DRC v Air

[mat776]

Thanks again Bamf,

My use is quite similar to yours actually (other than the occasional track day - which is unlikely for me) kids, cornwall, france... Actually the motorways in France do not concern me at all - the ones i drive feel like carpets. (but that is only once a year at the most.)

As I said, I was surprised by how compliant the DRC was in comfort, actually a little less bumpy than the sports(ish) springs in my SQ5, but I may well leave the car on Air, with normal steering for my uses.

I wonder if the DRC system becomes less compromising with age as the springs harden ? (if they do ?) The DRC car I drove was brand new PI. The Air car was a year old.

[markwm]

I thought dynamic steering was awful. Noticed it straight away and instantly didn't like it.

I've gone for air in my car, simply because i wanted a more comfortable car this time round(that's not to say DRC won't be comfortable)...also, had issues with it in the RS4 and B8 owners still having issues with it, there's a thread on it everytime you go into the B8 forums. Whether or not it's sorted in the C7, I dunno, maybe it is but I figured it was best going with air and I enjoyed my test drive more in the air car, although that probably didn't have a lot to do with the suspension.

If you enjoyed the drive better with DRC, I'd go with that and base the decision on your experience.

[mat776]

Does the normal steering have configuration options in the MMI ?

[Performance]

I just thought I'd update this as I took delivery of my car yesterday and have put a few hundred miles on it.

The car IS very flat round corners and feels pretty nimble, possibly more nimble (imo) than the M5 which goes against a lot of the reviews I've seen or read. It is, however, quite noticeably firmer than the M5 in all road conditions although it isn't "uncomfortably" hard.

I'm going to write a proper review when I've been in it a little more but for now this is a pic of the grey day I got my grey car!

Was the Turbo "S" yours ?. I see now it was.

[DragonRR]

Was the Turbo "S" yours ?. I see now it was.

Yes, The RS6 just didn't quite hit the right buttons for me. I considered a power mod for awhile but then test drove the 911 and jumped ship

[R33]

What are the settings around ride height with the air suspension? How much can it be raised and does it auto lower at a certain speed?

[Bamf]

when you press the raise option in the car menu I think it raises the car about 20mm. it is a noticeable lift. and I think it auto lowers it at 50mph. if I remember later I will give it a try to see what speed it activates at.

[Emm_W]

Choosing between standard Air and DRC was my toughest choice, and I'm still not certain I made the right call... I have no intentions of taking the car to the track, but I do like inspired driving on twisty roads when there's no other traffic around. I was never able to test drive an Air car, only the DRC, so I finally went with DRC as I knew what to expect. On the one hand I wanted a high level of comfort for normal driving with family members in the car, on the other hand I wanted a stiff chassis for inspired solo driving, and the DRC provides both -- in comfort mode it is just fine (although if I had to tweak it in either direction, I'd go with a little bit more comfort); in dynamic mode it is so stiff that you really need perfect smooth roads to be able to enjoy it (but if you do find yourself on such a road, the agile handling of this two ton car *will* amaze you). I'm used to stiff rides, having lowered or added sports suspension kits to most of my cars, but nearing 50 I find myself appreciating a smooth ride more and more...

At this point I'm not regretting my DRC choice due to lack of comfort, but what I find myself thinking a lot about is that I thus missed out on the ability to lower and heighten the car as I wish -- the DRC doesn't change the ride height (although I believe it is slightly lower than the default Air setting), but in the winter and when driving on ramps or down in city garages, it would be so great to be able to raise the chassis. And MTM even has a module that will let you lower (and raise) the car even more than the default Audi programming (check mtm-online.de if you're interested).

By the way, I have added 10 mm spacers all around, which works (and looks just fine on both the 21" summer wheels and the 20" winter wheels, and I've also replaced the standard "golf ball" gear knob with the much nicer S line gear knob -- instead of this cold (due to the metal surface) and slightly ugly knob with a flashy RS logo on it, I now have this much more comfortable (due to the leather surface) knob without any logos on it, and with the leather pin holed (just like the leather on the steering wheel, providing a perfect match). Highly recommended!

/Mark

[Chesterfield]

Sums up my thoughts too, thou in the reverse of the above I was only able to test air cars, but went with DRC on mine.

It has lost a bit of comfort compared to the 20" and air car I tested, and perhaps I would also tweak it further toward comfort. Though I did feel the air had a bit more "wallow" in corners when pressing on.

I'm not unhappy with DRC. Its still just as comfy as my RR Sport, and that sits on air. I know it could be even more comfy if it were on air and had 20" rims, but for me that's defeating the object of what I wanted from this car. It was to finally replace my fezza as my "toy" car but retain everyday practicality rather than the other way around.

Just a shame I can't have a towbar with DRC as I may one day like to get a track car, and the rs6 is just a perfect car for towing it there.

[mat776]

Thanks,
I have now gone for DRC (in dynamic pack).
I test drove both again back to back, although this time the Air car had normal steering. I preferred DRC to Air, but agree that not being able to raise it may be a loss.

Dynamic Steering was also a difficult choice, whilst I am yet to read a review that liked it, I am also yet to read a review that liked normal steering as well. For me, being used to the SQ5 with dynamic steering, I felt the normal steering car a bit to slow, which would have been fine if it also had more 'feel', but both were equally numb in my limited experience, so dynamic felt like the safer choice.