audi a6 c7 allroad best suspension setting for everyday driving

[SLP V6]

Hi Afternoon all

Just a quick one I think as I have always had my car in Dynamic setting . I tried the comforts setting and made a big difference to how the car behaved on my bumpy road ,

What settings do you all use and how do you find them. I came to work with it in Auto to see how that feel to me.

Not sure which one to pick

[wildbore]

Not trying to be (too much of) a smartypants, but the clue is rather in the name.

I always use Comfort because I like my car to be comfortable - I am not interested in being bounced and crashed around (plus the over-sensitive throttle response) when I am usually either hauling myself up the motorway or crawling through London traffic.

There's Dynamic if you feel that way inclined or if you genuinely live out in the sticks surrounded by beautiful, undulating, curvy tarmac (and like to drive everywhere flat out).

Or there is Auto if you trust the car to spot the difference for itself. Personally, I have never noticed the car particularly adept at automatically swapping profiles and settings.

My take on this is that, as I drive on crowded, poor quality and rather uninteresting roads for almost all my driving time, I would rather do it in comfort.

[SLP V6]

Yep make 100% senses I find the same kind of roads around me and on my trip into work. We live in a village so do have some country roads which are fun to drive around in Dynamic at time. Yep I did find that the Auto setting did not change from the start of my work run . I was thinking that it would lower the car at motorway speeds. I did find the comfort setting was great to iron out the horrible road around our village and the massive speed bumps.


There is big difference between Dynamic and Comfort that I find ........but I do tend to drive like an old lady at times

[AT.]

I was thinking that it would lower the car at motorway speeds.

I travel on bad quality roads, and the Auto setting does nothing. I had to set this selection to comfort, now there is a big difference as in the Auto the car acted just like in the dynamic mode. Your opinion is interesting, I think, the lowering does not depend on the setting, but depends on the speeding.

[SLP V6]

yes know what you mean...not much change at all,the big difference is with Comfort setting. I did find that if I set the settings with the MMI screen you can see and feel the car changing high. I have noticed that with the car set to Allroad it will low at motorway speeds. but not found the same with any other setting so far... saying that, i have just started playing around with the setting to any degrees.

[wildbore]

Not sure on the details of the Audi system but the MB air system only drops 15mm at high speed - I doubt you could notice that. If you set off in All-Road mode with the suspension jacked right up, I guess the drop down from there to motorway ride height would be quite noticeable.

[SLP V6]

yes its when you are going from low speed up to motorway speed to can see the indicator on the CAR menu showing the settings going down by a bar or two and then raising up as you are slowing back down in speed. Does anyone tend to run there in Eoc setting at all that is one that I have not used as yet.

Will have a bit of a play on the way home with the setting to see which one I like day to day. And also one other question what type pressure do you all tend to have your allroads at.

....I'm coming from an 4.2 v8 A8 so still getting used to a few things about this car.

[ukgroucho]

I run in Auto. Occasionally stick the car in dynamic when I know I'm on the right bit of road.

I've tried Comfort on the motorway and it is very nice but it does come at a cost. If you leave the car in Auto it will drop to the lowest suspension setting (1 bar) when you are cruising above 70 or so MPH. I think it is also smart enough to realise that if you drop down to a very slow speed on the motorway your are likely in a queue (I think it uses satnav data) so it does not immediately rise up again - but as soon as you pull off up a slip road and stop at the lights or whatever it does hop back up to 2 bars. Comfort does not drop below 2 bars.

So the cost... well in my experience, doing the same trip at very similar speeds in Auto or in Comfort, the difference between the suspension being down on 1 bar or up on 2 bars is 1 - 2 mpg. That is, of course, based on the onboard computer but the fact that you can see a difference means that it is 'significant'.

[SLP V6]

I do like the low setting on the motorway speeds and I would think that the comfort would change the aerodynamics' to a point where it would affect the mpg. In Dynamic the car does anchors down nicely and would cut down on the drag.

Has anyone noticed any big changes with ride and handling with tire pressure and what have you found to be the sweat spot for PSI if any different from the door sticker amount.

[Splash]

I'm an active user of the drive select suspension settings as this typical day from last week shows. I was attending a course 55 miles away and got 50 mpg displayed most days using Costco Premium Diesel. Journey time was about 70-75 minutes.

Car started in Comfort mode although I only set it to that to help stave off its rattles, not mine, as I haven't yet worked out what wavelength of bumps its best at smoothing.

Very twisty back road after 1.5 miles means I select Sport to make better use of gears although not at high revs as oil isn't warm yet. Car not yet dropped in case of branches etc.

After first town in about 6 miles I drop to lower setting in Individual profile - set up as "Dynamic" but without the gearing which a flick on the gear selector does as and when needed.

For ring road around the next town (another 12 or so miles) I switch to Efficiency (raises to Level 2) and if there are no dodderers the suspension drops after the 0.8 mile bit of dual carriageway. If I get stuck its "Individual" again to drop for the next 20 miles until I hit the motorway where I can again get up to the drop threshold ASAP.

For return journey the motorway allows it to drop in Efficiency by the first bridge (another 0.8 mile I guess) and it stays dropped all the way back to the town I have to go round. In either direction on the single carriageway trunk road I set my cruise to 50 so that if I get stuck behind some trucks climbing any hills, I can ease off well before and slowly catch them whilst maintaining the lowest suspension setting.

A SatNav announcement of 1.5 mile of queuing traffic prompted me to dive off the A road and down some single track back lanes where the "allroad" setting meant I could use any verge or tracks if I suddenly met a tractor etc. Quite close to home, I normally go down these lanes on a dirt bike so know where I can "escape" safely.

I've only used "Raise" in deep snow or water and the occasional pose in a muddy field alongside more conventional 4x4s.

I can't believe the car is clever enough to know when to do these things in "Auto" which I assume is just like "efficiency" but without the active efficiency controls - so I never use it.

I wish the car had an easier manual override like in the C5 or a "drop" button where the * is on the steering wheel (although mine doesn't as its heated).