New 200GT-Do they get softer!

[Anonymous]

HI All,
Picked up my 10 month old ex demo 200GT in Pearl White last week. Only 290 miles on the clock.
Bought it because of the brilliant style, inside and out and drive/sound, the spacious boot, especially when back seat down for golf clubs etc and the rear seats for occasional grandkids. More space in the back than the TT Coupe and bigger boot than Z4 etc.
It ticked all the boxes and I really love it, yes it's my late mid life crisis car and son says it's an 'hairdressers car', but so what, call me Vidal Sassoon!
But here's the snag-yes I expected a hardish ride and the test drive was ok, but it seems to rattle over every bump, even on the new tarmac roads and gives my wife a headache! Change the car or change the wife? :crazy: Tough call, but prepared to persevere with both!!
Have had the wheels checked and rebalanced but all seems ok, so the question is , do they soften up at all after putting some miles on the clock?
I really love it and as we are both retired (early) tend to drive it 2 up a lot and it would be real shame to move it on for something more 'sensible'-life's too short to drive the wife's Polo.
:helpme:
Rasser

 

[Anonymous]

I'm no expert but it looks like you will have to get rid of the wife.

 

[Anonymous]

No need to change your wife. There have been known issues and someone with knowledge of what has caused the knocking will be along to enlighten you. (because I can't recall)

 

[the big blue]

Hi' I'm no guru on the subject but coming from a superstock motorcycling background and from a personal perspective the ride may soften up a little BUT the price of sports handling characteristics (200 GT) is what's termed a taught ride. Some coupe's are aimed more at comfort as opposed to sports handling and have a softer (more plush) ride but then they don't handle so well when being pushed hard through bends etc and tend to wallow AND thats the compromise the manufacturer chooses between.

To engineer in the 'best of both worlds' is far more costly (electronic shocks controlled by an ecu that automatically adjusts the oil flow in the dampers depending on pre determined ever changing set parameters, I believe the Scirocco may have such a set up. :crazy: Hope the above makes sense.

Keep the car and to keep the wife happy get her cushion to sit on :thumbup: ,,luckily for me my partners butt has been honed on an inch thick pillion seat of a sports motorbike so she's use to being bounced out of the seat having both her butt pummelled and fillings rattled whilst avoiding death getting from A to B.

.the big blue (not wishing to sound like an anorak !!) :sleeping-yellow:

 

[richard.au]

At almost 20,000 klms, I can say, No, it will not soften.

It would seem though that you guys in the UK must have some pretty bad roads.

Here in Oz, I occasionaly get reminded how tough the rear suspension can be, when I (rarely) hit some kind of divet/pot hole.

But I have to say that 99% of the time, the ride is exactly as I'd like it. Some bumps can come across a sounding very severe, but like I said above I rarely encounter them.

That being said, I'm not sure I'd want to travel too many rutted and corrugated country roads, it could get rather uncomfortable when travelling on a 'bush track'.

Mind you, I remember an Alfa I had years ago. I encountered a corrugated country road, and thought the poor car was going to break. So hey, you could get this kind of response from any 'sports' vehicle.

You'll just have to watch out for and avoid any ruts you can... that's all I can suggest.. little as it is

 

[Anonymous]

I was thinking about the members that have had shock absorbers and engine mounts changed FOC, I'm sure I recall a common problem along these line. But age and memory and all that

 

[Anonymous]

There's no doubt about it its a hard ride my gt has 1500 miles on it you soon get used to it the large wheels and low tyre's don't help.

 

[Anonymous]

There's no doubt about it its a hard ride my gt has 1500 miles on it you soon get used to it the large wheels and low tyre's don't help.

Ye, but rasser describes a rattle rather than the normal firm ride

 

[hanswuk]

I also thought my 200GT was OK on the test drive and then later realised that it had a much harder ride than I had at first thought. One of two things have happened since - either the car has softened slightly or I've toughened up but I'm not sure which!

However one thing is for sure - I have no thoughts of changing because after a year of ownership I believe that the positive aspects of the car far outweigh the negative.

By the way, although the ride is very taut you should just get a thump or bump noise ie. no bangs or rattles.

 

[Anonymous]

Buy a cushion for the seat and a bottle of wine for the wife

 

[frankvdb]

The THP200 being the most sporty version at that time will have the firmest ride.
It does have a strutbar to stiffen up front suspension.
Also I guess you have 19" wheels which will have lower profile tyres which also adds to the hardness.
I have a HDi on 18" wheels and it's perfect on our smooth Dutch roads.
I prefer the ride of the RCZ over my previous 307 XSi on 16" wheels because the smaller wheels don't roll as easily over the many speedbumps we have.

 

[RCZ-Performance]

Congratulations and Welcome!

As for the ride, you will get use to it but may end-up going on solo drives more often

 

[DanRo]

I don't understand why people make a problem out of a stiff suspension. A stiff and hard suspension is always to be found on a good sport car. If you want a soft ride then you need to buy a salloon car

 

[Anonymous]

It's not even necessarily your suspension but rather the size of your rims.18s and particularly 19s are going to give you a stiff ride regardless.

 

[DanRo]

Maybe you can use 15" wheels to make it softer ride

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies. I will see how it goes. Already bought the cushion and wine!
Cheers,
Bob

 

[Anonymous]

Perhaps you could use it to as an excuse to persuade the missus to provider regular massages? :eusa-think: Every cloud...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi rasser and welcome. Not much to add to previous comments. On our test drive we also didn't notice the hardness of the tide, or rather it was outweighed by so many other positive factors. We live with it, but try to avoid pot holes. My good lady says she doesn't mind the hard ride, so long as its done with some style and panache. Our Lola doesn't disappoint :eusa-whistle:

 

[Anonymous]

I too have the 200 GT & yes, it is hard compared to other cars - but that is 1/2 the fun.

Having said that - putting the winter tyres on (for no apparent reason judging by the lack of snow) - made it even harder & quite jarring.

You get used to it & more attentive to the road - avoiding the potholes/bumps that previously in a lesser car you'd have laughed off.

We did used to have a much harder car - Mk1 Eunos Roadster S-special (MX5), factory special with more hp, lower+harder bilsteins, torsion bar etc - NOW THAT HURT !!!! The RCZ is an armchair in comparison!

You'll get used to it, the trick is to drive as fast as possible & it just skims the bumps, adrenaline also numbs posteriors - honest!!! :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

It's nowt to do with the suspension although as someone said big blue l think, Magnetic damper s would be better it's them 19 " wheels, if the ride is that bad for your better half,you could change the 19" wheels for 18" and as the new tyres wear down the ride won't improve