Fisha,

Great to hear of the improvement in going to a 60 profile on 20 inch.

I wish I hadn't just bought 2 new tyres and I could find a set of 20s I liked on the 405 as I would consider it.

For me personally they just don't look right on any less than a 21 inch but that's just me.


As for steering, I'm back at factory pressures for 16MY which is 34 front and 37 rear.

My steering and Haylands steering is similar but not as light as what I see in this video below, perhaps there are different steering tunes for different markets?



I'm between a rock and a hard place now as this 405 and my last 2 322s have failed to recapture the adoration I had for my 2009 Westminster.

If I try to live with it I know I'll spend the whole time looking for and spending money on problems that may not actually exist but if I sold it I don't know what I would replace it with as I can only see my self driving British.

I understand the look comments … still adjusting to the look of mine I think.

found this :

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2016/SB-10106315-9340.pdf

Worth a look perhaps … some of the suggested codes are close to what you showed. V8 or else ...

Thanks for the service bulletin, I've seen that one before and cleaned up the grounds mentioned (they weren't bad to be honest) as well as replace both batteries to ensure good power.

Replacing the batteries did get my start stop working again but not much else

I'm really not a fan of black wheels, comes from being old enough to remember when everyone had black steel wheels with a nice silver full wheel trim, lose the trim and you just had black wheels, which everyone seems to be wanting today....

Anyway, I digress, put 20's on but make them black and it won't show what size they are....

These could be 20's or 22's...!!


 Pete
__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

MarinaWestminster, are you in a position to be able to temporarily swap your wheels for 20’s? Just to see what difference it makes?
You can then decide if the change to the look vs ride improvement is worth it…

The bigger side walls always make a difference, and thats why i went for 285/45/R22 on mine. Effectively it added an extra inch to my tyre wall.
I had to adjust my speedo, and in extremes it has rubbed, however I am happy with that change. My next change is to loose my cheapo tyres and put on some decent rubber.
This may (or may not) also help with my issue. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

You also mentioned fairly early on about a Vehicle Reset.

I was sat in the car waiting for the other half the other day, and popped in the IIDTool to look at any error codes of interest (there were none), but also looked through the different options available (i was getting very bored waiting) and stumbled upon the Vehicle Reset option so thought “why not!”

Caveat! The issues we are seeing seem to come and go, and we have no idea what the cause is. There is also a large amount of “in my head” going on too i am sure… so what I state below may have NOTHING to do with the vehicle reset!

After the reset, and the loud FM static from the radio afterwards, we went on our journey. I immediately noticed how harsh the ride was within the first 100 meters. However after a short time into the journey i then noticed that the car seemed to be better than usual. We did an hours journey over a mixture of road surfaces and I was happy. The same on the return journey (after a 3 hour stop).

The article posted by Fisha intrigues me as it shows that something voltage related can affect your steering… can the same be happening to the CVD system? Or something that has an effect on it?
Is cranking a cold car in the morning just enough to sometimes cause a problem?

I’ll certainly be cleaning up my terminals, and charging the battery as a “why not” step.

Still, good luck with everything! Hopefully you are getting nearer to being happy with your car. Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

Just to be clear, I dont think the reset has fixed my issue as subsequent journeys seems to be a mixed bag again… Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

Sadly Haylands I also couldn't fit Black wheels as I really, really don't like them unless its on an all Black car. But I get the point you are making...

FFRR

I'd have to buy a set of 20s to be able to test them but having just spent £460 odd on 2 new front Verdes it'd have to be a big improve to help me swallow that cost.

I've used that vehicle reset option via IID on my last 2 x 322s and via SDD on this L405 and I find the same as you, it helps a bit then the car goes back to how it was.

I now know what normal is for a 405 thanks to Haylands and I can now tell when my car is and isn't at normal. (Driving home on Sunday was 'normal' driving to work this morning was not)

Yep voltage can definitely effect the electric power steering on a 405, its even mentioned in the WSM but I don't think this is my issue.

I am trying to convince myself its me being hyper sensitive but when I see videos like the one I linked with light, smooth steering and articles describing the L405 as 'the off road S class' I do wonder.

I think i'm going to have to stick with it for a bit but its likely it will move on especially with my autotrader search currently being set on facelift Bentley Arnages.

Good morning all. Replaced my rear shock absorbers over the weekend and she's back to her best.

My 2peneth worth... My wife's 405 is a 13my with 21" wheels and standard height setup albeit running 15mm spacers as the standard wheel to wheel arch ratio to my eye looks a bit pinched.
My car is a 15my LWB Its lowered and is running 23" wheels with 285/40 Pirelli silents and I MUCH prefer the ride quality of my car than my wife's... My steering is direct, sits on roads/motorways in a straight line tracking true. Wifeys tram lines everywhere! Self steers on cambers and is quite the opposite to others opinions on here...
all the above is obviously just my unscientific opinion. BUT, I am certain the LWB helps with forward backwards bucking (like a defender 90 compared with a 110)

Maybe go try a LWB Mariana?

Mines also on 23" rims and drives as Craig does, no complaints about the quality at all.

Mariana that car in your video even has snow tryes! overfinch modified

Good to hear you've sorted yours out Craig.

I'm sure the extra length in the wheelbase of an LWB model probably helps but unfortunately it wouldn't help me with mine

Cayman, does the fact it has snow tyres mean the steering would be lighter or would one expect it to be heavier with snow tyres?

Do either yours or Craigs cars steer as effortlessly as the one in that video?

It's all down to individual perception though, you both feel your cars are fine on 23s whereas I might not.. but the key thing is you are both happy and that I wouldn't knock

All I want in my every day car is supple, comfortable suspension and fingertip light steering.

If the L405 cannot be modified to give me that then I wonder which car would?

Last edited by MarianaWestminster on 5th Nov 2023 8:16pm. Edited 1 time in total

caymanblack wrote:

Mines also on 23" rims and drives as Craig does, no complaints about the quality at all.

Mariana that car in your video even has snow tryes!

Hi Craig, Mine are Toyo Proxes Sport SUV 285/35 ZR23 107Y.

Mariana I would have thought the tyres on that video car would make everything worse.

Snow tyres with the studs.

Steering on mine feels effortless . overfinch modified

Okay that makes sense Cayman as I would think the same.

So you've got larger wheels with wider tyres than standard (285s vs 275s on factory 22 and 21 inch wheels) and its effortless which is how I would have described my old Westminster. (It was like the video above)

Wish I could find it as I would buy it back!! (KV59 ZVS)

Well my 405 was in a good mood tonight.

Pulled away from work and we had...

Supple suspension with damping
Palmable steering
Responsive SDV8 engine

I was enjoying the drive home so much I went the long way (an extra 10 miles!) Even went over some pretty crap roads and it handled them so much better than it usually would.

If you'd have blind folded me and put me in the car I would have said I was in a completely different car.

Why can't it be like this every drive, every day?