Bring back ride quality!!
Discussion
Having driven my old man's BMW 123D SE, I really don't understand why anyone would think it was too softly sprung and demand the M Sport suspension package instead.
I also wonder if dampers could warrant more attention here. My old Clio Trophy was very hard sprung but with good (but fragile) dampers and consequently had a surprisingly good ride. It was noticeable when I changed to another hard sprung car thereafter how much worse the ride was.
I also wonder if dampers could warrant more attention here. My old Clio Trophy was very hard sprung but with good (but fragile) dampers and consequently had a surprisingly good ride. It was noticeable when I changed to another hard sprung car thereafter how much worse the ride was.
The 335 coupe had to go due to its backache inducing suspension over my 20000 miles a year going to and from my/customers business premises. Downsized to 17s from 19s when I fitted my winter tyres and come the spring left the 17s on (due to a fair improvement in ride quality/tramlining)and fitted some summer rubber on them. Even on 17s it wasnt great. Within a week of selling it my persistent back ache lasting many months had completely disappeared. Don't think i'll be revisiting my local BMW dealer anytime soon, shame as they were quite a nice bunch in there.
Johnnytheboy said:
Having driven my old man's BMW 123D SE, I really don't understand why anyone would think it was too softly sprung and demand the M Sport suspension package instead
They don't think that the SE is too softly sprung. They just think that having the M Sport suspension will be 'better' (for who knows what?) or maybe that the badge looks good?The reality is that, as this thread suggests, less wheel and more tyre can be better for driving on the road.
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 13th February 20:21
What's the secret to compliant yet great handling?
They can't be mutually exclusive when Lotus is consistently reported to be doing both things extremelly well.
Compliant suspension in combination with stiff anti roll bars? Dunno as I no expert but perhaps someone can shed some educated light on it.
They can't be mutually exclusive when Lotus is consistently reported to be doing both things extremelly well.
Compliant suspension in combination with stiff anti roll bars? Dunno as I no expert but perhaps someone can shed some educated light on it.
Redlake27 said:
MC Bodge said:
Yes. I have 16" (the smallest available) steels.
Yes. Here's my last 5 cars I've owned:
Cayman S. Chose 18s instead of 19s. And then bought 17s off ebay instead!
Alfa 159. Love the look of the 19" Ti wheels. But I had 16" Turismo wheels
BMW 530. M Sports look nice on 19s, but I had 17s.
Audi A4. Replaced the 18s with 17s, but it was still awful.
Focus. Chose 16s instead of 18s.
I fancy a Megane 250. But I'm resisting 19s or Cup chassis until I try it back to back with a non-Cup on 18s.
I've never driven a car that was improved by bigger wheels. Some, like the 1 series and Mini Cooper S are simply ruined by anything bigger than 16s.
It's not about being an old man (as an earlier poster suggested), it is about putting chassis engineering ahead of fashion and styling. I'd hazard a guess that all of the above cars would have been quicker on a typical B road on the smaller wheels, simply because of the suppleness giving more confidence and feedback to the driver.
I'm hoping the trend to low emissions cars means smaller wheels come back into vogue. (Toyota FT86 being the start of a trend.)
Edited by Redlake27 on Sunday 12th February 09:10
Dave Hedgehog said:
here's something for the old boys in here who cant handle a sporty ride to reminisce about whilst you remember a time when your hemorrhoids wernt giving you jip
It's not about handling a sporty ride, it's knowing a sporty ride. Chav suspension does not a sporty ride make, in fact it can be very slow.
Proper suspension and really good and proper handling on a road car is really quite rare, but some of us here continue to seek the holy grail.
Quite happy with my nice compliant sporty ride, thanks. I feel rather sorry for the people who think they must have really stiff suspension in a way because they usually manage to ruin both the ride and the handling of their car for no reason whatsoever.
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 14th February 09:16
heebeegeetee said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
here's something for the old boys in here who cant handle a sporty ride to reminisce about whilst you remember a time when your hemorrhoids wernt giving you jip
It's not about handling a sporty ride, it's knowing a sporty ride. Chav suspension does not a sporty ride make, in fact it can be very slow.Proper suspension and really good and proper handling on a road car is really quite rare, but some of us here continue to seek the holy grail.
It is not ideal to have the wheels/whole car bouncing and skipping from one bump to the next, unsettling the vehicle and reducing the contact with the road. Using unnecessarily hard springs and excessive damping for the actual use (rather than for development laps of a large German race circuit) doesn't allow the car to track the actual surfaces at the speeds and in the conditions encountered by a road driver in the UK.
NB. Very generally, spring and damping rates should be reduced to the minimum to still provide acceptable handling, not the maximum that can be tolerated by passengers.
Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 14th February 09:41
MC Bodge said:
braddo said:
MC Bodge said:
The side walls on these tyres are enormous. I bet it handles terribly:
I think the tyre shows they're 30 profile.... 
Look at the side wall depth compared with the later Ferrari above it.
Anyway, F40s are farkin awesome and I doubt anyone is concerned about their ride quality (although given they are so light, perhaps they are not so bad?). It's Dave Hedgehog's car that needs to be fixed.
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