Hulamau

Irenesbob,

I don't know if Audi has made significant changes to the sports suspension since DB22s year model and the new 2016 A6? But even with the 30mm lower ride height which is just over 1" lower with my Prestige, S-line Sports suspension 20" and Drivers Assistance trim ... either DB22 is driving over cobblestone highways laced with 3 " deep pot holes every 20 meters to achieve his, from my perspective, very jaundiced impression of the A6 sports suspension, or maybe he jsut has a very sensitive bumm?

What in my experience is on reasonably decent roads in Arizona, is an outstanding blend of sports performance with superb handling and with very controlled body roll ( definitely flatter more controlled turning that the standard suspension A6 trim, and with overall significantly more comfort than our 2015 Prestige S-line A4 without any sports suspension .. and when trying to compare to my brothers 2014 Acura MDX ... come on dude!!

That's a total mush bucket and a very poor comparison in my experience. :-)

I can imagine on Detroit roads in late winter or upper east coast, you wouldn't want to go with the 20" wheels, but in many parts of the US there are plenty of A6 Sports 20" customers who are very happy, as I am with my new car.

In fact, the only thing I felt at all nervous about before my car arrived was this issue from reading DB22s comments previously and a few others who clearly lived in rough road country with lots of snow and storms and heavy traffic chewing up roads.

Read the new Autoweek review linked to below where three of their top reviewers each who lived with the car as a daily driver for a short period, and all three emphasized how much they loved the car, including the ride when speaking of the exact same Prestige model with same 20" wheels and S-line sports suspension plus Driver assist configuration of the 2016 A6 that I have and am speaking about.

Only one of the three reviewers mentions that you might not want the 20" wheels "in a Detroit Winter", but otherwise all three gave very high marks to every aspect of the car including handling and ride.

Those three impressions turned out, after the fact, to be far closer to my own experience this first month I have owned the car, and really right on the money in my view that I have had with my "16 A6 3.0T with the exact same 'fixins'.

Moral of the story, tread carefully when accepting any one view alone, mine included and make up your own mind in your own area after really driving the exact same car set up you want, and see which opinion is really right for you.

If your roads really suck, it may be a bit much for you, but this is reasonbly supple suspension within the confines of a sports suspension that you ordered to begin with.. I do agree that the ultimate solution for everyone is including the air or magnetic adjustable shocks as at least an option on US A6s too like in the ROW.

It is certainly not a little ole granny car, but it wont beat you up either or if you feel its too hard, why not just move to Arizona!

On the other hand, after reading DB22s foreboding review of the ride, I was expecting the worse and then the dramatically better results I am getting may have just been such a huge relief seeing that he set the bar way too low compared to my reality with the car in the flesh and perhaps that is why Im so satisfied now ... if so, thanks DB22 !

Below is the new Autoweek three reviewer impression of the very same 2016 A6 3.0T Prestige, S-line Sports 20" and Drivers Assistance packages park at my house.

To each his own, but perhaps you should toss out the most positive and certainly this most negative review on the A6 and you may well find a quite happy medium in reality for you. try it our first but in your neck of the woods the 19" might be a safer bet for you. Good luck with it!

http://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2016-audi-a6-30t-review?utm_source=DailyDrive20150703&utm_medium=en ewsletter&utm_term=image-top&utm_content=body&utm_campaign=awdailydrive

KevinGary

I don't find the sport suspension in my 2015 (with 19" Michelin Pilot Super Sports) harsh at all, and I do most of my driving on the roads in the NYC metro area.

qqq1970

Me neither, and we have potholes in winter.

NOLAessate

DB22, I don't know how I missed your earlier posts in this regard, but after reading yours, it almost seems like we're driving two completely different cars. While I understand that everything can be subjective, I'm sorry that you're not happy with your car. I regularly drive clients and colleagues in my 2014 20" sport package equipped Prestige A6 TDI, most of whom drive cars significant nicer than an MDX and many of whom are driving other "luxury" brands, and normally get compliments about the car. Five of them have either bought or leased new Audis based on their experience riding in my car.

One of the cars I was used to driving was a D2 S8 (which really did seem to have the axles welded to the frame), and while a blast to drive outside of town, could be quite unpleasant driving on less than perfect streets and roads. When I first ordered my current A6, I test drove A6s with the 19" and 20" sport packages extensively on the streets and roads I normally drive to make sure that the 20s would not be too abusive. Lest you think I normally drive on well maintained smooth streets, please note that most of my business driving is done in New Orleans, whose streets are maintained worse that many third world countries, and we have potholes large enough for VW bugs to hide in. In 43k miles I've replaced 3 tires due to said potholes.

I've driven my A6 in a very spirited fashion (Quattro de Mayo with the Georgia ACNA chapter, Texas hill country drives with the Texas ACNA chapter, plus bombing around on some really nice country roads in my area. I find that the sport suspension with 20s does a very good job of keeping the car buttoned down on these drives. Between the TDI and the 20" sport suspension, I can easily keep up with MUCH faster cars being driven quickly on twisty roads.

If I were to order another C7, I wouldn't hesitate to get the Sport package with 20s.

DB22

Thank you all for your perspectives on this issue, it has encouraged me to visit the dealer and investigate further. My front springs have 2 pink dots, I want to check to see if that is normal for Sport Suspension. I want to test another A6 with the same setup.

Some more info: My MDX is the advance with the meteorological dampers and they are impressive so yes the MDX is better riding than my A6. I drive the freeways of LA, as do millions of others, and our freeways are an embarrassment to visitors to our nation. Pot holes are not the issue but the surface is. Financial restraints have made "fixing" the norm and not resurfacing so the fixes typically generate another joint to vibrate through my car.
I am certainly wondering if my car is normal and I thank you all for planting that seed so I will pursue it further. I am trying to like this car but it misses the mark on a few issues but it cannot be beat on a few others. I have spent my life improving things and the A6 can be defined as a good starting point but, in my opinion, it needs some help in a few areas: suspension, seats and the consistent button pushing to see and do all that it offers are my main points of contention.
Sport suspension doesn't need to be "uncomfortable".
If they made one good seat instead of many bad ones it would be cheaper and better to the end user.
The infotainment system was designed with enormous capability and to access its features you have to select a category which deletes your ability to see or do the previous function. Just because I wish to view a map it should mean that I cannot see the radio. A lot of people have 2 monitors on their computers for a reason - its enables a quicker response to multiple functions.

Again, I appreciate your responses to my issue(s) and it certainly broadens everybody's opinions.

Pratfall

It could be a misprint, but the Autoweek article claims that their A6 features an air suspension, which if it does, could significantly improve the ride quality over the U.S. versions which do not offer one. Maybe they had a Euro spec A6 for one reason or another. Or again maybe they made a mistake.

irenesbob

I haven't read the article yet, but that would make an “apples to tangerines” comparison in my book if true (that they tested with air suspension).

Hulamau – Thanks for the comments, I regard your input as based on concerns, etc. close to my own.

I guess what started me questioning the sport suspension in the S Line Sport Package was the experience I had driving the dealer’s A4 loaner with Sport Package. That was really stiff, not the actual ride so much, but the crashing and bashing sounds and feelings that came right through the steering wheel on relatively small road imperfections. I did not measure the tires’ pressure; perhaps that had a lot to do with it. Also, when I say “ride” I really mean the absence of pounding and a sense the dashboard is about to break off the car. Abrupt vertical movements are OK with me. It is isolation from road imperfections in terms of quiet and a sense the vehicle is “like a vault” that I consider when I say “ride.”

Speaking of suspensions, I am generally somewhat amazed how stiff today’s springing is compared to what we thought was tight “back in the day.” My 2013 A6 has the non-sport suspension, yet I can barely get the car to deflect (like 1/8”) when I push down on the bumper in any of the four corners. I remember as a pup having aftermarket HD springs and Koni shocks on my 1970 Porsche 914 and I could easily push the corners up and down. That was true on virtually every car I owned (even my big, heavy Pontiac Bonneville and Caddy Brougham 60 Special “tank” to which I added aftermarket HD shocks). With the 914 the experience was that after upgrading the shocks, the rebound bounce was lessened, but a normal person could get the car to move up and down easily. Today, even my friend’s Forester barely moves when I try to bounce it by pushing on a corner.

I am not sure what my point is, but certainly I guess today’s more structurally rigid auto bodies and frames allow the makers to put much stiffer springs on cars. However, once riding, the same Audi I cannot move by pushing down on in the garage seems very impact absorbing – quite an engineering feat in my view.

I am going to try driving both 2016 A6 (the only ones offered in P+ in the US) suspensions and then decide.

DB22

Yes, gone are the days when pushing on the fender to check your shocks rebound because if you push that hard these days the fender will bend.

KevinGary

My first car was a 10 year old 1972 Lincoln. I pushed a corner down in 1982 and I believe that the car is still riding the wave in 2015 😉

irenesbob

Exactly. Sort of like a low rider without the hydraulics - they just kept bouncing on their own lol