My F-Type V6-S's ride is quite stiff and bouncy, even compared to my father's 2012 Corvette. I took the suspension off Dynamic mode but notice little improvement. Question: do Jags' suspensions have to be post-delivery prepped? I wonder if mine wasn't done properly and perhaps there is something in the shocks that should have been removed and wasn't. I do not live near the dealer so thought I'd ask the board for their advice/experience. Thanks!

 

Check the air pressure in the tires, mine were at 45psi from transport

 

I heard the V6S is SUPER STIFF!!! I heard it's stiffer than the V8 even.... Mate you got yourself a real sportscar!!! You Devil You!!! Love the blue and rim choice!!! Wow!!!

 

WOW, my wife and I both commented on what a pleasant ride ours has. I would never describe the ride as "sporty" or "hard". I do have the tire pressure at recommended level.

 

As you can tell from the various posts different folks have different perceptions regarding what constitutes "stiff" in suspension.

IMO, all present Jaguars are suspended needlessly far too stiffly, which is not only effects the ride comfort but, it takes away from the traction when it comes to handling. I found the BASE F-type far too stiff to my taste while I considered the V8S not-surprisingly better than the BASE. The adaptive dampers on the S models do help.

This must be the direction the present Jaguar suspension team is going. I love the Jaguar cars but, as a long time racer and advocate for softer springs and heavier sway bars (opposite to what Jaguar is doing) I can't help to think that Jaguar is on the wrong track with their present suspension setup practices.

 

My F type R is stiffer than my previous XKR, but seems about right for the sportier profile and intent. Its not choppy on a decent road.
One thing I have noticed on my previous cars is that it takes a few hundred miles to sort of soften out the ride a wee bit at least.. kind of a break in for the suspension to settle down.
This and what others have mentioned around tire pressure could be something to consider.
I was in a V6 last year and remember it being very responsive compared to what I had been used to ( I was driving a SUV in winter and still had it out when I was in the Jag v6 ) and a bit rough on any uneven bits of road.. but its a distant memory now, so I'm not sure if the v6 vrs. v8 are different or not.
Hope with all considered and time to get used to it, you'll get more comfortable with the ride.
Lawrence.

 

Me too.



Jaguar is probably responding to decades of remarks from road-testers and magazine editors who invariably remark that Jaguars are a bit soft-ish.

For as long as I can remember Jaguar, when faced with a decision of going a bit firmer or a bit softer, has always gone with the 'bit softer' compromise. There was a time when Jaguar was admired for successfully straddling that fine line. But, now that Jaguar is trying to regain some sports/performance credibilty (after umpteen years of pushing only grace and elegance), I reckon they've thrown in the towel, bowed to the complaints, and gone with harder suspension.

<shrug>


I dunno. Just me rambling, that's all

Cheers
DD

 

I agree with axr6. The current generation of Z4 with the M package etc and others in the BMW lineup also suffer from that syndrome as well. It makes the car skip and feel less compliant which I don't like. If you got a chassis this good and this stiff I would wonder what the decision would be in making the suspension just as stiff. But then again I am no automotive engineer/racer.

 

I think Mike Cross knows what he's doing.

 

You know that they have gone too far when a pro-tester, after praising the BMW M6, would categorically state that the ride was "unbearable".

The trend to go to lower profile tires have taken out a great deal of suspension flex and compliance that is very important for the ride. In order to compensate for the loss of flex due to the ultra stiff short tire sidewalls, you would expect that the manufacturers would use softer springs. But, they actually stiffened the springs. As a direct result the ride of even my luxury cruiser XJL is hardly acceptable.

As a clear example; I used to race on 275 lbs/inch rear springs in my GT class race car. Race cars always use much stiffer springs than street cars since they generally run on more decent surfaces than the streets could provide. My 5.0 XKR comes with rear springs rated at nearly 550 lbs/inch. That is insanely too stiff and likely the reason for the track tester's frequent complaints regarding a lack of traction when exiting corners. The sprigs are so stiff that they simply won't allow the desired weight transfer to the rear on exit acceleration. Not even talking about how they hop and skip over uneven surfaces where softer springs would comply and stick.

I can take out my RX-7 with the 275 lbs springs and my XRK with the 550s and I can put the full 500 HP in the RX-7 to the floor where my XKR is jumping and hopping all over the road.

 

What options do F Type owners have to dampen the ride?
This is the #1 concern I have with my forthcoming car since I will be doing 90% of my driving on crappy city streets.

I agree that even car enthusiast critics have pointed out the unnecessarily stiff ride on the F Type.

 

For bad pavements, get the smallest diameter wheels/tallest sidewall tires that are available on your model.

While I DO NOT recommend going against factory tire pressures, I am running very low tire pressures on my XJL with 19" wheels to give me a softer ride. Beyond those, not much you can do as, save for the XF where softer springs are available, nothing is there for the F-type at this time.

 

I picked 19" tires for this reason (couldn't bring myself to go 18...). Maybe I'll play with pressures a bit to see how much of a difference it makes.

I woukd guess that for a car of this volume it'd be pretty unlikely that we'll get softer springs and/or bushings... The aftermarket is usually more performance oriented. So we may be SOL even if we wait. I haven't heard of any way to detune a non adjustable suspension... Have u guys?

 

What I do think is that customers must collectively arrive to the realization that the large wheels/short tire sidewall combinations may look good but, provide for unacceptable ride. Then, we would collectively demand going back to taller tire sidewalls that still provide more than enough performance potentials for our cars. Just look at the tall tire sidewalls used in racing to show you that we do not need those low profile tires for good handling...

On the other hand, people who live in areas with generally good pavement surfaces may prefer the visual effects of large wheels/short tire sidewalls.

 

I would be tempted to 'downgrade' to 19" diamond-cut Orbit's if I ever found a fantastic deal on them, but I know I'd need to hang on to the Blade wheels if I ever had to sell the R.

 

Of course, a second BIG reason to get away from those large wheel/small tire sidewall combo is the way-too-frequent wheel damages. The F-type and XKR forums see way too many posts from people damaging their 20" wheels from nothing worse than fairly minor potholes or pavement joints. There should be no excuse for that.

The problem is that large wheels had become a fashion item and people are expecting them to come stock on their vehicles. Thus, factories comply with demand...

You can generally not go back to smaller wheels because the brake calipers are larger, as well, and will not allow the fitting of, say 18" or 17" wheels that would provide for ride relief.

 

Axr I totally agree with you. The trend values form over function for sure.

On the other hand, buying a Jag is kind of a vanity in and of itself so I'm OK with it even though you are of course correct!

I think Jaguar made a mistake here as you noted earlier. They have been good in the past at not giving in too much to sport enthusiasts and critics who basically want a track car.... They missed their target market here on the suspension.

I have a note out to a Jaguar master mechanic to ask what he thinks the options are (if any) for detuning.

 

Heard back from the master tech.
As suspected, there's not much we can do right now.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. It was indeed the tire pressure, the car was delivered with 50+ psi in each. After putting them back to factory spec (36 front and back), the ride is firm but not stiff and bouncy!

 

Good to hear. Maybe the Top Gear test car was also over-inflated. Jeremy Clarkson -- who is a Jaguar fan -- described the ride as unnecessarily harsh, "like roller skating over a piece of corrugated iron"!