Adaptive Chasis Control - Worth £815?

[mjh_056]

Have benefit of a colleague who has a vanilla GTI and my DCC optioned GTD to which have been in both decent anount of time.

Firstly there is a difference between Sport and Comfort on the GTD its very noticeable. You get a decent firm ride in sport and a really cossetted ride in comfort which is perfect for local and motorway driving - Normal is far closer to comfort side than Sport.

The 'normal' GTI ride from my experience is between normal and sport on the GTD so just a little harder than GTD normal setting.

Which means the GTI ride is more than acceptable and when I am out in the GTI there is certainly no feeling that this is a car with a ride thats too hard such as would expereince in an Audi S Line.

There is a difference though between settings with cars that have DCC and between cars with and without this option.

Roads are bad in my area and since had this option then its not something causes me an issue so for me it was ££ well spent for the extra comfort though its not a decision that has such a contrast you can ever get wrong, hence the divided opinions.

So end oif day, you have £800 to spend, depends what little extra comfort you value more on how spend it. I went for DCC over the upgraded stereo as standard decent enough, but thats another debate done to death 

[Exonian]

It's a hot(tish)hatch not a luxury barge.
The suspension on the standard car is perfectly acceptable in comfort terms and I'm not exactly a youngster.

For those that are too fussy about the suspension settings you're either buying the wrong type of car for you and getting it purely because of the badge or needing stiffer damping for track work. 

[Jimble]

I've got it on my R at the moment and think it's worth the money, mine spends about 70% of the time in comfort but only about 2% of the time in race mode because i don't like what it does to my moobs! but as Wigit says it's the indivdual mode that makes it, you can have the sound and steering from race but set the suspension to normal so it doesn't make your spleen come out your mouth!

The standard setup on both the GTI and R is perfectly adequate if you're not too fussy but imo if you're spending 30k+ then it's a small price to pay to have so much choice.

And Chris Harris likes it so it must be good.....

[Fabio Bignose]

Handling characteristics by their nature are subtle,

I wouldnt expect the car to go suddenly very floppy ( comfort ) or bone shakingly hard ( sport ) just so a difference becomes noticable.
The ride in Normal is excellent. Comfort is excellent for motorways and long journeys as it adds a wafting characteristic and Sport firms things up a little over Normal if you fancy a bit of a 'spirited' drive.

Is it worth it?

Well if like me you do many miles then i get value from the comfort setting alone during the time i have the motor.
I hardly ever use sport but so what? 30K miles a year and the ability to flick between comfort and Normal is good enough for me.
Im sure the standard set up is great also though as it certainly was in my MK6 GTD.

Id certainly recommend test driving both set ups though!

[thebear29uk]

I specced it and I like it so far. I mainly use comfort but I also like sport. As others have said it isn't bone crunching in sport, even on some of our Devon country lanes. I like that the steering stiffens up more on twisty lanes. And the engine sounds gruffer.

I like to be in Sport on long motorway drives as I use the Adaptive Cruise Control. In comfort I find the pickup in acceleration back up to the set speed after a slower car has moved out of the way is sluggish whereas with sport its back up there much quicker. If I've a car behind me and I'm in comfort they will be pressing for me to get out of their way but in sport it's cya later 

[Juicetin]

Good post Fabio, and others. I deliberated long and hard over this one, for most of the buying process I opted without it, and then I suddenly decided to add it post-order. Cost £700 with the Carwow discount. And....still not sure! One thing that bothers me is the longevity of the DCC system, how robust is it compared to normal dampers?  Currently at "build week confirmed" stage on the Tracker, is it now too late to change ?

[Exonian]

I wonder what the Polo GTI version offers for just over £200?
Surely all the GTI would need in reality would be a 'Normal' setting and a 'Sport' setting for track work which needn't cost £800 odd.

[fredgroves]

One thing that bothers me is the longevity of the DCC system, how robust is it compared to normal dampers? 

I've had it on other (non-VW's) before... ok so it was a company/lease vehicle but I didn't manage to break it in three years and 150k miles....

I suspect that if it was to break outside of warranty then it would be more expensive to replace than a normal damper - and probably only OEM will work.

Probably not an issue for most but maybe a problem for someone buying a second/third hand one in 5-10 years time.

[fredgroves]

I wonder what the Polo GTI version offers for just over £200?
Surely all the GTI would need in reality would be a 'Normal' setting and a 'Sport' setting for track work which needn't cost £800 odd.

Probably a cheaper/less functional thing on the Polo?

DCC is not just a push button stiffness control, it is actually dynamic... people forget this.

[Exonian]

I wonder what the Polo GTI version offers for just over £200?
Surely all the GTI would need in reality would be a 'Normal' setting and a 'Sport' setting for track work which needn't cost £800 odd.

Probably a cheaper/less functional thing on the Polo?

DCC is not just a push button stiffness control, it is actually dynamic... people forget this.

Yes, it's the dynamic thing that makes me think it just needs a Normal and Sport setting, the latter for track use and the former for everyday driving.

Do those of you that have it actually adjust it very often? I know I wouldn't, I think I'd just leave it in normal, the same as the other settings. I did play with them at first but thought all of them were a bit rubbish.
Eco I only tried once and just found it annoying.
Sport just makes the car sound like it has a misfire and doesn't make the throttle anything like as responsive as a PedalBox.
Maybe my Soundaktor is faulty?

Mines a manual non DCC btw.

Minimal extras for maximum power to weight as a GTI should be! 

Or in my case (hopefully) minimal depreciation which is meaningless to those who have someone else pay for their cars I guess.