Getting a better ride
Discussion
Hi All,
I've inherited a Mazda 2 'Black edition from 2011. It's a nice car and it goes, stops and handles well. I'm inclined to keep it and use it for 'junk' miles - my daily trip to work, as it's economical to run.
The only thing that I find rather hard going, is that on roads with pot-holes - which are increasingly becoming commonplace, I notice every lump and bump. On smooth roads, the car is great - but not many roads are like this nowadays.
The car has 195/45 R16 tyres (which were/are standard fitting to this model) and I was wondering if it might be possible/sensible, to have a higher profile tyre fitted to the existing alloy wheels, or to get some 2nd hand 15 inch wheels and fit a higher profile tyre which keeps the rolling radius the same and will provide a higher degree of ride comfort ?
I've inherited a Mazda 2 'Black edition from 2011. It's a nice car and it goes, stops and handles well. I'm inclined to keep it and use it for 'junk' miles - my daily trip to work, as it's economical to run.
The only thing that I find rather hard going, is that on roads with pot-holes - which are increasingly becoming commonplace, I notice every lump and bump. On smooth roads, the car is great - but not many roads are like this nowadays.
The car has 195/45 R16 tyres (which were/are standard fitting to this model) and I was wondering if it might be possible/sensible, to have a higher profile tyre fitted to the existing alloy wheels, or to get some 2nd hand 15 inch wheels and fit a higher profile tyre which keeps the rolling radius the same and will provide a higher degree of ride comfort ?
A few things to consider:
Smaller wheels / bigger sidewalls will help - but make sure the front wheels clear the brake calipers. If you change the tyre on the existing wheel you will change the rolling radius, which will affect the speedo reading but may also run into clearance issues when on full lock or at the limits of suspension travel.
Tyres - you will see variation here, make sure you don't have mismatched/budget ditchfinders or you are running anything 'XL' rated that won't be necessary for a supermini.
I have noticed a number of small Japanese cars are very firm and crashy at low speeds on poor roads but generally ok elsewhere, possibly tuned for better road surfaces than we have here. In which case you need to explore bigger changes. Ride is influenced by springs, dampers and anti-roll bars (if fitted), and suspension bushes. Make sure that all the bushes are in good shape first, then you might want to consider different springs/coilovers but costs will increase at this point.
Smaller wheels / bigger sidewalls will help - but make sure the front wheels clear the brake calipers. If you change the tyre on the existing wheel you will change the rolling radius, which will affect the speedo reading but may also run into clearance issues when on full lock or at the limits of suspension travel.
Tyres - you will see variation here, make sure you don't have mismatched/budget ditchfinders or you are running anything 'XL' rated that won't be necessary for a supermini.
I have noticed a number of small Japanese cars are very firm and crashy at low speeds on poor roads but generally ok elsewhere, possibly tuned for better road surfaces than we have here. In which case you need to explore bigger changes. Ride is influenced by springs, dampers and anti-roll bars (if fitted), and suspension bushes. Make sure that all the bushes are in good shape first, then you might want to consider different springs/coilovers but costs will increase at this point.
pubrunner said:
Hi All,
I've inherited a Mazda 2 'Black edition from 2011. It's a nice car and it goes, stops and handles well. I'm inclined to keep it and use it for 'junk' miles - my daily trip to work, as it's economical to run.
The only thing that I find rather hard going, is that on roads with pot-holes - which are increasingly becoming commonplace, I notice every lump and bump. On smooth roads, the car is great - but not many roads are like this nowadays.
The car has 195/45 R16 tyres (which were/are standard fitting to this model) and I was wondering if it might be possible/sensible, to have a higher profile tyre fitted to the existing alloy wheels, or to get some 2nd hand 15 inch wheels and fit a higher profile tyre which keeps the rolling radius the same and will provide a higher degree of ride comfort ?
Look in the owners manual to see what wheel size is acceptable for this model, and that way won't mess with speedo accuracies etcI've inherited a Mazda 2 'Black edition from 2011. It's a nice car and it goes, stops and handles well. I'm inclined to keep it and use it for 'junk' miles - my daily trip to work, as it's economical to run.
The only thing that I find rather hard going, is that on roads with pot-holes - which are increasingly becoming commonplace, I notice every lump and bump. On smooth roads, the car is great - but not many roads are like this nowadays.
The car has 195/45 R16 tyres (which were/are standard fitting to this model) and I was wondering if it might be possible/sensible, to have a higher profile tyre fitted to the existing alloy wheels, or to get some 2nd hand 15 inch wheels and fit a higher profile tyre which keeps the rolling radius the same and will provide a higher degree of ride comfort ?
It thought this thread was going to be some yob boasting about his car purchase plans.
I suspect that unless you can come down to 14's, changing the wheels won't make enough difference to be worth bothering with.
My suggestions are that you learn to drive around it and live with it - or - sell it and buy a comfy reliable shed for a couple of thousand.
I suspect that unless you can come down to 14's, changing the wheels won't make enough difference to be worth bothering with.
My suggestions are that you learn to drive around it and live with it - or - sell it and buy a comfy reliable shed for a couple of thousand.
The current Mazda 2 is a fairly old design and there will only be so much you can do to improve NVH.
I can't imagine there would be a problem with 15's as the only sporty variant was the 1.3/1.5 and they are relatively light cars.
Maybe running all seasons tyres would help? I love the family Passat on 16" winter tyres.
I can't imagine there would be a problem with 15's as the only sporty variant was the 1.3/1.5 and they are relatively light cars.
Maybe running all seasons tyres would help? I love the family Passat on 16" winter tyres.
A car with a short wheelbase, struts and a torsion beam, and built down to a price is always going to be pretty jiggly, but more sidewall should take the edge off sharper jolts quite noticeably; the poor thing has 89mm of sidewall with that wheel/tyre combo. If you're running on cheapy chinese tyres that might be contributing too.
Base spec looks like it was 175/65 R14 on the 1.3, that'll give you a 114mm sidewall, the 1.5 came with 15" and 185/55 which might have been to clear larger brakes than the 1.3 but equally well might have just been for marketing reasons.
Maybe check parts for a 2011 Mazda2 on Autodoc and see if there were different sized front discs?
Apparently they sold them with 195/40 R17 so count yourself lucky!
Base spec looks like it was 175/65 R14 on the 1.3, that'll give you a 114mm sidewall, the 1.5 came with 15" and 185/55 which might have been to clear larger brakes than the 1.3 but equally well might have just been for marketing reasons.
Maybe check parts for a 2011 Mazda2 on Autodoc and see if there were different sized front discs?
Apparently they sold them with 195/40 R17 so count yourself lucky!
TheInternet said:
How many miles on it? I replaced the original dampers on an old car with some very comfy Bilstein B4's. £300ish for yours if you can labour yourself.
Good point, worn dampers ruin a car and most people only replace them when they're so utterly shagged they leak oil and fail an MOT. They're usually done in by 90k miles or so, and a lot less if it's been a city car.snotrag said:
I 2nd these. A pair of these on the rear of my Abarth transformed the ride.If you don't want to modify it though, just fit brand new dampers all round and front strut top mounts. At 11 years old they are likely worn out anyway and this will restore the factory ride. DON'T skip the strut top mounts though. They have a surprising effect on the ride quality on Mcpherson strut cars.
stickleback123 said:
Good point, worn dampers ruin a car and most people only replace them when they're so utterly shagged they leak oil and fail an MOT. They're usually done in by 90k miles or so, and a lot less if it's been a city car.
Not sure if my experience is anything to go by, but I've found that replacing knackered shocks tends to make the ride firmer, not softer.Bennet said:
Not sure if my experience is anything to go by, but I've found that replacing knackered shocks tends to make the ride firmer, not softer.
are you putting on OEM shocks? Usually knackered shocks make the ride worse by overworking the springs and making the suspension bottom out on the bump stops.I have never had a car ride worse after replacing the shocks, always better, and I have done a lot of shock replacements.
While you’re at it, get a softer touring tyre, like a Bridgestone Turanza T005 or Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance 2.
I noticed the ride became more comfortable when I switched my tyres from Continental Premium Contact 5’s to the Goodyears. The car doesn’t handle as well though. There is noticeably more squidge around corners.
It isn’t a transformative difference though. Its still basically the same sort of ride, but with a softer edge, especially over broken surfaces.
I noticed the ride became more comfortable when I switched my tyres from Continental Premium Contact 5’s to the Goodyears. The car doesn’t handle as well though. There is noticeably more squidge around corners.
It isn’t a transformative difference though. Its still basically the same sort of ride, but with a softer edge, especially over broken surfaces.
Edited by wyson on Wednesday 27th April 18:33
I often go down one 1inch diameter on my hot hatches from 17” to 16” and up by a profile eg 40 to 45. So 205/40/17 to 205/45/16
Couple this with lighter wheels and a tyre with a softer side wall I find this has some impact.
Lighter unsprung mass means less energy is transferred to the sprung mass (chassis). But cautious tyres do weigh a fair bit, sometimes a larger diameter wheel and tyre combo is lighter
But the most noticeable change is adjustable dampers (coil overs) but with similar spring rate to stock. Can be stiffer
As standard cars appear to be oversprung and damped on the rear to cater for that occasional time you have 5 passengers and a boot full. So with adjustable dampers I soften the rebound and compression. This makes the ride much softer especially in the rear.
My car is lower but actually more comfortable, slightly extreme and I’m unsure if you can get coilovers but it does get the job done.
Couple this with lighter wheels and a tyre with a softer side wall I find this has some impact.
Lighter unsprung mass means less energy is transferred to the sprung mass (chassis). But cautious tyres do weigh a fair bit, sometimes a larger diameter wheel and tyre combo is lighter
But the most noticeable change is adjustable dampers (coil overs) but with similar spring rate to stock. Can be stiffer
As standard cars appear to be oversprung and damped on the rear to cater for that occasional time you have 5 passengers and a boot full. So with adjustable dampers I soften the rebound and compression. This makes the ride much softer especially in the rear.
My car is lower but actually more comfortable, slightly extreme and I’m unsure if you can get coilovers but it does get the job done.
Edited by mintmansam on Wednesday 27th April 19:17
Gassing Station | Suspension, Brakes & Tyres | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff