I was wondering if anyone can shed some light on the optional black exhaust and the suspension of the RS.
I wonder if the black exhaust will noticably change the sound and if so will it be so much better that it's worth the money? So far I haven't seen any info from Audi on this, plus the coupe presented in geneva did have the normal exhaust. Shouldn't they have used the more expensive one, as they also presented the sound to the audience for the first time during this event?
Also I just saw that the RS is only 3mm lower than the TTS (1342mm vs 1345mm). I somehow can't imagine that a regular suspension with the same spring deflection can be as good as the MR with it's less viscose damper fluid (in S mode). So I wonder which option will be the best choice if the setup should deserve the attribute 'as sporty as possible'?
The sound on Audi.de is with the optional black exhaust and the suspension is sait to be faster ther MR.
Would not order it though.
Hans.
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Dear SigmaS6,
the Soundclip on the Audi Website does not feature the optional Sport Exhaust. You can assume a very present Exhaust tone, as much as possible to receive a Homologation. Sound is adoreable and worth the extra cost.
If you take it from the "as sporty as possible" side of view, the regular Suspension is your way to go. Personally i would choose the magnetic ride version, as it is the best overall suspension choice. The regular suspension combined with the 19" wheel combo features the most firm character, if you are willing to accept this on a daily basis.
Qisha
But even the S-mode is less sporty than the standard suspension? Dunno why, but even though the MR is not that expensive compared to the base price of the RS, I'm still reluctant to pay the full price for this TTS-base-option. It's more about the principle than the money for me.
Don't mistake firmness for better, as is the case with the standard setup versus the MagneticRide. The same opinion was that the SS was better than MR in the R8 but I believe this didn't prove to be true.
Unless you want your TT/RS to be firm instead of composed then be my guest and stick with the stock suspension but I think it would be advisable to try both setups before putting a deposit down on a finalised spec.
The one other advantage that the MR setup will give you is the option to use larger diameter rims than standard suspension and still retain ride quality, this may end up to be a deal breaker.
Search and you will find the truth.
But for a passive suspension that's more or less the way it works. If the spring deflection is the same as with the MR, it has to be harder as it's not possible to adjust anything dynamically.
That's what bothers me a bit, as the V10 has MR as standard and for the R8 V8 it's an option. So it seems the MR is the sportier approach on this one.
I'm still puzzled as to why it's not standard on the RS if it's better. The fact that they charge the full price for a 0 Euro option really confuses me. I wonder if it might be a hint as to prefer the standard setup or if they are just that obviously greedy.
I just want the suspension that goes best with the rest of the setup and doesn't contradict it.
But we know that Audi usually delivers demo cars with the first customer cars, so if I want to drive one first I can expect my delivery to be some time in fall. Why should I want an RS in fall instead of summer? Then I could skip it for this year and see if there will be a DSG available for the next model year, too
Honestly I have no idea how much ride quality I'll lose or how many seconds the MR will cost me on a Nürburgring round. Will it be that much faster to justify the hard setup or will the MR make the RS feel sluggish and make you regret not having taken the real deal?
It just feels strange to pay extra money to make the car a little slower
Your last comments are the ones I am addressing here.
Why assume that MR is slower than standard?
Firm may well work best on some tracks and not others and the reason for that is down to the fact that not all tracks are smooth. So if you intention is to track the car regularly ask yourself is that track smooth or not and with that information ask someone like Qisha or maybe a member of quattroGmbH which would best suit your track and daily requirement. But I think in the long run the MR will give you the best balance overall between track speed and regular road speed.
I know this example isn't the same but I did once get the drive 2 TT3.2s back to back and I felt the MR car coped with irregularities midcorner compared the the standard setup which lose a lot of it's composure.
Search and you will find the truth.
It was mentioned in one of the threads in this forum.
If I had a contact person at quattro GmbH I would probably have made up my mind already by now. Qishas comments are very much appreciated but they often leave me with new questions and I'm not sure that he's got time to spend for a more thorough conversation on my concerns
I'm happy to hear from him from time to time in threads like these, so I don't want to annoy him by sending individual questions.
For any other TT model I think it has been proven already that MR is the best setup if you want a fast car and I wouldn't have doubted this in the first place for the RS if Audi wouldn't have confused me by explicitly removing it from the base config.
I just don't see why they would develop a new suspension if they could have made the MR standard as with the TTS. Why go the extra mile if the exisiting technology is the best choice anyway?
On both versions of R8 (4.2 FSI and 5.2 FSI) faster suspension around ALL race tracks is Sport Suspension. Why is it standard on R8 5.2 FSI? Marketing reasons and to justify price upcharge.
Not only that Sport Suspension is faster, it is 5kg overall lighter then Magnetic Ride. Stephan Reil explained in-depth features about both suspensions on press intro in Marbella. Qisha would confirm that as well.
Just, for average R8 costumer(NOT average driver) Magnetic Ride is better option for daily driving since it features standard(or comfort) mode. Sport Suspension is as firm as Magnetic Ride in Sport mode.
Same story is about Bucket seats-they give you more support then very good standard sport seats and are lighter overall.
BUT, R8 equiped with Sport Suspension, Bucket seats and Ceramics is about 0.2s faster on Hockenheim(Klein Kurs) then version with Magnetic Ride, standard seats and brakes.
On TT RS things are the same. Just I do not like the fact that Magnetic Ride is controlled via S button. But, that is me(I could be used to much on R8 setup. Only one throttle setting and Magnetic Ride controlled via its own button. IMHO this setup is way better.)...
That is probably the reason but I believe most R8s are ordered with MR anyway.
I still insist that track conditions will determine which setup is best. Maybe you can confirm this but I believe I remember reading that Sport Auto produced their best time from the M3 on the ring when equipped with it's electronic dampers and set to their softest setting. The bumpier the track the firmer the suspension will have problems under braking and with bump deflection.
I would definitely agree with that. An average driver will probably prefer the balanced nature of the MR over the firmer/twitchy nature of the stock suspension.
But do you not think it's a bit anal? Picking the less comfortable setup for a possible 0.1s (without bucket seats and ceramics) improvement over MR when the chances of any of us noticing this difference is slim at best.
I too think this was a stupid decision by Audi to go this route with such an overtly sporty car as the TT/RS. I usually praise Audi for their well judged list of options open to the driver which isn't a multiple choice list as there is with cars like BMW's M cars but they should have allowed the drivers of the TT/RS to pick the throttle response separately from the suspension.
Search and you will find the truth.
Is there any publicly available material that reflects any of this? I'm currently amazed as to how lame a PR-department can be at trying to sell something without handing out infos to the potential buyer. There is no information available whatsoever on the exhaust or standard suspension apart from their prices. Everything I know about it (and that's more than any dealer I talked to so far) is extracted from this forum.
Is it? I think I read in this forum as well that the standard suspension was supposed to be sportier, which made me assume that the s-mode of MR is still more adjusted for comfort than grip.
In that case I'd even assume that the biggest part comes from the brakes and not so much from the suspension, which would mean the correct theory would be that Audi made MR an full price option just because of greed, not because it's not really aligned to the overall RS-setup.
Btw, is the MR setup and height exactly the same as on the TTS or will the RS still be lower?
I wouldn't have a problem with that, the roads in germany are in relatively good condition, so the situation that I want a soft setup with engine sport settings will probably never occur.
No, there is no public material about it. It is what is said directly by Stephan Reil to Motorpresse guys in Marbella(btw, some of it is published in Sport Auto drive impression article in March 2009 issue).
Ceramics do not bring anything in terms of actual track time. They add extra confidence since pedal feel(and brake power) are the same, at least for few laps more then with standard brakes.
Suspension is the key element for track time.
In R8 case Sport suspension cars are 3mm lower(1249mm) then cars with Magnetic Ride(1252mm).