I've had my 8 since last June. It was an unusually stiff ride at first because the dealer put too much air in the tires. It got better with the correct inflation but not that good still. I had nothing to compare to until my friend got an enthusiast 350Z. His is a bit smoother. I then test drove another 6spd 18 in rimmed RX8 this past weekend and thought it to be much smoother also. Has anyone brought their 8 in to be adjusted? I searched and could only find somebody with bushing problems in Montreal and I am in California so I doubt that's the answer. Please help.

 

Well distance in location does not mean the problems are not similar or the same, but I think the 8's ride is pretty good and I've heard the 350Z "Track" version is VERY hard on the spine.

Take it to the dealer and if they can tell it's too harsh maybe they will check things out and find a problem.

Hopefully...someone will be able to give you a better answer. Sorry for the pain...

 

You think the Z is smoother than the 8?

 

I felt the same way when I got mine. I have had two back surgeries and now favor the blacktop. You can go to 16" wheels it will improve the ride for you. I dont think other then tire pressure you can do much unless you want to invest $$$.

 

People spend all kinds of money to get their suspensions stiff the way you describe.

 

As anyone who has gone to different tires than the OEM Potenzas can attest, there's a fairly cheap route a better ride - better and bigger tires.

I went to the Pirelli PZero Nero M+S tires in a 245/40/18 size, and noticed an immediate improvement in ride, and in handling. $720 delivered and installed.

 

That's for sure.....I settled on Kumho 245/40/18 ASX's and the ride and noise improved greatly.

 

Anyone knows of a performance shop in New York or in New Jersey

Thanks
Doron

 

Way smoother- less agressive- but more comfortable. All depends on your age, if your old- stick with 16's if your young- or just young at heart, go with the 18's and have a ball!

 

Hey Stew,

Do the 245/40's fit on the stock rims, or do you have aftermarket wheels?

Thanks,
Bill

 

They fit fine. I believe you can even go one more size on these wheels.

 

Way smoother- less agressive- but more comfortable. All depends on your age, if your old- stick with 16's if your young- or just young at heart, go with the 18's and have a ball!

 

I second the PZeros. I have them on my SPEC-V and they are excellent tires, good traction and good ride and decent in snow.

 

I'm confused here, do you have the Auto Base because you mentioned test drove another one with 18" 6spd, since the only model with the 16s is the base auto. However, ride should be smoother with the 16" than the 18"s..

 

They fit great on the stock rims, and more importantly LOOK AWESOME! And handle great. No interference issues whatsover, and the tires are SLIGHTLY less diameter than the OEMs, so you pick up a bit of speedo error - mine now reads 1.5 to 2 mph high, based on my GPS.

Stew

 

Stock. I got the Continental ContiExtremeContact 245/40-18's Ultra High Performance All-Season (M+S) from NTB (matched tirerack.com's price) for my girlfriend's RX-8. Slightly less expensive than the PZero's. On tirerack.com, the PZeros are rated first in their class, and the Continentals are second. The Conti's may be a bit higher rated for snow traction, too (been a while since I looked).

Much less tramlining than the stock RE040's.

Edit: The PZeros were always backordered at tirerack, which is why I looked at the Conti's. Glad I did.

 

Xtasy is saying his RX8 rides different from other RX8's, that his might not be normal. And agree with Xtasy that any 250Z that's not the Track model might ride smoother and softer than the RX8.

I think there's more than one aspect to a suspension's ride feel. I test drove 2 non Track model Z's and both felt smoother on the road than my RX8. However, by pure luck, once when I test drove a Z and once when I test drove an RX8, the road became "gutted out" (they were resurfacing) and there were jagged lines all over. I distinctly remember that the Z car was incredibly and unbearably bumpy on the gutted road while the RX8 absorbed the nonstop bumps better.

 

I was thinking about it again. I don't see how it could be your tires because you didn't say the tires felt strange. And I don't think it's the springs and you didn't say the car ride height was sagging. So could it be the shocks or the bushings? Probably shocks?

 

Quite possibly shocks. How many miles are on your '8, Xtasy94?

 

As a short term solution you could drive with the tire pressure down a couple pounds.

 

Reactionary. thanks for replying. I wasn't claiming it was the tires. I was just trying somewhat badly to say that I had the touring 6spd model. I forget if that suspension is any different than the auto. I'm more or less trying to find out if anyone else has had their's adjusted in some way to make it absorb bumps better. It kind of sends jolts through the whole car. I'm going to take it to the dealer on Saturday and have them look at it. I'm also going to try something like putting a penny on the dash and drive over the bots (reflectors in between lanes) to give some kind of measure of the jolt and compare that to a similarly equipped RX8 on their lot.

Omicron, I have about 8k miles on it now. When I first got it, it was crazy stiff and uncomfortable. I checked the air pressure and it was about 4-5 psi over recommended. That helped a lot but I still felt every bump in the road. I think it may have gotten worse with the colder weather, but not that much. It was only when I drove my friend's Z that I thought how much smoother his was than mine. To be fair the articles on the Z don't give it enough credit for the enthusiast model ride. Until now I just thought that's what I get for driving a sports car. Now I think maybe there is something wrong with mine. Do you know if there's anything they can adjust besides tire pressure to soften the ride?

Thanks to all for replying. Been on this site for over a year and still loving it.

 

Well, CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES CHANGE THE TIRES

 

Frank, 16" wheels do not fit on any RX-8 except the Base auto trans cars. Everything else has larger brakes, which require at least 17" wheels.

Xtasy94, I really think there's something wrong with your car. There isn't a 350Z that should ride more smoothly than an RX-8, period. One guess - does Mazda use shipping spacers in the springs? They are used by some manufacturers to reduce motion of the vehicles in transit from Japan or Europe, and must be removed by the dealers before delivery. Your problem sounds like what the ride would be like if shipping spacers were not removed... You could inspect your springs to see if they are free from the upper to lower spring mounts, or if there is anything blocking the spring from compressing properly.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Gordon, I just looked and I don't see any blockage. The springs look free to compress. Thanks anyways. Hopefully the dealer will find something.

It feels like any jolts translate straight to the cabin and makes the car sound really cheap. It's twice as bad as my MPV minivan, which I find tighter than most minivans and easily 4 times worse than my old '98 626. I know it should be a little rougher than those, but as I stated before, an identical (except for my cool lightning yellow) RX8 I test drove last weekend felt noticably smoother.

 

I also forgot to ask where do you find the actual TSB's? The Alldata website lists "TSB 0200104 Feb '04 Suspension-Shock Absorber/Strut Replacement Guidelines". It won't give details though unless you are a subscriber. Rosenthal Mazda doesn't list that particular one in their website either. Anyone know of somewhere else to look?