Bruce

By Chee-Chiu Lee
October 2007

This month I got to drive an S-tronic (Audi-speak for DSG) 3.2 TT equipped with Sports Suspension (a £425 option) to compare with my manual car with Magnetic Ride dampers (£1150).

The paddle-shift was fantastic for my short burst round the back-roads of our rural setting, although we know how DSG can be a pain to use around town, and besides, it was the suspension I was really interested in.

Surprisingly, the minimal 10mm drop in ride height that the Sports Suspension brings could be seen with the naked eye, making the TT look more purposeful. The difference could be felt from the driving seat too. The ride quality was similar to my car with the Magnetic Ride in ‘Sport’ mode, and I’m convinced I could feel the benefits of the lower centre of gravity when taking corners swiftly.

However, the body control with Magnetic Ride feels truly next-generation in comparison. Once into a corner it’s amazing how the front reacts to keep the car cornering flat, and its ability to stiffen up at speed over crests and dips is something the more basic suspension simply can’t match. In short, if you’re buying a TT and can stretch to the fancy Magnetic Ride suspension, don’t hesitate.

The Sports Suspension is far from bad, though, but somehow I felt a little underwhelmed after my drive. I put it down to the steering lacking a bit of detail… or so I thought.

Back in my car, I was surprised to find it had exactly the same steering feel. Turns out that what I’d been doing was judging cornering grip from the surface detail coming through the front suspension rather than from any light tugging felt at the steering wheel. It’s just that the magnetic set-up gives you a better feel for what’s happening under the car’s wheels, and therefore the (false) impression of better steering feel.

Another odd thing about my car (and possibly all 3.2 VAGs) is its excessively harsh throttle response. The first centimetre or so of travel gives you access to all the available power, the rest does nothing, zilch! This makes it difficult to balance the car mid-corner (bumps can bounce your foot on and off the trigger-like accelerator), so you feel like you’re controlling Bernie Clifton’s ostrich, reining in over-sensitive reactions to the throttle by pulling on the steering wheel as the front wheels tug the car sharply. Argh! Maybe it’s not the DSG that’s the problem on Neil’s Golf R32, but the accelerator.

If you know of anyone that can reprogram the TT’s throttle, drop us a line at - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

>> - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Poverty

I would have thought you could reproggrame the throttle through VAG-COM. You can adjust the steering weight!