Harsh Ride: Such a shame

I'm not an expert by any means, but isn't the focus a FWD car?

That's going to be much "easier" to drive on bumpy roads as your steering is on the same wheels where you're applying torque

for the z4, you're applying power to the rear wheels while steering with your fronts and thus it's going to give a lot more unstable feeling over bumpy roads when your tires aren't evenly planted
 
Yes,

You are correct, the focus is FWD, and probably one of the best handling FWD hatches, I would say the Mini is better, but the focus is pretty good.

And yes, hatches are easier to drive quickly, round the country lanes where I live, I used to be much quicker in my old 206 gti, because it is so "chuckable", either that or I am more sensible now I am older, and I care about my Z4 alot more!

But as someone said previously, on a good bit of tarmac the Z4 is beautiful to drive, for example during a drive on the Lincolnshire wolds, my Z4 easily kept up with my freinds Leon FR, and blasted past an older A3 S3 (1.8 turbo).

I adore my Z4, everything apart from the ride! thats my only problem with it!
 
speed12 said:
Yes,

You are correct, the focus is FWD, and probably one of the best handling FWD hatches, I would say the Mini is better, but the focus is pretty good.

And yes, hatches are easier to drive quickly, round the country lanes where I live, I used to be much quicker in my old 206 gti, because it is so "chuckable", either that or I am more sensible now I am older, and I care about my Z4 alot more!

But as someone said previously, on a good bit of tarmac the Z4 is beautiful to drive, for example during a drive on the Lincolnshire wolds, my Z4 easily kept up with my freinds Leon FR, and blasted past an older A3 S3 (1.8 turbo).

I adore my Z4, everything apart from the ride! thats my only problem with it!
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I agree with a lot of what you say here about hot hatches being easier to drive:
My wife's last car was a 206GTi and that was so chuckable (to a point when it let go anf then yuo were asking front wheels to do way too much) My daughter drives a Mini cooper S and that amazes me how well it will go. In my daughters hands it seem a blur of dash lights as it scrabbles for traction, locks the odd wheel on damp or gravel but makes rapid progress. Does it all in comfort and on RFT's so long as she keeps all the aids switched on .

I'd still have the Zed any day over them
 
i dont find the Zed 'crashy' (mines on 18's with M-Sport suspension), but it is very firm.

i have been quite suprised with how the car handles but i have put it down to being a RWD mostly.

like yourself, i find it terrible to try and drive quickly on B roads, but not much worse then my Fiat which does have crashy suspension.

i wouldnt consider myself a tame driver 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VTRZayFN4
 
bulldog5046 said:
i dont find the Zed 'crashy' (mines on 18's with M-Sport suspension), but it is very firm.

i have been quite suprised with how the car handles but i have put it down to being a RWD mostly.
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And I would have said the same thing when I owned my 3.0si after coming from my JCW MINI, but not after driving my new Z4! It really does highlight how "jumpy" the first gen car can be to be honest! Still a great car though!
 
You'll never keep up with a soft forgiving family car driven by a loony, in a sporty car driven with safety in mind, unless you are both willing to do the workout to go fast, and also willing to drive like a loony.

The fact the Z4 needs a great deal of work input to go quickly at all is a positive feature imho, makes it enjoyable, and high road speeds on tough roads can only be attained when you really are paying attention and working hard. A great safety feature and also rewarding!

I will say though, that RFT do ruin these cars in their OEM form. The rough ride and stifness is ok, but the random jiggling around that you just can't drive around is not a nice feature.

Dave
 
richard100 said:
I think if we're all honest, the Z4 with RFT's is a positively dangerous car. I'm glad I made the change, but it can still be a bit hairy out there at times.
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I couldn't disagree more. Never had a complaint with the OEMs on my coupe except they don't last long. I knew when I bought this car it was tightly sprung, even got the sport option. It's quick, fast and responds to the smallest touch.

I didn't expect the ride of the 7 series or a big Benz, nor did I want that. I think the folks complaining the most didn't do enough test driving before purchase.
 
There is the rough ride, which is fine imho, but the car randomly shifting 6 inches laterally to a tiny bump in the road, with no ability counter it except slowing down, is pretty poor/dangerous.

There is stiff and sporty and performance orientated, and there is stiff and sporty and s**t. RFT's make the Z4 land in the latter imho ;) :D

Dave
 
Smokin said:
richard100 said:
I think if we're all honest, the Z4 with RFT's is a positively dangerous car. I'm glad I made the change, but it can still be a bit hairy out there at times.
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I couldn't disagree more. Never had a complaint with the OEMs on my coupe except they don't last long. I knew when I bought this car it was tightly sprung, even got the sport option. It's quick, fast and responds to the smallest touch.

I didn't expect the ride of the 7 series or a big Benz, nor did I want that. I think the folks complaining the most didn't do enough test driving before purchase.
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Sorry Smokin, the roads in North Carolina are probably pretty smooth, but in the UK, they are sh*te, and with Bridgestone RFT's, the ride is unforgivable.
 
Think we just need to man up and driveeee :lol: :P
Yeaahh its a bit "woaahhhhh kai yaaaayyy" lairy at times...but all good fun isnt it :D
Just remember..whatever you do...alwaysss wear a seatbelt :)
My first post in a whilee...
heloo everybody :lol:
 
I've had my Z4 with sports suspension and 18" wheels since 2003. Getting rid of the runflats did help the ride a bit but the handling improvement of the sports package has a cost. It does and always will have a very firm ride. Several cars ago, I owned a third generation Mazda RX-7 R-1. A wickedly fast car that had an even harsher ride than the Z4. It had to have had iron bars for shock absorbers but it had amazing and predictable handling. Take your pick. Performance or comfort. Porsche might have a somewhat better compromise solution with one of the boxster suspension packages, but it will remain compromise.
 
Clarkson wrote an article in the times recently about his Mercedes Black. He was, as he did with the Z4, complaining about the ride being 'unacceptable'. Noting all the carachteristics of a car thats to stiffly sprung with jarring etc.

So, as the merc has adjustable suspension he gave it to a guy from Lotus who softened the ride. The result was a quicker lap time round the Top gear track.

Im sure the Z4 would benefit from a better setup. I drive round London for 90% of the time and some of you will have no idea how bad that is. Still everything else is spot on. :roll: :D
 
The Z4 isn't that bad at all imho.

OK, it's not smooth and comfy, but it's hardly rock hard at all.

You can feel it's benefits and well as the compromises it brings.

I bought it for it's solidity anyway, don't want a bloody marshmallow :)

Dave
 
I don't think 35/255 tyres help, that is come serious sized rubber for a small car. Bigger isnt always better, Elise/VX220's have skinny tyres at the front due to no weight over the front. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the best way to go about it for handling purposes, but round town those extra wide tyres find every pothole and tramline. I've often thought about going to 17s, but dunno if it would be worth it?
 
Every time my car is in the dealer (a lot) I rediscover that the slowest 1 series diesel is actually faster down my local bumpy roads than my 18" wheel, run flatted 3 litre car. Why should I replace the run flats just to make it drive properly?

IMHO BMW added runflats to the Z4 development programme at the eleventh hour and couldn't be bothered to revise the suspension. This might be why owners of later cars don't have such a big issue.
 
You can improve the ride by lowering air pressure a couple of lbs. It will result in mushier cornering but only noticable at apex at high speeds. The stock RFTs are an abomination. When i see vintage MGs and Triumphs I marvel at how they handel without low profile and even rather narrow tires and with solid rear suspension. Skid pad ratings were lower Gs, but real road driving was excellent.
 
A series of sharp bumps can be unnerving, especially coming into a curve, as the car dances a bit. I still have the RFTs, so there's a lot of tramlining, too. Still, the car turns like nothing I've ever driven. It's so much fun just cranking the wheel into turn at speed and having it rail on through. My E38 would make all but the harshest bumps unnoticeable, but you couldn't toss it into curves as easily as the Z (obviously). The comfort factor was there in the E38. The fun factor is there in the Z. Pick your poison.
 
Yes, I just bought mine on Saturday and drove back from London partly on the A roads as motorway was queued up. I was so disappointed that I also couldn't keep up with other cars on the dual carriageways because the car was jumping about so much. I thought it was because of the run flats but was dismayed to find out that they are already non run flats. It needs bag tyres and bushes done and so I'm hoping there will be some improvement.
 
Ha! No kidding! I just noticed the dates on the previous posts … zombie thread back from the dead!

No matter. This is an eternal issue with Zeds, so while we're here …

I have OEM RFT summer tires, and non-RFT Blizzaks for winter. The difference is quite noticeable (i.e. the Blizzaks provide a much nicer ride). However (and this is kinda weird) I'm finding that after more than 2 years of ownership the RFTs aren't bothering me nearly as much as they used to. Is that simply because I've gotten used to them? Or perhaps I've learned to handle them better? Or does the suspension actually soften up a bit if it's exercised regularly (whoever owned the car before me hardly drove it … 30k kilometres in 8 years)?

One more thing: even a slight increase in tire pressure over the recommendation for the RFTs (23 in back, 21 in front for mine) turns the ride to crap, so I keep them spot on.
 
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