How harsh is the ride on a z4m coupe?

[PaulB81]

Reaaaaaaaally tempted by one of these. Reviews and people on here are saying that the ride is very firm and it would not make a good daily. Its obviously all relative. I'm trying to assertain just how bad it really is.

I currently drive an 07 111R as my 'normal' car and I would certainly descibe that as a hard ride. It sometimes physically hurts to go over a pot hole and sounds like youve just broken something. Is it really that bad compared to something like this? I wouldnt mind my next car being slightly more supple than the Elise.

I'm just not sure what people are comparing the z4m to when they say its hard.

Thanks guys

[J4CKO]

Drive an A3 S-Line and then go and drive it, wont seem too bad.

[kambites]

The Z4 is a fair bit harsher than the Elise (most sports cars are), although it's also a lot quieter over bumps so it feels less like you're about to break something.

[PaulB81]

kambites said:

The Z4 is a lot harsher than the Elise, although it's also a lot quieter over bumps.

That suprises me. I find my 111R bone breakingly hard over even small bumps. I cant imagine anything being harder (but this is why I asked the question)

[kambites]

PaulB81 said:

kambites said:

The Z4 is a lot harsher than the Elise, although it's also a lot quieter over bumps.

That suprises me. I find my 111R bone breakingly hard over even small bumps. I cant imagine anything being harder (but this is why I asked the question)

Of the 20 or 30 sports cars that I drove prior to buying the Elise, almost all had a worse ride, to be honest. The Elise is quite soft as sports cars go, just very loud.

[playalistic]

One man's hard is another man's soft. OOer. I'd recommend you go take a test drive in one. They are setup fairly stiff and the chassis is very rigid too but I found it acceptable and this is on the 19" CSL wheels. Obviously they ride better on the stock 18"s

[kambites]

On the plus side, I think the M doesn't come with run-flats, which helps.

[Ozzie Osmond]

All I can tell you for certain is that the Z3M has one of the nastiest rides of any car I've ever known. Hopefully the 4 might be better...

My rule of thumb is never buy any German car with sports suspension.

[Urban Sports]

The ride on my Z4M is similar to my 18" wheeled e90 M Sport on runflats, both pretty hard but no runflats on the Z4M. IMO the ride is nowhere near as harsh as people make out.

[kambites]

Urban Sports said:

The ride on my Z4M is similar to my 18" wheeled e90 M Sport on runflats, both pretty hard but no runflats on the Z4M. IMO the ride is nowhere near as harsh as people make out.

I'd agree it's not as bad as people seem to often make out, but it's still much harder than the Elise (as is an E90 on M-Sport suspension).

[PaulB81]

Ive not driven an E90 but I had an E46 330ci Msport, I found that a bit firm but nothing like the lotus.

I plan to get out and test drive one maybe next weekend but if its going to be back breaking I might not bother and just get a 3.0si instead so this is all good feedback

[kambites]

PaulB81 said:

Ive not driven an E90 but I had an E46 330ci Msport, I found that a bit firm but nothing like the lotus.

I plan to get out and test drive one maybe next weekend but if its going to be back breaking I might not bother and just get a 3.0si instead so this is all good feedback

The 3.0si is worse than the M on standard tyres, in my experience. The run-flats do awful things to the suspension's ability to respond to high frequency bumps. Much better if you take the run-flats off, but it feels slightly under-damped compared to the M.

[Garlick]

I ran a Z4M alongside my 3.0si and I found the ride of the M car to be very firm indeed, preferred the 3.0 overall in all areas in fact.

Ramblings here: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyI...

[richtea78]

I drove both the Z4MR and a Z4Csi, the ride isnt that different IMO. The non M as standard has run flats and these make it much harder, the Bridgestone runflats in particular are fking terrible! I fitted Michelin Run flats and its much better now

[cragswinter]

i don't mind the ride on mine, certainly i've had harder riding cars anyway.

[0836whimper]

richtea78 said:

I drove both the Z4MR and a Z4Csi, the ride isnt that different IMO. The non M as standard has run flats and these make it much harder, the Bridgestone runflats in particular are fking terrible! I fitted Michelin Run flats and its much better now

As above.

It's all about the runflats for me, based on my experiences the major major benefit of the M was the non-runflats, which really compromise the 3.0's ride and handling.

Some other musings here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Mastodon2]

My old Cupra R had coilovers wound right down, the car was very low and incredibly stiff riding (ooer). It cornered well for a VAG car, being a fairly heavy hatch, but sometimes when I hit a pothole it would feel like the suspension was going to burst up out of the car. My current Civic Type R, another car famed for an unforgiving ride, feels soft and pliant after that Cupra. Still, at least the car suited it because it was obviously built and then further modified for performance. If I had been duped into buying a diesel Audi S line that rode like that then I'd be hanging the keys over and asking for my money back.

If the Z4M is harsh, at least I suppose it will remind you that it's a sports car.

[Urban Sports]

Mastodon2 said:

If the Z4M is harsh, at least I suppose it will remind you that it's a sports car.

Of course, do people really think they'll get a nice supple ride in a sports car? If that is what is needed they maybe an LX430 or similar would be a better bet, face it the fuel bills wouldn't be any worse!

[davepoth]

Mastodon2 said:

If the Z4M is harsh, at least I suppose it will remind you that it's a sports car.

VAG marketing has definitely worked on you then.

Unlike racing cars, sports cars do not need rock hard suspension; what they need is a compliant and predictable ride that allows the driver to use the performance available. Cars with "grip-grip-grip-crash" handling are lovely for the race track, but on a mountain road with poor tarmac you want something with a bit of give.

[Urban Sports]

davepoth said:

VAG marketing has definitely worked on you then.

Unlike racing cars, sports cars do not need rock hard suspension; what they need is a compliant and predictable ride that allows the driver to use the performance available. Cars with "grip-grip-grip-crash" handling are lovely for the race track, but on a mountain road with poor tarmac you want something with a bit of give.

Depends what the comparison is to doesn't it?