# Suspension components for smoother ride?



## evo77 (Sep 5, 2011)

Well it goes without saying but a smoother ride will result in poorer handling. That's usually the toss up when it comes to suspension.

I think swapping suspension components from other vehicles is risky. For the mere fact of the cost involved as you throw the dice in hopes for a smoother ride.

And i've never heard of any aftermarket companies offering softer ride suspension kits.


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## TravsCruze (Aug 4, 2011)

trexstang said:


> I read a lot about suspension components for lowering and improved handling, but would anyone else besides me prefer their Cruze to ride more smoothly? I drive to work and back on roads with a lot of expansion joints. It gets pretty jarring at times. I have a 2011 Cruze ECO AT and I drive for MPG, not so concerned with high speed cornering.
> 
> I have been looking at pictures of springs and struts of other Chevy models. It looks like the Malibu strut and spring may actual come close to fitting. Any manufacturers looking into softer ride components?


i don't think you would want to go with a malibu. Heavier car means they put stiffer springs in it to maintain a certain ride height. So unless the malibu weighs almost the same as the cruze, moving those springs over to our cars would probably jar your teeth out or at least make it uncomfortable even if they did fit. 

*non coil over option:*
It would take some number crunching to find the exact rate and length of spring. But to maintain the same ride height and get a softer ride, you would need to know the current spring rate, reduce that value by whatever you feel is needed, then calculate the extra length the spring would need to bring it back to the stock ride height with the softer rate. Then start searching spring manufactures to find a match, or have a custom set made. Install it, drive it around for a few thousand miles and reevaluate if you need to rinse and repeat to go softer. 

*coil over option:*
SWAG (scientific wild a$$ guess) how much softer you need to go from OEM spring rate, order up some springs with those rates, then just adjust the cars height. Poof.. softer ride and stock height. Just have the stock spring tested to find the spring rate.

its getting late, and i'm a little fuzzy.. did i miss anything in there guys?


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## trexstang (Nov 5, 2011)

The spring on the Cruze appears to be short as compared to other vehicles. I haven't had it out to measure the length, yet. So I assume that it would also have a higher spring rate. I do know that the ECO spring has a 15% higher rate than the base model. The ECO model also sits .4" lower.

If another spring is used and is longer in its compressed state, then the strut would also need to be swapped out otherwise the car would sit too high. Unless like you say, go to coil over setup for the height adjustment. Aren't the the struts in the coil over kits more firm than stock? For that matter how much do the struts contribute to the ride quality as compared to the spring?

I drove the car yesterday and held a camcorder out the window, pointed it at the front wheel. I drove over expansion cracks. The wheels is barely moving up or down. I then drove over about a .5" bump. It looks like the wheel moved up about .25" and the car moved up the rest of the way.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Sounds like you need different tires on there. The OEM Goodyear tires aren't the best. 

The Michelin Primacy MXM4 looks promising for being all-around better than the OEM Goodyears while offering low rolling resistance. Another choice could be the GY ComfortTreds.


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## TravsCruze (Aug 4, 2011)

like sciphi said, tires that are geared toward comfort might go along ways toward what your looking for. 

tirerack has alot of customer feedback on different tires, find a tire people like on the comfort scale and go for it. might be a good place to start.


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## 72oly300 (Apr 9, 2011)

Just a quick reminder - the springs "hold" the load - the shocks (dampers) "control" the load......... The key to a Buick LeSabre-like ride is really to back off the compression damping......i.e. when you hit the pothole or bump allow more suspension movement to soak up the energy. There is no suspension mod to do what you are requesting. I would agree with the "different tire" logic. Also working against you is the short wheelbase which can add to a "choppy" ride. I commute 150 miles round trip in a LT2 with the sport suspension. Tiring at times......... but loads more fun than the 2007 Malibu I had.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I had a Buick LeSabre before the Cruze. Tires made a world of difference on that car. Picking up a set of tires made the ride a little harsher and the handling much more confident. I chose the tires for handling on that car, and it worked nicely. 

Likewise, swapping out the OEM tires on our Honda for better ones reduced the interior noise and made the ride noticeably smoother. Wifey was happy.


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

sciphi said:


> Sounds like you need different tires on there. The OEM Goodyear tires aren't the best.
> 
> The Michelin Primacy MXM4 looks promising for being all-around better than the OEM Goodyears while offering low rolling resistance. Another choice could be the GY ComfortTreds.


Bingo, that's where I would start. Look into a tire with softer sidewalls, it can make a huge difference. Michelin energy's and primacy's are pretty smooth riders, goodyear comfortreads also, bridgestone serenitys, etc etc. A good touring tire will make difference.


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## trexstang (Nov 5, 2011)

Anyone switched from GoodYear FuelMax tires to GoodYear ComforTread or Michelin Primacy MXM4 touring tires on their Cruze? Softer ride over broken pavement?


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## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

trexstang said:


> Anyone switched from GoodYear FuelMax tires to GoodYear ComforTread or Michelin Primacy MXM4 touring tires on their Cruze? Softer ride over broken pavement?


I will be doing just that in the spring. For now, I am running my snow tire/ wheel package from tire rack. When I bought my '06 Mazda 3 I replaced the OE Toyos after just 6k miles with ComforTreads and was very happy with the results. Not a dramatically softer ride over broken pavement, but quite noticable and worth the money.


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## Dale_K (Jul 16, 2011)

You could perform a little experiment on your car to see how much difference it makes. Try temporarily lowering your tire pressure down to 30 pounds and taking a drive over the road that gives you the harsh ride. If it makes a big improvement you would know that you don't need new suspension stuff - tires alone might work. Actually the car might be fairly safe at 30 pounds unless you drive with 4 people in the car but a better choice would be a comfort type tire. I did some driving with lowered air pressure but I found the car handles so much better at full pressure that I was willing to put up the the poorer ride quality.


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## trexstang (Nov 5, 2011)

I tried 35 psi and 30 psi. There is very little difference in ride comfort.


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## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

I agree about the handling at lower psi and am sticking with 35 psi. Another note on the Comfortreads, if the only improvement was ride quality compared to the FuelMax tires then they may not be worth switching to. However, at least according to the reviews on Tire Rack, the Comfortreads should also handle better. Being wider in the tread, I think they will look better too.

If I get the same overall improvement that I did after replacing the harsh riding OE Toyos on my Mazda 3, then I 'll be happy as a clam.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Spend some time lurking TireRack reading reviews about tires that fit your specific wheels. Pay attention to subjective ride quality. 

The ride is a bit softer on my snow tires than the OEM tires. Then again, the snows are 16's while the Eco wheels are 17's.


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## mr_raider (Aug 13, 2011)

Downsizing to 16" wheels will also help.


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## Twiz66 (Aug 30, 2018)

Going up a rubber size will help soak up bumps alot , i went from 225 60 16's up to a 225 65 16, and the difference is pretty big. The differnece between them is 60's are 60% bigger than the rim , and 65 is 65% bigger, while this does affect the wheel sensor , i only lose 1 kilometer on the odometer per thousand. Driving 100 kilometers per hour on the speedo was actually 100.3 on the gps. Well within error tolerance. 
So basically nothing. Remember that tires are one of the biggest contributers to ride feel. Plus 65's helped fill out the wheel well a little better

Edit** just thought i should mention i didnt notice any change in fuel economy when i changed tires


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