A7 Adaptive air suspension

[jbanfie]

All,

I finally had a test drive today and was very impressed with everything, except I found the s-line suspension to hard for my taste.

Does anyone have the air suspension and could comment on the feel of the comfort setting.

Also I presume it only raises and lowers 10mm between comfort and dynamic, whereas the A6 does 20?

I prefer the styling of the s-line, so don't really want to move to the SE and although it's yet more money the air suspension seems a good answer?

Cheers

Jon

[jk88]

I'm in a similar position, would love to hear from anyone who has tried both or decided to go for the air option in either SE or S-line spec.

Dealer tells me that the air suspension would give an identical ride if added to either SE or S-line, anyone confirm this (from experience).

I'm coming from an A8 with air and really like everything about the A7 apart from the ride is a little on the lumpy side.

Thanks in advance

[aurora7]

I have the air suspension on the A7 SE. I had air suspension on my '55 A8, and would always spec it where possible on an Audi, but I am at the extreme off-the-scale hush puppy end of the need for comfort spectrum (see threads in C7 A6 forum for explanation of terms!)

I actually continue to find the air suspension on the A7 a bit of a disappointment, it's certainly not as good as it was on the A8, or as good as the air suspension on the new A6 Allroad, but clearly these are all very different cars.

If you are considering air suspension and find the ride on the A7 tough already, then you *might* regret not choosing that option... but don't assume it's going to be the perfect answer either.

Apologies if that hasn't helped at all....

[jk88]

Thanks Aurora7 for the feedback, very helpful. A couple of questions

Did you test drive (or have since driven) standard suspension A7s (SE or S-line) and if so, how did they compare ?
To what extent do you think the air suspension or ride quality is inferior to your A8 ?
What size wheels on your car ?
What setting do you usually have the air suspension in ?
Any thoughts on tyre noise (another bugbear of mine) ?
In terms of the options on your car, what would you change now given the chance ?

Thanks in advance (again)

[aurora7]

Thanks Aurora7 for the feedback, very helpful. A couple of questions

Did you test drive (or have since driven) standard suspension A7s (SE or S-line) and if so, how did they compare ?
To what extent do you think the air suspension or ride quality is inferior to your A8 ?
What size wheels on your car ?
What setting do you usually have the air suspension in ?
Any thoughts on tyre noise (another bugbear of mine) ?
In terms of the options on your car, what would you change now given the chance ?

Thanks in advance (again)

Hi again jk88,

I've driven all kinds of A7 over the last year when mine has been at the dealer. The SE and S-line are as you would expect, but are also wheel-size dependent obviously. Unfortunately the most recent SE that I had on loan for a few days had 20" wheels, so it didn't feel great. The S-line just isn't for me, I hate every bump and rattle.

Mine has the standard 18" wheels.

It's nearly a year and a half since I sold my A8 so my memory is hazy about the exact comparisons between the air suspensions, but the A8 was definitely more comfortable. What sticks in my mind more vividly though is the difference between the air on the new A6 Allroad and the A7, as I just test drove this a few weeks ago. Every speed bump/terrible road that I had come to clench my teeth going over on regular commutes in the A7 was just absorbed beautifully in the Allroad. So if I were to rank their effectiveness in terms of comfort from air suspension, it would be 1. Allroad, 2. Old A8, 3. A7 where A7 is still much more comfortable than the S-line but I'm not sure whether there would be that much in it on an SE with sensible wheels.

I usually have the settings on "individual" (set to comfort for ride, auto for gear and dynamic for steering). Sometimes I just leave it in auto. Occasionally if I want to be a thug I put it into dynamic, but then I remember that I am a hush puppy and take it out of dynamic again.

Tyre noise - yes it's a problem for me too. The frameless doors on the A7 don't help this either, and that's another thing you notice coming from the A8. The noise improved a bit when I had the door seals changed, but it's still an issue for me and the Pirellis that the A7 came with are not known for being quiet. If I were to spec the car again now, I would seriously investigate the heat and sound insulating glass options, which weren't available when I ordered my car and mysteriously became available soon after the A7 shipped. I have never managed to drive one with the sound insulated glass but I can only assume it helps. The car does get very hot in the summer (obviously I'm talking about last summer as it hasn't been a problem so far this year!!), so the heat insulation and privacy glass are good options to have.

Apart from investigating sound insulated glass, the only other option I would change if I were to spec it again would be adding the tech pack advanced (and probably removing the night vision camera which is clever technology but not really worth its price tag with the limited amount of night driving I do). The standard tech pack option on the A7 is excellent, especially since it includes the HUD (which A6 owners don't benefit from in this pack), and the comfort pack is a great investment too. I just miss the ACC which I had on the A8, so I would probably take out night vision and add tech pack advanced.

Hope that covers what you needed?

[BrianWM]

Hi,

Interesting (to me) your comments on Allroad - I've ordered one but only driven a standard A6; looking forward to the Hush Puppy ride !

Tyres are always the problem when folks comment on ride quality because the size is usually not stated. I was looking at a tyre size calculator web site and noticed it gave a comfort rating for tyre sizes, presumably directly related to the quantity of air the tyre contains. Anyway, the Allroad standard tyre has a higher comfort rating than the standard A6 tyre and that's before you start looking at S-line or even crazier wheels. I didn't look at A7 but I'm sure the tyres alone on the Allroad would improve the ride compared to a similarly (air suspended) A7 on it's standard tyres, again, that's before you start with the bigger wheel sizes.

So, what I'm actually saying is that maybe the effectiveness of air suspension is similar across A6, A7 & Allroad but the comfort differences you percieve might be down to tyre size. I have not driven an Audi with air suspension (yet) so my views are strictly theoretical at the moment.

[A1GSS]

I've just bought a 2011 A8 with air suspension. It has 20" wheels with 265/40 R20 tyres.

Not the same car of course, but for what it's worth the ride (even in "Dynamic" mode) is extremely smooth and quiet - quite exceptional really, and was one of the key factors that sold me on the car. So, I can safely say that for me, the combination of Audi engineering, air suspension and 20" wheels delivers a superb result...

I think that you really need to drive an A7 with and without back to back, and compare. If the one with air suspension still doesn't cut it then choose something else...

[jk88]

Interesting - I've been considering the A8 as an alternative to the A7 (I have a D3 A8 now) and tried a demonstrator with 20" wheels. It had terrible road noise and I later tried one with 19" and the noise was much better (similar to my D3).

Given what you say A1GSS, could be the tyre brand is the main culprit - what tyres do you have on your A8 ?

[A1GSS]

Ah, interesting. They're Goodyear Eagle F1

[A1GSS]

... and tried a demonstrator with 20" wheels. It had terrible road noise and I later tried one with 19" and the noise was much better (similar to my D3).

Was this an A7 demo?