eelnosaj

Hi,
I am going to be finalizing an order on Monday of an A5 SB, Prestige, scuba blue, nougat, grey oak, and driver assistance.

I really like the look of the S-line exterior and want sport seats. I would prefer the regular suspension though. I am concerned about the ride being a bit too rough wth the sport suspension. I will be getting 18" wheels it it matters. I drive 35 miles to and from work each day and I-5 in Oregon is not a smooth or quiet road.

If you get an S-line and option adaptive damping suspension, is it likely that the sport suspension is deleted and replaced with the adaptive damper suspension? Or, is the ADS in addition too sport suspension, since the adaptive damping is really only one component of a suspension?

On the A4, the Sport suspension lowers the car by 23 mm and the Adaptive damping lowers it 10 mm, and I got the impression that these were additive from the A4 threads at least.

Like I said earlier, I would really just like an S-line with a regular suspension, but I am worried about ride quality and comfort since I have such a long drive with an S-line suspension. I figured I could solve this by adding the ADS, but if the car is 33 mm lower, then that might really start affecting clearance and I would think it would make road noise worse as well. Maybe I am wrong on that - would suspension height affect noise with 18" wheels?

Thanks for the help.
Jason

heisnuts

That's a really good question. On both the S4 and S5, the sport package adds "sport adaptive suspension" where on the A5 Sportback the build page allows you to add both the sport package and adaptive suspension as separate options.

I have driven both the S4 with the base suspension and 18" wheels and a S5 with the sport adaptive suspension and 19" wheels. I liked the sport adaptive suspension so much that my current S5 order has both the sport adaptive suspension and the 19" tire/wheel option. I too was hesitant at first on both options, but after driving the S5 with the 19" wheels and the adaptive sport suspension, I was sold. Even on rough Oregon roads the suspension felt just right to me. It was not to harsh and the road noise was not that noticeable (although on the S5 the sport exhaust sounds so good that you really do not notice much road noise).

Since the sportback has not hit the dealers lot here in Oregon yet, no one had had a chance to drive it yet. However, I know the ports recently released the SB and both of the Portland dealers have their SB models in transit. It looks like both of the dealers ordered all of their cars with the S-Line package and did not add the adaptive suspension so that would give you a chance to drive a car with just the sport suspension. Both dealers however ordered all of their cars with the 19" wheels, so that will make the ride a little harsher with the shorter sidewalls.

You might want to check with your dealer and see if their SB is close to hitting the lot so you could drive it before putting in your order. When I decided on the S5 months ago I almost put the order in before the cars hit the lot, but I am glad I waited to drive it first. If I had ordered first, I would have gone with the 18" wheels because I thought the 19's would have been too harsh (I knew I would want the sport package because I really wanted the sport rear differential). However, once I was able to drive one with the adaptive suspension and 19" wheels I found the ride so much better than I expected that I ordered it with the 19's, which I think looks much better than the 18" option Audi offers.

Glisse

eelnosaj, some of your assumptions are wrong.

Audi have differentiated the A5 from the A4 in more than just looks. The A5 has a lower, and firmer, suspension than the A4.

The suspension heights in the A4 are not additive, so the sport suspension is 23mm lower than the base suspension, whilst the adaptive suspension is 10mm lower than the base suspension. However, none of this applies to the A5. With the A5, all the suspension versions are the same height.

Ideally, given your concerns, you should drive the different versions. It seems the A5 Sportback has now started to arrive at US dealers starting late last week. I don't know what your current benchmark is for too soft/just right/too harsh. But the new chassis and suspension design of the B9 models is a big improvement in both ride and handling over the B8 platform. And compares very favourably in my experience vs equivalent models from BMW or Mercedes.

But the adaptive suspension (ADS=Audi Drive Select, EDC=Electronic Damper Control in Audi acronyms) is going to offer the greatest potential to alleviate your concerns about a rough ride.

These have been covered in great depth in earlier threads on the B9 S4 forum. But 2 key points to note, which seem to get continually overlooked:

• Whether in Comfort or Dynamic state, the dampers remain continuously adaptive, and adjust several times a second to road conditions, cornering forces, etc. It is not simply a binary state change when you adjust the EDC mode via ADS
• These are the latest generation from ZF Sachs, and are controlled by the new chassis ECU used in the B9 platform. They should not be confused with earlier versions such as those used in the B8 platform, as they are dramatically better.

Yes, 18" wheels do have some impact: a slightly softer ride but with slightly less handling precision. But these difference are much less obvious than with the B8 platform, and the type and make of tyre probably make as much difference as the sidewall height. As heisnut noted, the 19" wheel/adaptive suspension combination works very well. Note that the difference in sidewall height between the 18 and 19" wheels is only 9mm, as Audi use a wider 255mm tyre on the 19' wheel, and the side profile (40 vs 35) is a ratio of width.

wolfjo

I drove (and purchased) an S-Line Sportback yesterday. I highly suggest you find a dealer and drive one before you order. It is an extremely fun car to drive, and Audi has done a great job of tuning the sport suspension IMHO. Bumps, potholes, etc. were totally fine with this suspension and the 19's. There's even some control over the engine sound in the Drive Select. I had (almost) as much fun driving it as the S5 coupe.

N8!

congratulations!🍾

we'd live to see some photos of your new car.

eelnosaj

Thanks for the help and reassurance. Nice to know suspension won't get lower and lower.
My dealer has a S-line coupe so I will test drive that, and see when they are getting there S-line 19# sportbacks.

It sounds like the S-line suspension will be just fine, even with 19" perhaps, and the only drawback to ADS is the cost.

In the last 17 years I have had 4 Hondas (Accord Coupe, CRV, Ridgeline then Accord sedan) and now a CPO 2014 Merc E-350 Luxury sedan. I got that after I couldn't take the Honda noise anymore with my new commute, but it was not a well thought out decision. I feel like I am 20 years older than I am while driving it, and I want new infotainment and assistance technology. After all of those Hondas, if you have ever had one, you could understand my hyperawareness of road noise.

Thanks guys.

jeremyw78

Hi Glisse

Great post. I'm just about purchase A5 S Line SB with 19" multi spoke alloys but do have reservations regarding the ride and comfort of the car, particularly when I drive 2,500 every month! A 2012 A3 S Line I had for three years was bone shaking and I do not wish a repeat of such awful discomfort!

I'm leading towards the idea of removing the S Line Sports Suspension and opting for the no cost option of Adaptive Comfort Suspension, even more so now you've stated that the ride/suspension height remains the same on the A5 unlike the A4. I do not wish to have gaping gaps between the tyre and the wheel arch which I presume would be the case if you opted for Comfort Suspension on the A4?

Is the information on the A5 suspension i.e., that it remains the same height regardless of which suspension option you choose, published anywhere?

Just curious as to how you found such information?

Thanks in advance.
Jeremy

eelnosaj

I don't know the heights of A5 suspensions, but the height does change on the A4. Considering how sloppily the configurator is built online, I suspect they just didn't add the information to the US sight On descriptions on the suspension options on the UK and German sites, which are lacking on the US configurator, it does say the sport suspension is lower to the ground.
At least in the US, per my dealer, I cannot get S-line with adaptive suspension--not orderable. Other countries have quite a bit more flexibility.
While I liked the exterior, I went with non-S-line, warm weather package for sport seats, and adaptive suspension (with 18 inch wheels). I think it will be worth it in the long run for me. The non S-line A5 still looks great.

RockedUp

I'm actually picking up my A5 S-Line SB on Saturday! I test drove one last week, and while I thought the ride was not too harsh on bumpier city streets, my wife thought it was rough and complained of her legs shaking. Oh no, I thought, I may need to do something about this! So, while I'm getting 18" wheels and hope it's a ride she gets used to, my wife may end up unhappy riding longer distance road trips in the car.

Which leads me to wondering: IF the S-Line sport suspension is causing discomfort, can Audi service department change out my suspension for the adaptive damping suspension? Is that even feasible? How expensive would that change be? Surely more than the $1,000 ADS build option. I know it is silly or stupid to pay that for a new car, but "happy wife, happy life" may require that I look into this.

saxplayer

I imagine anything you're willing to pay for you can change. However, it will run you a ton more than $1000, I would imagine.