2006 vs 2013: Ride Quality
#16
I never said the air suspension wasn't responsible for the ride quality in this case. If you go back and actually read my post you will see that I commented on the harshness of the 955 steel spring suspensions.
RFTs aside a low profile tire is always going to ride harsher than a higher profile and smaller wheel for the same application. There is simply less material and space between you and the road to absorb the imperfections.
Having low profiles made of a compound soft enough to give you a comparable ride would result in you either eating through them at an insane rate or rolling over onto your rims every time you turned a corner.
Making a tire support side loads is different than its ability to address a impact from a bump. Inner construction of the tire has a lot to do with this.
There is a reason a "run flat" rides rougher than any other tire of the same size. It's because the sidewall is designed to hold up the weight of the vehicle, not just deal with handling stresses.
Often times when a manufacture makes higher profile tire for a sports vehicle or vehicle with high loads (truck tire sizes in this case) the side wall is made to be even stiffer to handle the loads and increased leverage of the larger sidewall. The stiffened up sidewall to handle loads or dynamic side loads might not deflect bumps as nicely as people think.
I've had several sets of low profile tires that ride much better than the taller tires they replaced.
#17
#18
Rennlist Member
My wife got spoiled with air suspension when we had it in our 04 S so our 06 S had to have it. She had cayenne loaners wo- she did not like it- abit bumpy esp for rear passengers. A plus with air suspension if u tow it's self leveling. Mike