How's your ride, er, ride?
 

I've had my '04 Crossfire for almost two years now, I bought it used (lease return) with about 35k miles on it. I love it, but I find the ride a bit "busy" on less-than-silky-smooth pavement. I mean, the whole car feels very STIFF, jarring, and unforgiving of the road surface - I can feel every little bump and dip, and often in a teeth-rattling manner. It can be downright uncomfortable and fatiguing at times. 90% of my driving is on SoCal freeways, just so's ya know where I been...

My question is, is this just that "rude sports car ride" that I should expect from this type of car, or, should I be getting that smooth, German-engineered luxury ride? Is this just the way the suspension works, or should I have somebody look at the springs/shocks (and/or other suggestions)?

Thanks for any and all input, shared experiences and astute observations.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

The car is a short wheel base car, so you are going to have more bouncing jarring etc. You also bought a sports car so it will not ride like a luxo boat. I have a NA roadster and an SRT6 coupe. I can tell you the SRT6 ride is much 'firmer' than the NA. Just the price for having a well handling car. Of course you could go with an electronic damping system, or multiposition shocks and change the ride greatly.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Well, long time, no see! Welcome back.

I switched tires to Falken FK 452's. They are touted to be more for the "Luxury Sport" gfroup, for just this reason. They improved my long-distance travels by quite a bit.

Google them. And they are a very reasonably priced tire to boot!

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Well mine is kind of stiff but not compared to a couple of other cars I have owned, to me it rides as well as a small sports car is probably going to.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

My wife's GXP has Eagle F1's, and it does seem to be smoother. But we're also talking about another car, I dunno.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Perception of how the car rides has a lot to do with what you had previously, and what other vehicles you might drive when you're not driving the Crossfire.

To qualify my response, before I drove the Crossfire, my previous vehicles were the following:
http://4x4icon.com/crossfire/previous.jpg

(Scroll over to see Volvo and XJ6)

I still have the black Jeeps.

The Jeeps more or less have live axles front and rear, are fairly heavy, and high off the ground.

The Jags have four-wheel independent suspension (one of the best set-ups in the business back in the day), heavy noses (massive engines) and pretty good power-to-weight ratios.

The Volvo 1800ES is heavy for its size, a little underpowered, and a "cushy" suspension that could be tuned (I did) but still not as tight as modern sports cars.

The Volvo V90 has four-wheel independent suspension, great power-to-weight ratio, and a quiet but tight suspension typical of euro-luxury cars. Still, a fairly heavy car.

Coming from heavier, higher, old-school cars, I find the Crossfire "ride" very satisfying. The car handles very well, can be thrown into corners with predictable results. It has a tight, short suspension travel that I want from a car like this. I look forward to getting into the car after a time driving either the Jeep Commander or modified Wrangler.

The best compromise suspension I have experienced was the Jaguar E-Type (AKA XKE). That suspension was incredible. It was very responsive, gave the car great handling, but was surprisingly soft in stock form. As much as I loved (and still love) that car, I prefer the way the suspension in the Crossfire feels and handles. It's a much more modern, sophisticated solution.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Install the Eibach Pro Kit (lowering springs) and Koni Dampers. It doesn't get any better than that.

Re: How's your ride, er, ride?
 

Ed You didn't say what kind of tires were mounted on your car. If you haven't installed new tires yourself, are you sure it doesn't have "run flats"
on it? Your description of how your car rides almost sounds like it does. The Crossfires suspension isn't "tuned" for them if it does, or your car may simply have a "higher performance" tire mounted on it. These type of tires have a "stiffer" side wall as well.
I had the pleasure of experiencing some of SoCal highways just last month. Trust me they are nothing compared to the "torture tracks" we call Interstates here in the N.E. (thanks to our "beautiful" winters). But even with our bad roads, my 04 with 40k miles on it rides great. And I have a few other very good handling sports cars to compare it to.
For the record, You don't have to "pay the price" of putting up with an SRT's ride to have a great handling car. According to Road & Track magazine road tests, the NA Crossfire goes thru a slalom faster than a SRT with its stiffer suspension.
If I were you I think I would look at your tires first, they are usually responsible for the most dramatic change in your cars ride and handling.
Good Luck