D3 A8 Ground Clearance Standard vs Sport?

[cray54]

The spec sheet suggests the sport suspension "offers 20mm lower ground clearance in automatic and comfort modes." My assumption is the full range is lowered by 20mm, but is the range actually adjusted, or is it the same hardware just programmed differently?

If I find an A8 with sport suspension, will the maximum ground clearance be reduced relative to the standard air suspension?

Thank you, Chris

[LINDW4LL]

If I find an A8 with sport suspension, will the maximum ground clearance be reduced relative to the standard air suspension?

Yes, the maximum ground clearance is reduced by 20mm with the sport suspension.

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OEM ground clearance* with D3 at rest or when traveling below 75mph

Clearance---Level Mode---Suspension type

100 mm-----dynamic------Sport suspension
100 mm-----dynamic------non-sport

100 mm-----automatic----sport suspension
120 mm-----automatic----non-sport

100 mm-----comfort------sport suspension
120 mm-----comfort------non-sport

125 mm-------lift---------sport suspension
145 mm-------lift---------non-sport

[cray54]

Thank you. Too bad all I can find are sport versions when I need that extra ground clearance.

I find it interesting that the minimum height is the same for both, but the maximum height is different. I found a thread (where it looks like that information came from) that shows VAG-COM can be used to lower the suspension settings. Do you know if VAG-COM can be used to increase the maximum height on a sport suspension?

Thank you - Chris

[MP4.2+6.0]

Hi.

The sport suspension turns out to be the more limited one. It starts 20mm down, but only goes down 5 mm more. The non-sports have the 25mm range of motion. In addition, both have the raise mode for an inch/25mm if you need it in a specific situation--unplowed roads, driveway issues, high curbs, parking blocks, etc. But you have to remember to activate it each time and then wait the minute or so for it to finish raising itself.

In my opinion the VCDS suspension mod sort of obsoleted the sport suspension or made its compromises more obvious. That is, you can get non sport lowered in one of the basic settings (comfort or automatic) to your taste via the VCDS mod, but still get that 20 + 5 mm further drop. You just can't do that with Sport. It makes non sport a lot more real world practical. Sport does still have somewhat stiffer roll bars and supposedly the air struts have 30% stiffer valving. On my W12 I installed the S8 level roll bars to take those up a notch (W12's start stock w/ sport roll bars but non sport air struts).

BTW, yes w/ in reason you can indeed raise the suspension at the default setting via the VCDS mod too. I did a little of that on my D4 S8 that has the low and aggressive front chin factory bumper spoiler set up.