Worst riding car you've had/been in?

[Frankthered]

Rob 131 Sport said:

Frankthered said:

I think stiff suspension is a bit of a Honda trait but agree, there isn't really a reason for this on a family car. Which is why I find the popularity of the M-Sport, AMG-line, S & R-Line variants so difficult to understand, although I do have to acknowledge that I made the same mistake by buying a Civic "Sport"!

The sporty model variants as stated all look great, so personally I wouldn’t choose anything else. My current M Sport 530 has an acceptable ride as did its predecessor a Mercedes E250AMG.

When choosing the current car, I also test drive an ‘S’ Spec Jaguar XF and an Audi A6 3.0 Quattro S Line. Both had acceptable ride quality and especially in the case of the Audi looked great.

That's fair enough - you like what you like. i haven't driven any of the S-Line or M-Sport variants but have noted that many of the posts on this thread have cited such cars as being candidates for cars with the worst ride.I notice you say that the sporty model variants look great, but to me, a 5 series looks like a 5 series. Maybe there are some poor colours, but changing the wheels, lowering the suspension and changing some bits of trim don't generally make a massive difference to me.

I'll acknowledge that a 530 M Sport makes a bit more sense to me than, say, a 318 M Sport, or whatever, but I still suspect I would prefer the SE version.

I still don't get why they're so popular, but I accept that I appear to be in the minority!

YMMV.

[ajap1979]

Tin Hat said:

ajap1979 said:

Probably my up! GTI. I don't mind a hard ride, but there is such a lack of sophistication to the way the up! is damped, and in particular the rebound damping. A change from 195 to 205 section tyres, and a tweak of the pressures helped, but it can still be very harsh over imperfect surfaces.
.

Yes, the only thing worse is to spend £800.00 on coilovers in an attempt to fix it, only to find that it is just crashy in a different way. That’s what I did.......

Great car in so many ways, but the suspension is a real dampener (excuse the pun)

I was planning coilovers, plus a set of 16” Oz Alleggeritas, and hence a bit more sidewall. Which coilovers did you fit?

[cerb4.5lee]

Hammerhead said:

BMW X5 4.8 (1st gen)
Seat Cupra Turbo (mid 2000s)

Both utterly spine smashing setups.

I thought the X5 4.8iS did a decent job ride wise with it's air suspension, and it hid the fact that it had 20" wheels on it well.

[drjdog]

Not really a bad ride, but the scuttle shake from a brand new Alfa Spider (916 thingy) was just incredible and terrifying. Owned a GTV later on and it was absolutely rock solid.

Worst ride ever was either a newer Fiat Punto or an Alfa Mito, hard to tell if the wheels were even attached to the car, they certainly didn't seem to be attached to the steering wheel - total guesswork.

[cerb4.5lee]

Diderot said:

My old Z4 M Coupe. Brutally harsh ride.

Agree with this and I didn't like the ride at all in my Z4M Roadster either.

I also didn't like the ride in the E90 330d/330i/F13 640d/E61 520d because they were the M Sport models with run flat tyres. The SE models do ride nice though.

[CostaBrava1972]

seanyfez said:

Second worse is the wife’s R53 MCS - we’ve had three, including a works, and the ride is awful - but once again, on a good road, they’re brilliant.

If only for sake of the ignorant (like me) who are unfamiliar, what exactly IS an R53 MCS - or is that just its personalised number?

[mybrainhurts]

My Celica GT4 WRC...she's a bit lot crashy....

[cerb4.5lee]

CostaBrava1972 said:

seanyfez said:

Second worse is the wife’s R53 MCS - we’ve had three, including a works, and the ride is awful - but once again, on a good road, they’re brilliant.

If only for sake of the ignorant (like me) who are unfamiliar, what exactly IS an R53 MCS - or is that just its personalised number?

R53 is the generation, and MCS stands for Mini Cooper S.

[Deerfoot]

My old Audi A2. Absolutely dreadful ride.

[dvshannow]

FiF said:

dvshannow said:

FiF said:

Mini Cooper Convertible on run flats that had been taken in by the garage to settle a bad debt and turned into a customer loan car.

The is the worst car you have ever driver ?

Read the thread title again, worst riding car, and yes it was also a heap.

Another thing, your nine word sentence containing two mistakes plus the failure to read the thread title properly. Is that the most illiterate sentence ever written on PH? Could be a contender, possibly.

HTH

I meant in the context of the thread - if still challenge you on an absolute basis it’s a lot better than many including the hilux I mentioned earlier

[ddom]

Sticks. said:

'Too much rebound' nails the problem with the post 2006 BMWs I've driven. Audi ride is harsh, but the BMWs seem to accentuate the bumps.

I'm surprised people find the Z4 too harsh once the RFTs are changed. The seat padding's a a bit thin, if anything - may be different on later models.

I think it’s the main issue. Audi is just firm but overall it’s better resolved. The best standard BMW I tried was the 3 series ED, big baloon non run flat tyres and quite softly damped. Whilst you could find its limits it was way better than a M Sport on the roads I enjoy. The recent M2 test really left me confused. Awesome engine and car, but the ride and composure was crap. BMW should be able to tune the cars for the UK but obviously aren’t bothered and nobody appears to complain that much.

[FiF]

dvshannow said:

FiF said:

dvshannow said:

FiF said:

Mini Cooper Convertible on run flats that had been taken in by the garage to settle a bad debt and turned into a customer loan car.

The is the worst car you have ever driver ?

Read the thread title again, worst riding car, and yes it was also a heap.

Another thing, your nine word sentence containing two mistakes plus the failure to read the thread title properly. Is that the most illiterate sentence ever written on PH? Could be a contender, possibly.

HTH

I meant in the context of the thread - if still challenge you on an absolute basis it’s a lot better than many including the hilux I mentioned earlier

Well seeing as the number of times Minis of various ilk, including the very first post in this thread by the way, have been mentioned as worst riding then you can challenge all you like.

Context of the thread is worst riding. Not worst car. You made a mistake, we all do, just own it.

[bluezedd]

maxdb said:

Vauxhall Vectra - it was just rubbish in every way.

To add to this, I'd probably say a GM Saab 9 3. I've driven plenty and have a couple of them, but always found the comfort over any bumps to be disappointing when compared to the 9 5. Options like the sports suspension probably don't help either.

[dvshannow]

FiF said:

dvshannow said:

FiF said:

dvshannow said:

FiF said:

Mini Cooper Convertible on run flats that had been taken in by the garage to settle a bad debt and turned into a customer loan car.

The is the worst car you have ever driver ?

Read the thread title again, worst riding car, and yes it was also a heap.

Another thing, your nine word sentence containing two mistakes plus the failure to read the thread title properly. Is that the most illiterate sentence ever written on PH? Could be a contender, possibly.

HTH

I meant in the context of the thread - if still challenge you on an absolute basis it’s a lot better than many including the hilux I mentioned earlier

Well seeing as the number of times Minis of various ilk, including the very first post in this thread by the way, have been mentioned as worst riding then you can challenge all you like.

Context of the thread is worst riding. Not worst car. You made a mistake, we all do, just own it.

No issue with owning up to a mistake when ones been made , I suggested hilux earlier in said thread not because I think it’s the worst overall car (truck) in the world , but it’s ride is terrible. I bought one and I like it and put up with its terrible ride as one of its quirks

[anonymous-user]

We had a BMW 2 series (touring? the tall semi-suv / van looking one) as a courtesy car once, I have never felt so sick so quickly as riding in that - front seat passenger (where I only ever feel ill if I am trying to read) and ready to hurl within less than 1 mile - quite an achievement BMW, well done - the Ultimate Vomit Machine.

[Summit_Detailing]

For me the Fiat 500 Abarth closely followed by an Octavia VRS estate of 2015 vintage.

Cheers,

Chris

[PartsMonkey]

If we can count a modified car, then a Peugeot 205 CTi lowered by 80 odd mm and riding on 17s with 30 profile tyres.

If we're counting factory standard (ish) then every New York taxi (post crown Vic so Camry's, Sienna's, NV200's etc) I went in felt like the back axle was attached with string and prayers

[The Wookie]

G55 AMG. Probably not the most uncomfortable but just unnecessarily terrible

At least my old Evo IX on aftermarket coil overs actually went round corners

[Fat hippo]

cerb4.5lee said:

CostaBrava1972 said:

seanyfez said:

Second worse is the wife’s R53 MCS - we’ve had three, including a works, and the ride is awful - but once again, on a good road, they’re brilliant.

If only for sake of the ignorant (like me) who are unfamiliar, what exactly IS an R53 MCS - or is that just its personalised number?

R53 is the generation, and MCS stands for Mini Cooper S.

+1
Had a 2004 cooper S. Great fun, just like a giant go kart but awful ride. I would get back pain after half an hour in it. But always had a grin on my face driving it.

Audi A1 has been mentioned. I have a Sport model rather than S Line and as its on 16” wheels I find it rather good. Not as much fun as the Mini but a lot more refined. Drove from Hull to Kent to pick it up and felt fine afterwards.
Still good fun to drive.

W205 C63 on 19” rims. On smoothish roads it is comfortable. On badly potholled roads it isnt fantastic.
A shame that the comfort mode couldn’t have been made a little bit comfier.
Also find myself looking longingly at 18” wheels

[Rob 131 Sport]

drjdog said:

Not really a bad ride, but the scuttle shake from a brand new Alfa Spider (916 thingy) was just incredible and terrifying. Owned a GTV later on and it was absolutely rock solid.

Worst ride ever was either a newer Fiat Punto or an Alfa Mito, hard to tell if the wheels were even attached to the car, they certainly didn't seem to be attached to the steering wheel - total guesswork.

I run a 2012 Alfa Mito Diesel Sprint as a 3rd car. It’s the wife’s old car and we’ve owned it for over 6 years. I’ve driven it in many conditions including long distance drives up to 400 miles per day.

Whilst I wouldn’t describe the ride as E Class Comfortable it’s far from bad / uncomfortable in what is a small sporty (ish) car.