suspension, its likely to have the Sport one, which is firmer.

MRA5SB

US spec 2018 A5 Sline definitely came with the Sport suspension, not sure if anything changed in the 2109 MY. And yes, my RS5 in Auto mode rides better than the A5 Sline sport suspension, proper tire pressure and all.