# MAGNETIC RIDE IN THE TTRS



## dlff (Apr 3, 2010)

Does the "Magnetic Ride" offered as an option on the TTRS helps in the way of offering better damping especially on 19."
Or just stick to std suspension on 18."
"K&W" & "H&R" offer a set of lowered springs for the TTRS. Apparently it works even with Magnetic ride.
Thanks.


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## BlackRS (Mar 9, 2010)

IMO magnetic ride is just another high profit margin gimmick. I drove a TTS on 19s with it; in the soft setting it felt like the suspension was being held together with bungee cords. Body control was poor with no discernable increase in ride comfort, if you had it you'd have it in the hard setting all the time.

My RS is on 18s with the standard suspension and I can't fault it so far, very absorbant around town and very precise on the open road with minimal roll. Save your cash mate, especially if you plan to upgrade with aftermarket kit.


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## iModTTS (Jan 27, 2009)

BlackRS said:


> IMO magnetic ride is just another high profit margin gimmick. I drove a TTS on 19s with it; in the soft setting it felt like the suspension was being held together with bungee cords. Body control was poor with no discernable increase in ride comfort, if you had it you'd have it in the hard setting all the time.
> 
> My RS is on 18s with the standard suspension and I can't fault it so far, very absorbant around town and very precise on the open road with minimal roll. Save your cash mate, especially if you plan to upgrade with aftermarket kit.


If you are serious at all about spirited driving, buy a set of KW V3's and pass on magride. I had an open mind for a long time, but I am over it now. C/o's give a great feeling of control. Magride is fantastic if you never plan to track the car. So weigh your options. Enjoy your decision whatever you choose to do.


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## Inny (Jan 3, 2010)

The ability to choose to have a halfway decent ride in the "normal" setting is well worth it IMO.
One of the things I didn't like about my 996TT was beating myself and the car up with its always-rough ride!


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

I have both, in sport mode they are pretty much the same.
comfort gives you a softer ride.

pay your money............


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## DieselTuningUK (Mar 12, 2010)

Our car is supposed to have magnetic ride but one thing has puzzled me since collecting the car..

on the RS is there a seperate button for the magnetic ride, or is it just activated with the sport button?

Also is there any indication anywhere when magnetic ride is activated as the only thing i have seen is a little damper sign illuminate when i first start the car..

The car is a lot harder with the sport button activated, so im 99% sure the car has it, but just want to be 100% certain moreso as it was advertised as having such a feature


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## Survey S2000 (Jul 28, 2009)

Tosh - You have both?? CO & MR or 911 and TTMR.

Wild question - Does mag ride have the scope for a tuner to increase the stiffness in both the settings. IE make normal like sport and sport even more stiff.

My thoughts are that this would achieveable by programming the software.

Im looking for a more agressive side and cant go for any CO options.


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## Survey S2000 (Jul 28, 2009)

AbyssRS said:


> Our car is supposed to have magnetic ride but one thing has puzzled me since collecting the car..
> 
> on the RS is there a seperate button for the magnetic ride, or is it just activated with the sport button?
> 
> ...


I've got mag ride and you do get a little yellow light on start up.

There is a button on the left of the gear stick. This toggles between sport and normal modes. Mag ride is always active if you have it. You just have the option to make it more 'sporty'.

I dont think the button does anything else to the car other than stiffen the mag ride, i.e. no throttle or steering weight adjustment.


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Survey S2000 said:


> Tosh - You have both?? CO & MR or 911 and TTMR.
> 
> Wild question - Does mag ride have the scope for a tuner to increase the stiffness in both the settings. IE make normal like sport and sport even more stiff.
> 
> ...


Both TT's. I'm really tempted by the 911 i have to be honest.
I don't believe any tuners have mod'd the MR system. I doubt you have many options with regards the viscosity of the liquid


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## Survey S2000 (Jul 28, 2009)

Toshiba said:


> Survey S2000 said:
> 
> 
> > Tosh - You have both?? CO & MR or 911 and TTMR.
> ...


Yes i love the 911. You can get a good price on a second hand car. Unfortunately im not in the positionto be spending any money as im getting marriage next year.

How do your TT's compare?


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## frawls (Nov 24, 2008)

Toshiba said:


> Survey S2000 said:
> 
> 
> > Tosh - You have both?? CO & MR or 911 and TTMR.
> ...


I read a review of the TT when it first came out with MR and the reviewer (it was back in 2007 so not sure but may have been EVO) went on at length about how MR worked and the company who developed it (can't remember for sure but it may be Delphi?). Anywho the company who developed it said that Audi had asked them to configure it in a way which they (Delphi) felt was not as good as their own tune. Delphi then offered the reviewer a drive in thier own demo TT with MR to see how much better it was and the reviewer was seriously impressed. If this is the case then perhaps Delphi would be willing to upload their version of the MR software? It's worth a phone call!


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## hugy (Dec 4, 2007)

I love my mag ride.
I think its a great piece of kit.
I find myself more and more using the sport setting,its great for a B road blast.


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## [email protected] (Aug 4, 2009)

hugy said:


> I love my mag ride.
> I think its a great piece of kit.
> I find myself more and more using the sport setting,its great for a B road blast.


 Yep...MR is one option I will always have on any car I buy from hereon...if it is an Audi. We have it on our Q7 and now the TT-RS...couldn't be happier!


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## 2zeroalpha (Aug 30, 2009)

I clearly need someone to show me how to drive my TTS harder. I actually have to check the button to see if the magride is on or off. Can't tell the differrence!


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## hugy (Dec 4, 2007)

996cab said:


> hugy said:
> 
> 
> > I love my mag ride.
> ...


 [smiley=thumbsup.gif]


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## hugy (Dec 4, 2007)

2zeroalpha said:


> I clearly need someone to show me how to drive my TTS harder. I actually have to check the button to see if the magride is on or off. Can't tell the differrence!


Try driving the car on a B road with plenty of corners in both modes and you will defo see and feel a difference.
If you don't then you have a problem with the mag ride.


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## twocati (Dec 6, 2009)

> If you are serious at all about spirited driving, buy a set of KW V3's and pass on magride. I had an open mind for a long time, but I am over it now. C/o's give a great feeling of control. Magride is fantastic if you never plan to track the car. So weigh your options. Enjoy your decision whatever you choose to do.


I think people should ensure they temper their descion with how much day-to-day driving they do and the condition of the roads....I'll assume iModTTS lives in the beautiful state of California where the roads are like "glass" (for the most part relative to Nothern USA or Canada) so coilovers are not that hard to live with....over the magride... 

If you do decide to go for the coilovers perhaps you should consider getting away from the runflats (which will reduce unsprung weight) improving handing aaaannnnnddd comfort!


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## MGT (Jan 24, 2011)

I know this is counter to the hard charging theme in most of this thread, but occasionally I find I would like the mag ride disabled when in sport mode - so I just get the great noise and sharper response without the jarring ride.
anyone know if you can get the mag ride disabled from the sport setting?

Thanks
mark


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## Demessiah (Jan 27, 2009)

Had mag ride in my old TT, at first it was fun but I found that it wasnt as simple as one option for sporty driving and one for comfort. On some roads I had more control when driving really fast in comfort mode as the suspension soaked up the bumps but was better to drive in sport mode when relaxing because comfort mode made me sea sick. I enjoyed messing with it on every road to try work out the best setting but after a month I got bored and just left it in sport everywhere.

I have normal suspension in my current car. Cant fault it really. On 19s the ride is perfectly fine. Mag ride is just a gimmick IMO, I would take it if given for free but wouldnt pay for it...

I will be getting a set of coilovers soon so the mag ride would have been wasted anyway.


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## temporarychicken (Oct 16, 2012)

MGT said:


> I know this is counter to the hard charging theme in most of this thread, but occasionally I find I would like the mag ride disabled when in sport mode - so I just get the great noise and sharper response without the jarring ride.
> anyone know if you can get the mag ride disabled from the sport setting?
> 
> Thanks
> mark


That would be a good mod. It's always struck me as rather silly that Audi decided to combine several features into a single button, affecting both suspension and engine performance. I guess it's for simplicity but I don't like it either.

On the other hand the new RS4 has the opposite problem, a bewildering amount of user-adjustable settings for each subsystem accessible from the central display.

When buying the TT RS I also test-drove a TT S and noticed that it had a "suspension" button on the centre console in a addition to the "sport" button. This approach seems much better than the one taken on the RS.

Is it possible to retrofit that button and recode the TT RS to support this? That way the "sport" button would just affect the engine and exhaust system, and the "suspension" button would just affect the mag-ride.


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## Joerek (Oct 24, 2008)

Better invest in the KW v3 or KW DDC (adjust damping with iphone or knob) than in MR. MR isn't much cheaper than that.


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## cheechy (Nov 8, 2006)

Love MR in that it gives a relatively supple ride for day to day driving. This is though on 18s....did notice on the tts that 19s do negate some of the softer ride feel / benefit hence I guess some of the comments....


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## [email protected] (Aug 4, 2009)

MGT said:


> I know this is counter to the hard charging theme in most of this thread, but occasionally I find I would like the mag ride disabled when in sport mode - so I just get the great noise and sharper response without the jarring ride.
> anyone know if you can get the mag ride disabled from the sport setting?
> 
> Thanks
> mark


Mark,
I have done a fair bit of work on MagneRide and it cannot be disabled in the way you seek thus am not aware of a 'hack'. I did ask the question to the company that owns the Technology and they can provide a beta/development firmware that allows MagneRide to be set-up as desired however this *WILL* invalidate your Audi warranty and also likely to cause your insurance company to have a random 'fit'.

I know all mods invalidate aspects of the Audi warranty however MagneRide is key to the whole drivetrain of the car so care needs to be taken with firmware level changes, especially beta/development firmware hence I opted not to go down that route.

The cost for implementation of the beta/development firmware is in excess of £2k and will require the car to be in France for the implementation. The disclaimer document preceding the beta/development firmware and following implementation is thicker than a telephone book...!!!

I am based in either Hampshire or London, if you are close to either location then let me know and you can sample what we have done to MagneRide as I may be able to assist with the 'jarring' ride.

Drop me a PM if you want to take this further.

In regards to the earlier comments, admittedly some made in 2010 and the current made by those who lack knowledge of MagneRide, removing MagneRide for a set of KW V3 is *a waste of money even for a car that sees track 75% of the time*....I should know...MagneRide dampers are more than capable and can easily stay with a well sorted KW V3 equipped car IF - *this is key* - matched to the correct set of springs...Ohh, comfort would be definitely better with MagneRide set up correctly compared to a well setup KW V3...I have done the tests on streets and track so have 1st hand experience...:wink:

IF the car is equipped with MagneRide then that is an excellent purchase and you have great options however you do simply just need to know how to unlock these... I have...

If the car is not equipped with MagneRide then delve in to Coilover kits to solve a particular problem though there are 3 categories...I looked in to all of these categories when attempting to get a suspension kit fit for street and also track use...that was until I designed; tested and improved upon my original design which is now miles competent on track and retains comfort for street use compared to the Audi MagneRide suspension system as delivered from the factory to suit me...The great news is that I can toggle between track or street firmness at a touch of a button..

The categories to look at for non-MagneRide equipped cars are as follows...;
*1) Cheap & cheerful *thus spend up to £1k fitted buys you a crude device that is fit for the money spent. Brands here are plenty...close yours eyes and pick one...good luck! These types of kits are focused at either comfort or track use. Essentially, you pay your money and take your chances. Limitations will soon be apparent and the merry-go-round starts all over again on to the next category.

*2) Spend from £1k to £2k *and you get a little more control to manage rebound for comfort however this will be limited control. KW; Bilstein; AST; H&R; Eibach etc are all OK and commonly fall within this price range. This is where most people fit in and IF you have sampled a few C/O kits in this segment you may quickly come to the realisation that it is indeed good at one thing (street) or the other (track) and not both. Thus, again targeted at comfort or track and not both. Do not let the marketing hype suck you in as I nearly was...!

*3) Spend over £2k *and you get more rebound control and offcourse various other adjustments however keep an eye on maintenance and time taken to get set-up right. Brands here start from lowish KW; Moton; AST models then we have some real number crunchers in terms of high spend in JRZ; Penske; Ohlin; Exe-TC; MCS to name but a few...essentially at this level the more you spend the more complex they are to setup and therefore your tuner is key to getting the car set-up right thus naturally it takes longer to get the car set-up as desired. Kits in this category are very much bespoke though still passive thus you will have to manually set the soft settings for streets or firm settings for track via a remote device located in the engine bay; under the car; or in the boot. The KW DDC kit fits here as it is at the lower end of this price range - it is still a passive system that can be set remotely via a handheld device...so some convenience that must be admired. The system however is not *ACTIVE* in the way MagneRide or PASM is...so take note.

One thing is for sure - many of the above also use Eibach springs though it is not obvious from the outset as the springs are often relabelled. Exe-TC produce novel kits which by all accounts are gaining a great reputation as being very good for mere mortals and so do MCS...just make sure that you happen to be one of the relatively few people who never ask for the price...yep, excellent always costs a little more than the crude C/O kits most go for.

Whether you buy a passive C/O or keep the semi-active dampers that came with the car, the whole package needs to match thus dampers and springs. The reason why many dismiss semi-active dampers like MagneRide or PASM is simply down to lack of knowledge in how to get the best out of them...I took the time to learn and these semi-active dampers are extremely sophisticated in the way they have been implemented. The tech specs - *WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY GET YOUR HANDS ON THEM *(_I had to offer a kidney to get the info for MagneRide...!!!)_ - on these dampers tells a story not many understand...am still learning though!

I ticked the £1,125 option box for MagneRide when ordering the car back in 2010 after having had a ride in an R8 equipped with MagneRide. MagneRide, given the price, fits in the from £1k to 2k category and what I have done to bring the magic out of the dampers it really punches above its weight. This is evident by those who drive the car and are compelled to believe that the C/O kit must be expensive only to be told the car is using the factory fitted MagneRide dampers which have now been suitably matched to a set of springs...allow me to quote *Sir Francis Bacon *..."Knowledge is power".

Basically, semi-active dampers like MagneRide were frowned upon in the early days, frankly the first generations were no better than passive Coilover kits of today. However, Gen2 semi-active dampers of today (PASM; MagneRide to name but two) are now very good and none is quicker in operation to counteract road surface changes than MagneRide hence Porsche (_engine mounts only_), Corvette, Ferrari; Aston; Audi; Land Rover and the Military use it... 

MagneRide has been successfully implemented on the Audi R8 hence most R8 owners with the said technology simply do not look at a C/O kit...why would you replace a superior semi-active damper system with a passive low cost solution which is simply limited in its operation? Yep, beats me too...!

If you are not spending in excess of £5k for a damper system that is fit for street comfort and capable for regular track use in a single package then keep MagneRide and unlock its magic as I have done - unlocking offers both capabilities at a touch of a button.

So, when I read comments like "_Mag ride is just a gimmick IMO, I would take it if given for free but wouldnt pay for it..._" it does really make me chuckle - clearly lack of understanding preceded that comment...never mind ehh!!! That comment has no basis just as the following were dismissed as never to occur in our lifetime...;
- a Sports car is one that came with a manual gearbox only
- the simple computer being reliant upon for everything we do
- the mobile phone being widely used more than the home phone 
- a black man would never be President of the USA
- Porsche would never build a diesel road car
- Porsche would never build non-sports cars and badged as same brand

Those who took off MagneRide to fit a C/O kit then spend for ever and an age fiddling with the same settings MagneRide undertook for them transparently - thus adjust for compression and rebound to split seconds to keep all four tyres planted to the tarmac - missed a trick unless they removed MagneRide to go racing as in the case of SkippyBKR. If you are just using the car to go to Tesco and back even via the scenic route, I shudder to understand the need to go to all that trouble of a C/O kit...each to their own though and that is what makes it a wonderful world I guess...you pay your money and take your chances.

Just as Tiptronic; S-tronic; R-tronic; Sports-Shift boxes etc (basically, auto gearbox) are now common place on cars and in some cases the only option though still frowned upon by some including yours truly...one day, semi-active suspension will be common place and we may all look back and wonder why we put our backsides through the passive suspension route for decades... :lol:

Personally, if I can have a track ready suspension system that is utterly reliable and also very comfortable for street use which is activated via one press of a button on the console (_no need to get under the car or bonnet or boot to fiddle with a knob or two however 'cool' that may be_) then there will be no complaints from him here...Ohh, I have it now in MagneRide...fantastic!

Offcourse, I do respect others views...just makes me chuckle none-the-less...!

William


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## [email protected] (Aug 4, 2009)

Updated and welcome any queries on the comments above...


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## DrTroy (Jan 25, 2010)

Hi, I have a sport button on my RS does this mean I have MR?

ta


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Not necessarily. The sport button changes MR from normal to sport mode only if MR is one of the fitted options.


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## DrTroy (Jan 25, 2010)

Is there an obvious way to know? I ran through all my codes in my book but most of the options I have dont even appear, I am assuming that these options that are not listed where a dealer fit?

ta


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

You can interrogate the option code sticker - one in the service book, one on the boot floor - to see if the car has MR fitted.

See option code decoder here: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=131822


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Another more direct way is to have a peek underneath. Easiest to see on the front struts which will have a cable coming out of the bottom if you have MR.

Shown here:








with apologies for it being dirty!


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## [email protected] (Aug 4, 2009)

Yep, it is not obviously noticeable that MagneRide is fitted to the car apart from doing the checks noted above.

You can also look for a cable on the rear - as noted in pix attached.


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## Hodgster (Jun 26, 2011)

hugy said:


> I love my mag ride.
> I think its a great piece of kit.
> I find myself more and more using the sport setting,its great for a B road blast.


Same, I have it on normal most of the time but "S" is good when putting on the pace.


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