softening the ride?

[canadave]

The one thing that's bugging me a little about our new 04 Vibe is the ride quality, or should I say lack thereof. It's not quite as comfy as our 07 Kia Rondo was; we have pretty chopped up roads in my neck of the woods, and while the Rondo handled the bumps relatively smoothly, the Vibe seems to emphasize the bumps more--we're bouncing around more.

Is there anything anyone can recommend to soften and smooth out the ride?

Also, as an aside--anyone else frustrated with where to put your right arm if you're a passenger? On the Rondo we had a flat armrest on the door that I could rest my right arm on...the door rest on the Vibe is sloped (????), so I basically have been looking for a place to rest my right arm...LOL

[thebarber]

15" steelies and 205-60-15 snows

That, or man up.

[canadave]

Assuming I don't want to put snow tires on in mid-summer, and further assuming that my man is fully up, any other suggestions out there?

[Chiadog]

Is there anything anyone can recommend to soften and smooth out the ride?

Good question! I'm surprised I haven't seen it addressed here yet. I haven't looked into it, but I'd assume someone makes softer sprung struts. Do Corolla's ride as harsh as a Vibe? Anyone?

[thebarber]

You could just get taller all seasons in 15" (or on stock 16's)

When I lived in Fredericton I saw lots who just ran winter tires all year long. IMO, for the 2 months of proper summer you get in the maritimes, you can run winters all year. Heck, our aveo has been on blizzaks for about 2 years now...

[Salsa Guy]

I have a set of Bridgestone ecopias (sp?). They help my ride out and improved mpgs.

[WhgVibe]

I agree. I have 2010 base and I just bought a 2003 Malibu for a 3rd family car and it rides much better that the VIbe and also is much more quite. Oddly enough it has the same brand and model of tires that I have on my Vibe. Very frustrating because I love my Vibe. Would love to hear from Corolla owners for a comparison.

[canadave]

Softer spring struts sound like they would make more of a difference than the tires (although I know tires do make some ride quality difference). I just don't know what to get...

[Rayven01]

I believe the problem is the lack of travel (short struts and compact suspension components). You can't get springs that are too soft or the they will bottom out over relatively small bumps. Nothing you can really do about the size of the strut towers, and suspension (swing arm, etc) changes would all have to be be custom made ($$$).

[ColonelPanic]

I have a set of Bridgestone ecopias (sp?). They help my ride out and improved mpgs.

Likewise. Pretty squishy sidewalls on those so they softened the ride considerably.

[shaeet]

There isn't much you can do about the ride other than tires. the OEM struts are probably the softest your going to find & there aren't any "soft springs" i'm aware of on the market.

the ride on our cars isn't due to lack of travel, it has more to do with how damn firm the stock springs are. If you load your car with 800lbs of crap the ride actually gets better cuz the suspension will travel more, but with nothing in the car the suspension is firm as hell which is my biggest complaint w/the cars design.

[DRYfrosty04]

The vibe is a sport wagon with a stock tuned suspension for better handling. Its not very likely to ever float like a Cadillac but you might look into some aribag suspension modifications but the car simply isn't heavy enough for that soft ride.

[ParknVibe]

Look into Monroe OESpectrum Struts )now available for the Vibe. However, only the front Struts are listed currently for the 2009-2010)

From Monroe specs:
"OESpectrum® units provide an unprecedented level of handling precision and control while filtering out the ride harshness commonly encountered on many foreign nameplate applications. This unique blend of control and comfort is made possible through Tenneco's'Twin Technology™ Active Control System', an exclusive internal damping control technology first developed for leading global vehicle manufacturers. Tenneco's Twin Technology™ consists of its latest Impact Control Valve (ICV), which delivers exceptional control under virtually all driving conditions, and a patented Low Speed Tunability (LST) piston design that isolates impact-related noise, vibration and harshness."

I hope to buy them soon....after the rear shocks are available.

[wingman7000]

I haven't seen mention this before, but due to an obnoxious failed state inspection I have ordered the Monroe Quick-Strut for my '03 GT. Its not a bad deal for the front and should be a relatively quick replacement. Has anyone else tried these?

[vibolista]

late to this by a bit, but there was no closure at the end of this post! Or did I miss it?

Vibe is pretty light for a car this size, so about the only thing you can really do is to find the softest riding tire out there. The Goodyear Assurance "ComforTred" is highly rated for comfort. TireRack survey results put the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus at #1 in comfort, along with very high ratings for everything else, so probably it's expensive, but not sure, I haven't looked this tire up. The Continental Pure Contact Eco Plus was rated at #2. The ComforTred came in #5 on that list. There's a total of 32 tires on this list.

Something to note about this kind of soft riding tire... their side walls are generally quite soft, so they will tend to respond a tad slower than a sporty stiffer sidewalled tire.

I never saw what tire pressure you keep your tires inflated at, either. Tire pressure does affect how the tire responds and how it feels on the road. Higher pressure tends to firm up response, increase road feel and feed back.

You should never go below the Car Manufacturer's recommended tire pressure... and never over inflate a tire beyond the cold Max Pressure number on the tire. I try to check tire pressure every 2 weeks (cold, tire sitting overnight), and anytime the temperature cools or heats up a lot... over 15 to 20 degrees in either direction, since for every 10 degrees of temperature change pressure in a tire will change by 1 psi. When temperatures go down, tire pressures go down. When temperatures warm up, tire pressure moves up. Tires lose about 1 psi per month on average, no matter what the temperatures are doing.

The Continental Pure Contact Eco tire is highly rated. For an All Season tire it has very good grip ratings in snow as well, including low rolling resistance benefits. A friend of mine just mounted a new set of these tires on his car, so I'll be gathering some first hand impressions on that tire this Winter.

Here's most of the TireRack Survey results list... I had to make it small to grab most of it. You can download it and zoom in to see it better.

[beemerphile1]

...You should never go below the Car Manufacturer's recommended tire pressure....

I would have to say there is a caveat to this statement. At what load is the recommended tire PSI? If the recommended PSI is at max load for the vehicle, and the vehicle is operated at less than max load, the PSI can be reduced.

Ideally the vehicle should be weighed at the normal load and then the PSI adjusted based on tire manufacturer's recommendations. I have weighed my Vibe but I doubt many have.

[MadJoe]

Wingman:

Did you install the Monroe front struts? What were your observations? I have an 03 with 127k miles and I seem to feel every bump in the road, especially in the front.

Thanks.

[lannvouivre]

Yeah, the vibe ride is pretty stiff. The Eagle RSA tires are absolutely horrid for comfort, too. I got Arizonian Silvers and even my BF noticed a softer ride. Right now I'm running stock 16 inch rims and Firestone Winterforce tires, which made the ride even smoother but the tires are very loud and do very strange things on dry pavement. Also running at 36-38 PSI. 32 PSI feels stiffer and makes the tires look really, really low (even with a load of 120 lbs and an emergency roadside response kit that weighs maybe 20 lbs). I ended up raising the pressure because I'd have a heart attack every time I saw my tires and because the ride was rougher. The tires state a 45 PSI capacity maximum (which is not what they should be inflated to!)

[LavaIlliniVibe]

Tire alignment and new struts improved my ride in my Lava '04 with 144,000+

[Chiadog]

Tire alignment and new struts improved my ride in my Lava '04 with 144,000+

What brand of strut did you use and where did you get them?

[LavaIlliniVibe]

They are Monroe brand, installed by a tire dealer in business since 1934...