How to smooth the jitters?

[Dr_Snooz]

I have a BMW that I drive when it isn't broken down. Which is never. I'd get rid of it, but the ride is unreal. It goes over bumps like they just don't exist. I never lose traction and the wheels never bounce across the tops of bumps. By contrast, my 3g gets jittery & skittish when the road gets rough. I know we have a lot of awesome suspension tuners on here. Anyone know how to make the 3g ride less caffeinated?

[russiankid]

You have to take in consideration that the E34 weights 3900lbs and has 225 tires. The accord on the other hand is much lighter and has 195's for the LX-i?

I would start with a little wider tires, then springs and shocks.

[jpetrovic]

i had a 95 740il RIP rode like a dream.. BUT UBER expensive to keep up. the tires alone were 1,100 dollars. they were 225/45zr18 103w Nitto Nts555
i had some major money in my e38. my brother took it out one night and loss controll riped the wheels outta the bearing races and went sidewayz in a pole....
worst day of my life.. i had my life invested in that carr!!
anywayz. yeah i would start with wide tires...
i think the weight of the 3gee is just to light to have the uber gripage u are lookin for tho... but the ppl here have some good suspension setups, that will help but i beleive the 3 gee will always have that lil slip comin around a rough corner.

[AZmike]

If you're looking to improve the ride, replacing the shocks with something like KYB GR2s should make a noticeable improvement if you're still on the original shocks. Stay with the stock springs.

Russiankid is right though, the big weight difference contributes a lot to the different ride characteristics. Reducing unsprung mass on the Accord would still help though.

If you still have the stock steel wheels that came on the coupe, swapping them for a set of light alloy wheels would also help. The suspension will be able to better control the wheel and keep it in contact with the road better over bumps. Wider tires may get you more grip, but they are likely to make the ride worse with their stiffer sidewalls and extra weight. Has the car been aligned recently?

Adding stiffer anti-roll bars to the setup described above should improve handling without much sacrifice of ride quality.

[Dr_Snooz]

i had a 95 740il RIP rode like a dream.. BUT UBER expensive to keep up. the tires alone were 1,100 dollars. they were 225/45zr18 103w Nitto Nts555
i had some major money in my e38. my brother took it out one night and loss controll riped the wheels outta the bearing races and went sidewayz in a pole....
worst day of my life.. i had my life invested in that carr!!
anywayz. yeah i would start with wide tires...
i think the weight of the 3gee is just to light to have the uber gripage u are lookin for tho... but the ppl here have some good suspension setups, that will help but i beleive the 3 gee will always have that lil slip comin around a rough corner.

Oh God. I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah, my Bimmer isn't reliable, but it's beautiful and otherworldly to drive. I'd be crushed if it got destroyed. It's always broken down and each time I belly up the dough to get it running again. It's like being a heroine junkie really.

If you're looking to improve the ride, replacing the shocks with something like KYB GR2s should make a noticeable improvement if you're still on the original shocks. Stay with the stock springs.

Russiankid is right though, the big weight difference contributes a lot to the different ride characteristics. Reducing unsprung mass on the Accord would still help though.

If you still have the stock steel wheels that came on the coupe, swapping them for a set of light alloy wheels would also help. The suspension will be able to better control the wheel and keep it in contact with the road better over bumps. Wider tires may get you more grip, but they are likely to make the ride worse with their stiffer sidewalls and extra weight. Has the car been aligned recently?

Adding stiffer anti-roll bars to the setup described above should improve handling without much sacrifice of ride quality.

Thanks. That helps a lot. I hadn't thought about the heavy steel wheels. I'd love to get a set of BBS', but at 2x the value of the car, that's a tough sell.

[2oodoor]

fresh bushings and joints help tremendously as do 15 inch aloy wheels add to that a good 4 wheel alignment .. your Honda will ride like a dream too

[w261w261]

When our cars were new, although they basically just blew away the competition, some reviewers said that the ride was a bit too soft for their taste. If you are having problems with "skittishness," I'd say that is really not part of the OEM Accord experience, and so your car is probably suffering from wear in various places. If the bushings are worn, then each time the suspension is asked to do its job, the cumulative "slack" will not allow the shocks to dampen out things as quickly as they should.

I would start with all the bushings in the front end. If the radius rod bushings are worn (I've on my 3rd set in 150,000 miles since 10/01), you will get a deterioration in stability way before any noises start to happen. I can tell when mine are wearing because I start to get a little torque steer.

How about the sway bar bushings? Maybe look at the steering links, although mine are still good at 209,000. It goes without saying that the ball joints should be checked.

After the bushings, the shocks are the next obvious choice. Each member has his own preference - mine is Bilstein, but I have Eibach springs and have had the shocks revalved to make them stiffer. But Bilstein is a great brand with, I think, a lifetime warranty. In any case, new shocks will have an immediate effect. Just don't go cheap, you'll regret it.

You haven't mentioned the relative state of your car. If it's gone for awhile without some work, you should check out the control arm bushings as well. Good luck.

[evil88accordLX]

if the weight of the BMW directly relates to the ride because its so heavy, wouldnt a slightly softer spring in the 3gee smooth out the ride somewhat? makes sense in my head anyways.

[Oldblueaccord]

It really is the the spring rate is high on our cars for the weight.


You could try messing with the tire pressures. I don't run anymore then 25 psi in the rear. If you using speed rated tires that also adds to the ride factor. The differance between H rated and Z rated tires are noticeable.


Whoops thinking as I write I think only the LXi models called for H rated tires.



wp

[jpetrovic]

Oh God. I'm so sorry to hear that. Yeah, my Bimmer isn't reliable, but it's beautiful and otherworldly to drive. I'd be crushed if it got destroyed. It's always broken down and each time I belly up the dough to get it running again. It's like being a heroine junkie really.

yeah, lol one time i hit a curb broke the tierod end doing about 50mph... the road was a mess the lane narrowed soo abruptly... anways tierode end broke the wheel was masshed into the wheel well when that happend the car shut down. ??? took it to the shop. what happend was when the wheel mashed into the wheel well the wire harness was right above it and it riped the whole thing to shreads...
needed a new tire $300 new wheel well plastic cover thingy $295 tie rod $162 wire harness $900 the total bill at the end was a little under 7 thousand with labor to fix... my dad helped me with quite a bit of that:P yeah. soo i know what your saying when u say its like beaing a heronie junky.. i had many more things happen... but that was the worst ever.

[HondaBoy]

replace bushings for one. even if you arent able to grab the part and have a bit of movement there is deterioration thats happened thats not really able to be seen until you take everything apart. that is going to be a main point on my 3gee. i would say just go all the way and replace every rubber part on the suspension. i've done this on many trucks and a lot of full sized fords and lincolns. it makes all the difference. it will improve the ride and handling dramatically and if definately a problem on a lot of hondas i've rode in or driven. then the problem with the struts and shocks. make sure to replace strut mounts on the front end, better yet get a complete strut mount kit. this will also make the ride better along with quieting those bumps. also think about replacing the ball joints and tie rod ends. everything i've said would tighten up the suspension and give it a ride like it was new. i've learned just replacing a few parts is not the answer. i plan to do this when i get the new springs, struts and shocks. i have the same problem of the tires bouncing on a hard launch.