I think an increase in ride 'firmness' was part of the design strategy as the L322 moved from being a luxury '4x4' to a luxury 'SUV' as customers wanted more car like handling with less roll and less floatiness esp as rivals with better road manners like the X5 came on the scene. I still maintain that tyres are the main part of the car's suspension that deal with road imperfections and these as well have changed over the years as comfort is sacrificed for handling and reduced rolling resistance. Most buyers of these cars would never be expected to encounter anything but smooth tarmac. Roads are also getting worse due to councils running out of money. Even looking at my 255/55 R20 which is standard on an L405 and taller than stock L322 it's bordering on being a 'low profile' tyre esp when compared to what you see on proper off road 4x4 vehicles. Not saying you don't have a real issue and it's all in your mind but I think modern tyres in these kind of profiles are going to be a harsher ride. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

I do completely understand what you are saying and have been saying in previous comments Jaygee.

I recognize the shift in taste (although I do not understand it, if I am buying a luxury car, 4x4, SUV or the like I expect luxury as in easy to drive, comfortable, well made and opulent inside) but in my case I loved the ride of the 2009 Westminster which had modern Toyo proxes T1 SUV tyres (on it when I purchased it) in 255/50/20.

I recall when driving over speedbumps in that car you could actually hear the suspension compressing and rebounding (Like a hiss from the gas in the shock absorbers almost) whereas all 3 CVD equipped cars just feel like they have no suspension travel as in the suspension can't compress and the shock absorbers aren't able to absorb.

I imagine if I did buy a set of 20's with 55 profiles they would ride better as there is more rubber between the rim and road but they aren't going to do anything to help the non compliant suspension itself.

I think changing the wheels and tyres would slightly mask my issue as opposed to fix it.

I have driven 2 405s on 20" and they do ride better yes but I've driven others on 21" like mine that ride better than mine and one on 22" which still rides better than mine.

Hopefully one day somebody has a breakthrough with all this and before I give up and bow out for the final time.

Toyo Proxes SUV tyres may well have had softer sidewalls then Pirelli's as most SUV's are not anywhere near as heavy as an L322 / L405. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

They might have been but I had Avons, Goodyear and then General grabbers on my first facelift 322 and it rode awful on all of them.

Barely any difference.

I dont dispute that tyres play an important role in compliance and ride quality I just do not believe they will make the huge improvement necessary.

I dont think the tyres will help the engine or steering either.

What I failed to add in my earlier reply is that one of our 4.4 TdV8 L322's rides on Pirelli Scorpion Zero 255 x 50 x R20 and the other on Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Seasons in the same size. The ride on the Scorpio Zero's is better, both quieter and more compliant. It's not night and day, but it is noticeable. Drives:
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue - Stornoway Grey
2010 FFRR TdV8 Vogue SE - Zermatt Silver
1998 BMW E36 M3 GTII

My 2004 L322 car is also much better when driving over exactly the same spots in the road as my 2011 L322, incidentally both have Pirelli Zero tyres, but the 2004 has 19" wheels, and the 2011 has 20", but what I notice the most is how the 2011 car transmits all the vibration and bumps to my steering wheel and seat - whilst the older suspension setup on the 04 car somehow soaks up most of this and continues to waft along absorbing most bumps in its stride.

NB maybe Audi Q5, BMW X5 and Range Rover Sport owners love the harsher handling, but I want a more compliant ride that can soak up the bumps in the road like the Bentley Bentayga does !

MarianaWestminster wrote:

I'd expect that though rvbush and I can cope with some degradation compared to an earlier car but my 3 VDS equipped RRs have been total and utter garbage in this department.


On that note I do need to actually drive an S class to see if they live up to the ride quality hype.

Rant over

I drive an S class fairly regularly (2016-17) and it is indeed a very good air suspension setup. Not only does it handle bumps and pot holes better (with really skinny sidewalls), but it is also selectable; comfort or sport which makes a pronounced difference to the ride.

It kinda me off that I can't get the same if not better ride over bumps and imperfections in road surfaces as a saloon car... Cam

2011 TDV8 Vogue in Stornoway Grey

I've been reading this thread with interest. I too had been less than impressed with the crashy ride, particularly from the back end. A couple of weeks ago, I took the car to a 'pay and play' off-road site for the first time (great fun, and very impressive capabilities). I noticed a slight 'groaning' from the rear suspension during extreme articulation. Ever since, the on-road ride has greatly improved, with a much smoother ride. Could it be that something seizes up if the suspension is not utilised to its full extent once in a while, placing more reliance on the dampers? I could be talking rubbish, but that's just my two penn'orth!


 2011MY 4.4TDV8 Autobiography Baltic Blue
TVR Griffith
Alfa Romeo Mito QV

Extending the shocks to their full length either off road, or in my case on a 4 post lift, seems to restore their function for a while. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Good evening, gentlemen!

I was a silent reader for the last few years on many interesting topics in this great forum.
Finally I have my flying carpet. Replacing the shock absorbers, height sensors, front axle joints, acceleration sensors and calibrating the height, damping, steering angle sensor, longitudinal acceleration sensor and lateral acceleration sensor brought little success. Four new insulators for the rear crossmember were the solution.
Now the Range Rover floats over bumps, cross grooves... simply a dream!
The picture shows the new rubber mounts. It´s important to check the upper distance between them and the body; with old rubber mounts the distance becomes smaller.

Click image to enlarge

Welcome to the forum!

Interesting...the S Class suffers from issues when the same bushes wear. Cam

2011 TDV8 Vogue in Stornoway Grey

I ended up changing my rear upper and lower arms, mainly as an easy way to change the bushes to the subframe, I had changed the 4 big subframe bushes previously and this made a small difference but changing the arms made the ride a lot better.

I think as the rear upper arm bushes are a pig to change most are probably on their originals and these seize up/go hard thus transmitting the imperfections through to the subframe etc.

There are a lot of bushes on the rear and I think if any of them are not in good condition then you will feel it in the ride quality.

Its either change them all or run the lottery of trying to find the ones that are causing the issues, problem then is that if they're all old or in poor condition then changing one set wont give you the night/day change in the ride quality as the other bushes will still be causing an issue.

That's just my thoughts, but my ride was awful for ages in the end I have changed
Rear upper hub bush - originals seized
Rear lower hub bush - originals were ok
Rear toe links - originals worn
Rear lower ball joint - Originals worn and a pig to get out
x4 subframe to body mounts - Originals worn and hard
Anti roll bar links - Originals were ok
All the height sensors - wasn't sure if these were giving faulty readings so changed them, didn't make much difference.
Upper arm and bushes -Original bushes rock hard and seriously corroded
Lower arm and bushes - Original bushes were not too bad but were going hard

It finally stopped annoying me once I changed the arms. (was holding off on buying new shocks as I had heard this hadn't improved anything, glad I did now as I didn't need them.) 2012 TDV8 Autobiography Baltic Blue
Previous
2007 BMW M5 E60

Hi All,

Long time lurker around these parts of the internet - I've had quite a few 4.4 TDV8 L322's and confirm that some of them definitely ride better (softer, smoother, more like a magic carpet) than others.

I have 2 cars with me at the moment - 1 rides very nicely, super smooth like the magic carpet we all seem to be after. The other is very firm - and noticeably more choppy.

Using the GAP IID tool, I've confirmed that the choppy car seems to have a lot more instances of the active dampers taking a current less than 1.5A (the current sent to them for the softest setting) on the same stretch of road at the same speed.

When I looked at the ECU data for both cars - the hardware code for both Active Damping modules is the same: 8W83-14C5540-AB. However the car that rides nicely looks to be operating on a previous "Strategy" which I'm guessing is the algorithm that decides how much current to send to the dampers.

Choppy car (2012) has strategy: AH42-14C542-AH
and Assembly: AH42-18B008-AH
Smooth car (2011) has strategy: AH42-14C542-AG
and Assembly: AH42-18B008-AG

My theory is if I can reflash the ADCM on the choppy car to have the previous strategy it may ride the same... Next step is to email GAP team and see if this is possible.

That's fine interesting James, I await your results with interest.

Incidentally for anyone who cares, I recently changed all 4 tyres for the next sidewall size up and it has transformed the ride. 255/50/20 -> 255/55/20 same brand and model of tyre. The comfort, forgiveness of potholes/bumps, noise, and turn-in behaviour have all improved noticeably  Cam

2011 TDV8 Vogue in Stornoway Grey

James - that is highly interesting, cannot wait for you to reflash the ADCM on the choppy car and await the results


Telly-addict - I have just done the opposite, gone one sidewall down, from 255 55 R20 tyres to 255 50 R20 ( the new ones have PNCS - Pirelli's attempt to reduce trye noise on good A roads and Motorways)

Just recently I had the pleasure of driving on some of France's autoroute's, and the 4 new tyres were amazing, just like my old Jaguar XF Sportbrake, I was highly impressed with them