in search of a smoother ride

[06pvibe]

Well, I may not be a veteran 'round here, but I have lowered cars before, including my current Mazda3 HB. And being familiar with the ABE area having lived most of my life there, know the potholes and road conditions in Pennsylvania.I can tell you that any lowering spring will stiffen up the ride and make it less compliant over rough surfaces like broken pavement or potholes. Simply because the spring itself is shorter it does not have as far to compress when asked to. And a shorter spring is usually a stiffer spring as well, made w/either heavier wire, or coils that are closer together. Even the old-school lowering method of cutting a coil off an OE spring would increase the overall stiffness by 10-15%.Add to that the Plus1/Plus2 18" wheels you are referring to, and shorter, low profile tires that usually go together, a MacPhearson strut suspension system, and/or mono-tube shock absorbers and you have a recipe for a better handling vehicle, but at the expense of a stiff, non-compliant ride.Remove one or all of these and you will have a better ride and more compliant suspension, at the expense of appearance and overall handling however. OE springs, twin-tube shocks and the smallest wheel/largest tire combination will offer the best ride possible. And if it's better handling you want, consider installing heavier sway bars front and rear. They do not affect ride characteristics.

[wt2ga]

[06pvibe]

That's pretty good. Only 'round here it's more like:Summer, road constructionHot summer, slow road construction, and more of itEven HOTTER Summer, Even slower road construction, and more of itEarly Fall, road constructionLate Fall, road constructionGotta' keep them Mexicans busy doncha' know.

[ramenboy...]

That's gonna be rough (pun intended). Like 06vibe said, riding on 18s, there's not so much air cushion between the road and rims. And riding on lower (stiffer) springs, You def feel every bump.You can maybe compromise in wheel size and go down to 17s. You mentioned using your 16" wheels in the winter... Did the ride feel a little softer? Good luck!

[BlueCrush]

The smoothest ride I have experienced so far on my AWD is with oem shocks/springs and 17" wheels with 215/50/17 Nexen 5000 tires. this will change this spring though, when I switch to Canuck springs with KYB GR2 struts & shocks for summer.

[06pvibe]

The GR-2's are twin tube strut/shock OE replacements. There should be little change in your ride there, unless your OE's are completely gone.The springs.... that another story completely.I know when I went to H&R's and the Koni Sport Yellows in my Mazda.... WHOA!! Big difference. And the fronts are set soft. The Conti tires are soft by design. The rears are set at 50% to help reduce understeer, but you sure feel the bumps. And mine is far from the stiffest Mazda3 I know. (OUCH!! My aching back!!)

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by 06pvibe »The GR-2's are twin tube strut/shock OE replacements. There should be little change in your ride there, unless your OE's are completely gone.Of course they are OE replacements. I know that better than anyone. But they are the only easy option available to AWD'rs. I guarantee they will be better than the the OEM shocks/strut I have on now.

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by xmasguy »are there other options available for AWD Vibes, or the GR-2's are pretty much it? also, where to purchase and what sway bars can be used for AWD? thanks again guys. I don't know of anyone who has used anything else on their AWD. Keithvibe, might know if there is someone who has. There are no sway bar options available for the AWD. It would have to be custom made.

[BlueCrush]

Chris, You have an IM.

[keithvibe]

He could use other shocks, HOWEVER. He would need to press out the bushing in the shock and replace it with the correct sized bushing from the AWD shock.As B had stated there aren't any sways that we can use, Happyhooder and myself tried to see if a celia sway would work but the bends are all different. Even if there were, adding sways won't help with a smoother ride, it would make it more stiff.

[18stars]

I started using 15 inch snow tires a few years ago.....liked the improved ride so much that I bought 15 inch Borbet wheels and Pirelli all season touring tires for the rest of the year. I've been very happy with it.

[keithvibe]

The awd use a larger bolt to mount the shock/struts than the 2wd cars. So the bushings in the shock are smaller for their bolt. You would have to press out (shop press) the bushing and replace it with the correct size for the awd bolt to fit.You would have to measure your current bushing size in order to buy the correct one.examplehave a look at this photo, see the bushings are not actually in the shock. This is a two piece design. so it's an easy fit no shop press is needed. Ours are a one piece design and getting it out and in requires a shop press to do the work easy. can it be done without a shop press, most likely... but much more difficult

[zedfree03]

I feel the same. I have 15s for winter and its night and day. The transmission and engine sound better too. Im thinking about getting a nice set of 15s with a crazy offset like the xb's do it.