Worst riding car you've had/been in?
Discussion
JimSuperSix said:
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.
I've taken the thread title to mean it's about cars with ridiculously hard ride.The 2 Series sounds like a combination of bad damping and a car that's been jacked up high to make it "better".
I'd give that particular prize to the Toyota Verso I was lumped with on a holiday in France. It was only me & the mrs so it was wrong on so many levels. Stupid-looking thing, ridiculously high seating position, clangy doors, grim plasticy interior uttlerly horrific diesel engine and appalling damping. It swayed, heaved and lurched about to so much that I accidentally made my mrs throw up early one morning on the way to buy some bread in the the local village.
If that's what having more that 2 kids leads to, I'd rather do a DIY vasectomy with a rusty knife.
mybrainhurts said:
My Celica GT4 WRC...she's a bit lot crashy....
Modified? Haven't owned a GT4 in about 15 years, but I remember my old ST205 riding like a magic carpet on OEM wheels/suspension/bushes. After fitting coilovers and various other bits it rode like a shopping trolly down a flight of concrete stairs though.
In the late 90s I had on evaluation a Vectra GSi whose ride was so poor it gave me pain in my spine. The fact it caused actual pain must make it the worst riding car I’ve driven. No car before or since has done that. I went back to my Vectra SRi V6 which was an excellent car.
In the 70s I had a long ride in a Land Rover 110 station wagon. 40+ years on I can still remember how jolty and uncomfortable it was so it gets the accolade of second worst riding car I’ve been in
In the 70s I had a long ride in a Land Rover 110 station wagon. 40+ years on I can still remember how jolty and uncomfortable it was so it gets the accolade of second worst riding car I’ve been in
Summit_Detailing said:
For me the Fiat 500 Abarth closely followed by an Octavia VRS estate of 2015 vintage.
Cheers,
Chris
God I forgot about the 500 Abarth. My ex wife had one for a while (pre-being an ex) and it was a seriously harsh ride. We actually sold it after 6 weeks as neither of us could cope with it. What was more disappointing is that she'd had a very regular 500 with no issues, comfortable etc...etc... and traded it in on a bit of a whim for an absolute dog of an Abarth.Cheers,
Chris
It's always Audis.
A lift in an A4 Sport Quattro 1.9 tdi that was so bad I lasted until the end of the road, then had to drive.
At least if you're focused you're less likely to be ill.
An A6 2.0 tdi S-Line - dire! Let's uprate the suspension over the SE and then fit enormous wheels.
It followed the weave in the lane from my house - no other car I've ever driven has done that.
Finally, and worse was a nearly new A8 3.0 tdi with air suspension.
It lulled you into a false sense of security by riding sublimely over most of the local roads and then, upon hitting a pothole or a drain cover, felt like you'd just driven over a grenade. I could never relax and on extended trips always ended up with a headache.
I don't have a downer on Audis in general and indeed a V10 R8 was superb on dreadful roads around Dawlish.
I've also had some experience with an E63 630i BMW on 19" wheels and that was superb on badly maintained local roads.
A lift in an A4 Sport Quattro 1.9 tdi that was so bad I lasted until the end of the road, then had to drive.
At least if you're focused you're less likely to be ill.
An A6 2.0 tdi S-Line - dire! Let's uprate the suspension over the SE and then fit enormous wheels.
It followed the weave in the lane from my house - no other car I've ever driven has done that.
Finally, and worse was a nearly new A8 3.0 tdi with air suspension.
It lulled you into a false sense of security by riding sublimely over most of the local roads and then, upon hitting a pothole or a drain cover, felt like you'd just driven over a grenade. I could never relax and on extended trips always ended up with a headache.
I don't have a downer on Audis in general and indeed a V10 R8 was superb on dreadful roads around Dawlish.
I've also had some experience with an E63 630i BMW on 19" wheels and that was superb on badly maintained local roads.
Seems like Audi are getting a fair amount of flack and rightly so IMO. I remember going with my old boss on a trip from Frankfurt to Cologne on glass smooth roads in his new A6 wagon with poverty spec wheels and I thought they'd forgot to fit any springs. Seems like they don't understand anything about ride quality.
As far as modern era cars go, either my mate’s M4 Comp, or another mate’s S3 Sportback.
Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
tr7v8 said:
As others have said anything Audi/Merc/BMW/Bini with rubber band tyres on oversize wheels. I assume S-Line means no shocks or springs?
My Cayenne S on its 19" Summers isn't great & even on much higher 18" winters it still gets caught out.
I have had two S type Jags, the first an SE on 16" & the second a Sport on 18", I found the sport pretty poor although not as bad as its German equivalents. Although everyone who rode in it thought it OK. Most owned Audi/BMW/Merc though.
Did any of your cars have good quality air suspension and rubber band tyres? I have driven i-Pace and XC90 with 22 inch wheels, and an e-Tron with 21 inch wheels. All three cars had air suspension and the ride was pretty fantastic in each. I was surprised. My Cayenne S on its 19" Summers isn't great & even on much higher 18" winters it still gets caught out.
I have had two S type Jags, the first an SE on 16" & the second a Sport on 18", I found the sport pretty poor although not as bad as its German equivalents. Although everyone who rode in it thought it OK. Most owned Audi/BMW/Merc though.
V88Dicky said:
As far as modern era cars go, either my mate’s M4 Comp, or another mate’s S3 Sportback.
Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
Is that M4 Comp on the 20" wheels? My standard M4 on the 19" wheels doesn't have a very good ride for me either. Even in Comfort mode with the dampers there isn't anything comfort about it! Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
BMW 330i SE Touring, about 2006.
This was a truly horrible car with a hard ride and fairly low profile tyres on 17" rims. Couldn't go down a size because of the brakes. I don't understand why manufacturers make Sports estates that have a hard ride. Most of the buyers have kids I would imagine.
This was a truly horrible car with a hard ride and fairly low profile tyres on 17" rims. Couldn't go down a size because of the brakes. I don't understand why manufacturers make Sports estates that have a hard ride. Most of the buyers have kids I would imagine.
Paul671 said:
Modified? Haven't owned a GT4 in about 15 years, but I remember my old ST205 riding like a magic carpet on OEM wheels/suspension/bushes.
After fitting coilovers and various other bits it rode like a shopping trolly down a flight of concrete stairs though.
After fitting coilovers and various other bits it rode like a shopping trolly down a flight of concrete stairs though.
I'm adding this to my list of car phrases993kimbo said:
BMW 330i SE Touring, about 2006.
This was a truly horrible car with a hard ride and fairly low profile tyres on 17" rims. Couldn't go down a size because of the brakes. I don't understand why manufacturers make Sports estates that have a hard ride. Most of the buyers have kids I would imagine.
I remember having a E92 330d SE(on 17" wheels) years ago as a loan car, and the ride was lovely(soft and compliant) in comparison to the E90 330d M sport(on 18" wheels) I had at the time. This was a truly horrible car with a hard ride and fairly low profile tyres on 17" rims. Couldn't go down a size because of the brakes. I don't understand why manufacturers make Sports estates that have a hard ride. Most of the buyers have kids I would imagine.
cerb4.5lee said:
V88Dicky said:
As far as modern era cars go, either my mate’s M4 Comp, or another mate’s S3 Sportback.
Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
Is that M4 Comp on the 20" wheels? My standard M4 on the 19" wheels doesn't have a very good ride for me either. Even in Comfort mode with the dampers there isn't anything comfort about it! Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
AC43 said:
JimSuperSix said:
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.
I've taken the thread title to mean it's about cars with ridiculously hard ride.The 2 Series sounds like a combination of bad damping and a car that's been jacked up high to make it "better".
I'd give that particular prize to the Toyota Verso I was lumped with on a holiday in France. It was only me & the mrs so it was wrong on so many levels. Stupid-looking thing, ridiculously high seating position, clangy doors, grim plasticy interior uttlerly horrific diesel engine and appalling damping. It swayed, heaved and lurched about to so much that I accidentally made my mrs throw up early one morning on the way to buy some bread in the the local village.
If that's what having more that 2 kids leads to, I'd rather do a DIY vasectomy with a rusty knife.
But that BMW was just on another level of vomit-inducement. Also it had some weird front seats where the front part was a sort of sliding shelf-like thing leaving a ditch in the middle - but maybe that was intentional so your numb legs distracted from the impending carrot-chunkage...
raspy said:
tr7v8 said:
As others have said anything Audi/Merc/BMW/Bini with rubber band tyres on oversize wheels. I assume S-Line means no shocks or springs?
My Cayenne S on its 19" Summers isn't great & even on much higher 18" winters it still gets caught out.
I have had two S type Jags, the first an SE on 16" & the second a Sport on 18", I found the sport pretty poor although not as bad as its German equivalents. Although everyone who rode in it thought it OK. Most owned Audi/BMW/Merc though.
Did any of your cars have good quality air suspension and rubber band tyres? I have driven i-Pace and XC90 with 22 inch wheels, and an e-Tron with 21 inch wheels. All three cars had air suspension and the ride was pretty fantastic in each. I was surprised. My Cayenne S on its 19" Summers isn't great & even on much higher 18" winters it still gets caught out.
I have had two S type Jags, the first an SE on 16" & the second a Sport on 18", I found the sport pretty poor although not as bad as its German equivalents. Although everyone who rode in it thought it OK. Most owned Audi/BMW/Merc though.
V88Dicky said:
cerb4.5lee said:
V88Dicky said:
As far as modern era cars go, either my mate’s M4 Comp, or another mate’s S3 Sportback.
Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
Is that M4 Comp on the 20" wheels? My standard M4 on the 19" wheels doesn't have a very good ride for me either. Even in Comfort mode with the dampers there isn't anything comfort about it! Both seemed to have rock hard suspension, and in the case of the M4 an awful lot of road noise and tyre drum. The engine doesn’t have a pleasant sound either, just a constant racket. Goes like stink though....
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