Q5 ride to hard

[Steven coulson]

Hi 

just Bought a 66 plate Audi Q5 se to find the ride is so hard it's affecting an old neck problem I haven't experienced in over 15 years. I don't want to sell the car as I stand to lose a lot of money. The car has Michelin latitude sport 3 tyres which I have reduced the pressure to 26 psi but has had no effect. Does anyone know of any solution.

thanks Steve 

[Magnet]

Hello Steven,

Sorry to hear of your disappointment with the car. Shame. Is it different from when you first road tested it? 

I appreciate your logic of reducing the tyre pressures, but personally I would not consider this to be a good option,since it is likely to adversely effect the handing of the vehicle. 

Re. possible ride improvements, could I ask what the wheel and the tyre size are, and if the tyres are run-flat or not. Wheels and tyre sizes can have a/an (significant?) effect on the ride - certainly more so than reducing tyre pressures. 

It may be possible to reduce the wheel size and then increase the tyre profile to aid ride quality.

Re. not wanting to change it:- most dealers will often accommodate such discontents - OK not without some loss, but often within the bounds of acceptability to both parties.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Steven coulson]

Wheels are 18" with 60 tyres wall size. I'm not to bothered about the handling I don't drive the car fast, I thought buying a good make like Audi the suspension would be set up for a comfortable ride and not like an F1 car, after all it's supposed to be an SUV. The test drive was only 10 minutes long I didn't detect any problems as for the dealership they said they would give me part exchange price against another Audi. Even after 6 days what made it worse is there was another couple waiting to see if we bought the car as we just beat them to the test drive. The dealership had their contact details and wouldn't releases them to me.

[Magnet]

Hello Steven,

In my opinion, we can discount large wheels and ‘skinny’ tyre as having an adverse effect on ride quality. 60 profile is about as good as it gets.

Are tyres run-flat or not? It wouldn’t surprise me they are, and if so the stiffer side walls will affect the ride. If they are, could you fit non run flats to your wheels?? Consult local tyre specialist. 

To me, reducing tyre pressures in an attempt to improve ride quality would certainly not be recommended and is likely to adversely compromise handling. Yes, I appreciate you don’t drive fast etc., but......

Way forward? If I were in your situation, after checking whether tyres are run-flat or not, I would check (via. VIN search for the example) whether the car has been built with harder sports suspension or not. 

OK other owners on here may give you their opinion, but it’s your (in caps) opinion that matters, so why not road test other similar models to eliminate whether they are the same as yours? If they are, then at least you know there isn’t anything wrong with yours. 

‘Audi should have better ride comfort...’ or words to that effect. SUV’s of any make can have a tendency to be top heavy and ride quality has to be compromised to improve handling characteristics. 

In the end Steven, only you can decide if not losing money is more important than having a vehicle that suits your particular needs. 

Other potential buyers? I guess the dealer is protecting their identity and the dealers opportunity to sell an alternative vehicle to them. I see this as water under the bridge and water doesn’t go backwards. 

Perhaps you could fill in the questionable bits for us so anyone else with similar discontents in the future will have experience of how things panned out.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Guest]

7Jx17 better ride than 8Jx18.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Honda