MRSK

Before my current A4, every car I owned was Japanese and they were mostly coupes and sedans (all with 17" or larger wheels and lowered). One thing in common among them was the sponginess and instability of the ride at high speed. Traveling at 80mph or more, the ride tended to be more "floaty" and the steering was vague. In all, they never gave me a solid, confident drive at high speed.

My current A4, on the other hand, exhibits a high level of stability and confidence at high speed. Driving at 80mph feels almost the same as at 50mph. The ride is stable and the movement is precise. I find this very impressive.

I am just curious what contributes to the better stability in the A4. I think the weight cannot be the sole reason as the stability of a Japanese car is almost the same even with 5 people on board. There must be more to it. What makes the A4 more stable than Japanese cars at high speed?

MC Hammered

I think it is due to the weight of the car @ 3500lbs it just doesn't float around

MRSK

stability. May be Jap car suspension is just softer with more rebound???

USP

and the high speed stability is consistent with most, if not all of their models. Try taking it over 130. I did on several occasions in my B6 and B7 and both cars were extremely solid. My passengers didn't even realize how fast we were going until I told them to look at the speedo.

JsprZ

So a 3500lb German car with its weight distributed across the perimeter of the body as well as above the front and rear axels, will drive differently than a 3500lb Japanese car with all its weight at the center of the car.
Say you are taking a left turn in a German car. The body of the car will tend to lean left, but the extra weight on the right half of the car will counter-act that movement. This same idea applies to minor movements at high speeds. In a Japanese car however, if you turn left with a car full of people, it will most likely lean farther to the left because the weight of people is closer to the center and has a higher center of gravity.
So lower center of gravity and more evenly distributed weight across the width of the axles make it less floaty. On top of course, the suspension springs and shocks and structural solidity of the car's framework.

needforsleep

Suspension design and wheel base/track.