ADS vs non ADS

[riegeraudi]

Spoke to AoA customer care in regards to the suspension on the ADS and non ADS car and he indicated that the non ADS car will be stiffer and lower than the ADS car so has anyone noticed the difference in height? For people without ADS and live in cities with craptastic roads, do you think the ride is to rough or is it perfect? Dealership mostly has ADS cars so haven't been able to drive one without.

[Keith@APR]

Spoke to AoA customer care in regards to the suspension on the ADS and non ADS car and he indicated that the non ADS car will be stiffer and lower than the ADS car so has anyone noticed the difference in height? For people without ADS and live in cities with craptastic roads, do you think the ride is to rough or is it perfect? Dealership mostly has ADS cars so haven't been able to drive one without.

Stiffer and lower vs. which ADS setting?

[stewie]

I have a non ADS car and live in South Jersey and commute to Philadelphia a lot. The roads are terrible. I find the S4 without ADS to be superb on poor quality roads. It is not harsh at all, it's very compliant and yet excellent through the twisties, where it stays very flat with very minimal body roll. I had a 135i before my S4 and it was really bad on broken and uneven roads. The car felt very choppy and jittery on some of the roads I used to drive, even after getting rid of the run flats. My S4 without ADS, on the other hand, is sublime on all road types that I have driven it.

[agkellyboy]

I have a non ADS car and live in South Jersey and commute to Philadelphia a lot. The roads are terrible. I find the S4 without ADS to be superb on poor quality roads. It is not harsh at all, it's very compliant and yet excellent through the twisties, where it stays very flat with very minimal body roll. I had a 135i before my S4 and it was really bad on broken and uneven roads. The car felt very choppy and jittery on some of the roads I used to drive, even after getting rid of the run flats. My S4 without ADS, on the other hand, is sublime on all road types that I have driven it.

I would agree. First impression on driving the non ADS car was that it was surprisingly stiff for a stock suspension, but after all I am quite used to the PSS9's set pretty firmly in my A4. On the street however, I love the suspension on the S4 the way it is, the perfect balance between a tight sporty suspension and a normal 'sport suspension' you might find on an s-line.

[riegeraudi]

Stiffer and lower vs. which ADS setting?

AoA just said it sits lower than the ADS car but didn't mention about ADS settings. Why does the ADS raise the car in comfort mode and lower it in Dynamic mode? I loved the airmatic shocks on my E500 which could lower and rise up too, and it could also stiffen and soften but the problem with the airmatic shocks was that it would fail after 5-6years and each shock is $1700cdn.

[Ryan_T]

Unless they changed it for the S4, ADS doesn't raise or lower the car. They just change the characteristic of the shocks. Based on my A4 usage, I think it's a great feature to have. You can have a very stiff car, or a very cushy one when you feel like it.

It limits your suspension modding options to springs only, though.

[Keith@APR]

AoA just said it sits lower than the ADS car but didn't mention about ADS settings. Why does the ADS raise the car in comfort mode and lower it in Dynamic mode? I loved the airmatic shocks on my E500 which could lower and rise up too, and it could also stiffen and soften but the problem with the airmatic shocks was that it would fail after 5-6years and each shock is $1700cdn.

Sorry, I didn't mean it sat lower I meant mostly the stiffer part.

My question should have been, is non ADS like a lowered version of which ADS level? I assume its between dynamic and comfort.

I am trying to get at whether or not dynamic is better than non ADS.

Non ADS has a lower center of gravity, that's a plus but I assume the dampers and springs are a compromise between ability and comfort therefore resulting in ADS dynamic potentially being better.

[riegeraudi]

What AoA had indicated to me is that the non ADS uses the sport springs so it is stiffer and lower than the ADS. He said ADS since it has the comfort mode the springs are not as aggressive. He also indicated that the springs and shocks are definitely geared more towards the dynamic side. So basically the non ADS is a tad stiffer than dynamic mode with a more aggressive spring. Makes sense and he even took sometime to check it out, but if someone can verify the spring and if there is actually different springs would be good.
I think some people with the A4 lowered their ride on the ADS cars with the sport springs already, and I think the drop is about 20-30mm. Not sure how it affects the ride though.
The car you guys are working on is it ADS?

[Keith@APR]

What AoA had indicated to me is that the non ADS uses the sport springs so it is stiffer and lower than the ADS. He said ADS since it has the comfort mode the springs are not as aggressive. He also indicated that the springs and shocks are definitely geared more towards the dynamic side. So basically the non ADS is a tad stiffer than dynamic mode with a more aggressive spring. Makes sense and he even took sometime to check it out, but if someone can verify the spring and if there is actually different springs would be good.
I think some people with the A4 lowered their ride on the ADS cars with the sport springs already, and I think the drop is about 20-30mm. Not sure how it affects the ride though.
The car you guys are working on is it ADS?

yup, we have ADS cars. We also want to calibrate ADS and make the engine portion of it available to non ADS cars.

HOWEVER, in the B8 A4, the engine portion of ADS makes no difference to the ecu and we hypothesize that its all in the TCU.

[riegeraudi]

I thought the steering, throttle and differential still can be adjusted even without the ADS in the S4 as long as you order it with sport differential no? I thouhgt that you only can't adjust the suspension part, or is it that you can adjust the above to a greater degree with ADS?

[riegeraudi]

I would agree. First impression on driving the non ADS car was that it was surprisingly stiff for a stock suspension, but after all I am quite used to the PSS9's set pretty firmly in my A4. On the street however, I love the suspension on the S4 the way it is, the perfect balance between a tight sporty suspension and a normal 'sport suspension' you might find on an s-line.

What setting do you have on your PSS9'S? So you are saying that it is more firm than the PSS9's?

[agkellyboy]

On the track I set them all to 1, and the S4 is certainly more comfortable than that. While I would put the PSS9 on par with my A4's old sport suspension, I would say the S4 is close to a 6 on the PSS9's. Remember, the bilstein settings are not linear

[equ]

I thought the steering, throttle and differential still can be adjusted even without the ADS in the S4 as long as you order it with sport differential no? I thouhgt that you only can't adjust the suspension part, or is it that you can adjust the above to a greater degree with ADS?

That's the whole point of the ADS. I think if you have sport diff only, you get the ADS controls so you can play with the sport diff, not the other stuff.