city's horrible suspension

kreigsmarine · 18th May 2006, 13:21

Hello everybody
Got the delivery of my new honda city yesterday.Since i've bought the car from CSD canteen in ambala,the dealer for which is in chandigarh,I drove down from chandigarh to delhi in the car.
Now some ppl(including my dealer) hav told me that initially the car shud not be taken byond 80kmph.Is this true?Also if this is true,then can nybody tell me the logic behind this fact?

About the car,the car as a whole is beautiful(but i guess when u r upgrading from a maruti800, any damn car wud look beautiful

).Theres only one problem:its suspension.I was terribly,terribly( no...make that terribly,terribly,terribly) dissapointed with its suspension.On the highway i could feel each and evry bump on the road.Even on the delhi roads i could feel the vibrations on the bad patches

.
No offence meant ,but i had earlier posted a query about the city in the "What Car" section.i got about 50 replies and only 1 or 2 said somthing about its suspension being bad, on account of its ground clearance being increased....so unfortunately i didnt read much into it.I wish i had been forewarned.

My being so dissapointed could perhaps also be the result of having very high expectations with the car.I really dont knoe.....

shuvc · 18th May 2006, 13:25

Strange .. is it that bad ? I thought it was improved in the ZX series ..

Btw, congrats on your purchase .. what colour did you buy ?

jkdas · 18th May 2006, 13:36

Get your suspension checked up. what if its defective?

RX135 · 18th May 2006, 13:44

Errmm....I had heard of city owners complaining about bad ride quality, but this is first time I see someone so pissed off with it. As you said, may be you are expecting too much from the car.

Congratulatins on your purchase! Post some pics.

drifter · 18th May 2006, 14:04

The dealer is somewhat right in telling you to restrict your speed.
Theres something called the running-in period. When the car is new, the engine should not be subjected to high loads. This is generally followed till the first 1000-1500kms.

Gradual acceleration, keeping the revs below 2500rpm-3000rpm in the initial 1000kms. You can gradually start increasing the revs from 1000kms onwards and open the throttle fully by 1500kms. This will help to bed-in the moving parts in your engine. It is essential for the longer life of the engine, if its not done properly, your engine may give problems later on.

About the suspension, i sat in the old NHC (non ZX), the ride was pretty acceptable. Are you sure your tyre pressures arent to blame here?

Drifter

naveendhyani · 18th May 2006, 14:05

congrats on the purchase bro! get the suspension checked, some times its just a case of bad part.

zenx · 18th May 2006, 14:12

Its called 'feedback' and hondas in general are tuned more for this than for ride. Do the vibs really get transmitted to the seat/spine ? My OHC does an ok job of that - and I'd imagine the new car is better. There's a shudder and u can 'feel' every inconsistency in the surface - but it rarely hits my back/seat. Given that, its a positive - more a driver's car than other more sterile feeling 'plush' setups.

venkatrx · 18th May 2006, 14:18

NHC had average suspensions and low ground clearence. When they release NHC ZX in an effort to improve the ground clearance, they made the rear-suspensions stiffer itseems to increase the ground clearance by about 12-13 mm.
But this has resulted in the suspensions becoming too stiff at low speeds. Even though the rear-seats are comfortable, the ride quality is poor.

To improve the ride quality you can try to reduce the tyre pressure a bit or go for wider tyres.

DRC · 18th May 2006, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenx

Its called 'feedback' and hondas in general are tuned more for this than for ride. Do the vibs really get transmitted to the seat/spine ? My OHC does an ok job of that - and I'd imagine the new car is better. There's a shudder and u can 'feel' every inconsistency in the surface - but it rarely hits my back/seat. Given that, its a positive - more a driver's car than other more sterile feeling 'plush' setups.

I wonder if you can say this about the Power steering also

Rayden · 18th May 2006, 15:08

Even my Uncle's City ZX suspension is not good !!!

PS : I forewarned you before you bought it

kreigsmarine · 18th May 2006, 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayden

Even my Uncle's City ZX suspension is not good !!!

PS : I forewarned you before you bought it

Why oh why didnt i listen to u!!!
When i finally thought of upgradin from my maruti,it wuz bcuz i was sick and tired of its non existent suspension and its poor build quality.Infact it was my posterior that did most of the shock absorbing in the car

.
So when i went in for a 7 lac car, i expected sumthin much better.You must understand that when i say that the suspension was terrible, its terrible as compared to wat it shud hav been.My frnds accent is such a smooth car.
And no,the vibrations dont reach my spine,its just that i'm made aware of every bump or inconsistency on the road..

Sumone asked about the color of the car...well its that goldenish sorta color thats available.Must say i love it.
But my beauty has already got a scratch.

..courtsey sum bugger who was tryin to overtake me from the left on his bike,while i was changin lanes on the highway.Damn.... these bloody 2 wheeelers!!!

.anshuman · 18th May 2006, 23:47

NHC's suspension has a rough edge and gets noisy and you can feel the vibrations at low speeds but its acceptable at speeds,did you check the tyre pressure?

ThE_DoN · 19th May 2006, 00:13

Yeah since the car is absolutely new its possible that it has grossly wrong tyre pressure..

Chk it and im sure you'd be fine... Com-mon manne it aint that bad..

v.tec · 19th May 2006, 00:23

hey well the low ground clearance is a big pi**ing off thing. but the suspension is a bit cranky..but not as bad as you are describing...
u can get the suspension a bit modified...im sure itll make a difference

The Wolf · 19th May 2006, 00:40

I agree that the suspension isnt tuned for plush ride quality(God knows what honda was smoking when they designed it!!!) Infact even accords suspension is no comparison to that of Optras or even Embera's as a matter of fact. My OHC is suffering form similar syndrome hence I go 28psi on all wheels and try to avoid bad surfaces at all times. There are few suttle ways of modding the suspension to extract a better ride but I wonder how many people who buy brand new cars would like to tamper with the shocker assembly!!!

Honda has a reputation of making cars with sporty feel to them but I wonder what sporty means when the ride quality would disturb you from enjoying your sporty drive!!! The ride quality on marginally higher speeds is better but still...Honda needs to look into this matter quickly.

18th May 2006, 13:21	#1
kreigsmarine Newbie Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: delhi Posts: 10 Thanked: 0 Times	city's horrible suspension Hello everybody Got the delivery of my new honda city yesterday.Since i've bought the car from CSD canteen in ambala,the dealer for which is in chandigarh,I drove down from chandigarh to delhi in the car. Now some ppl(including my dealer) hav told me that initially the car shud not be taken byond 80kmph.Is this true?Also if this is true,then can nybody tell me the logic behind this fact? About the car,the car as a whole is beautiful(but i guess when u r upgrading from a maruti800, any damn car wud look beautiful ).Theres only one problem:its suspension.I was terribly,terribly( no...make that terribly,terribly,terribly) dissapointed with its suspension.On the highway i could feel each and evry bump on the road.Even on the delhi roads i could feel the vibrations on the bad patches . No offence meant ,but i had earlier posted a query about the city in the "What Car" section.i got about 50 replies and only 1 or 2 said somthing about its suspension being bad, on account of its ground clearance being increased....so unfortunately i didnt read much into it.I wish i had been forewarned. My being so dissapointed could perhaps also be the result of having very high expectations with the car.I really dont knoe.....
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 13:25	#2
shuvc Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kolkata Posts: 2,913 Thanked: 352 Times View My Garage	Strange .. is it that bad ? I thought it was improved in the ZX series .. Btw, congrats on your purchase .. what colour did you buy ?
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 13:36	#3
jkdas Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Thiruvananthapu Posts: 9,687 Thanked: 1,492 Times View My Garage	Get your suspension checked up. what if its defective?
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 13:44	#4
RX135 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: pune Posts: 2,106 Thanked: 75 Times	Errmm....I had heard of city owners complaining about bad ride quality, but this is first time I see someone so pissed off with it. As you said, may be you are expecting too much from the car. Congratulatins on your purchase! Post some pics.
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 14:04	#5
drifter Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,488 Thanked: 75 Times View My Garage	The dealer is somewhat right in telling you to restrict your speed. Theres something called the running-in period. When the car is new, the engine should not be subjected to high loads. This is generally followed till the first 1000-1500kms. Gradual acceleration, keeping the revs below 2500rpm-3000rpm in the initial 1000kms. You can gradually start increasing the revs from 1000kms onwards and open the throttle fully by 1500kms. This will help to bed-in the moving parts in your engine. It is essential for the longer life of the engine, if its not done properly, your engine may give problems later on. About the suspension, i sat in the old NHC (non ZX), the ride was pretty acceptable. Are you sure your tyre pressures arent to blame here? Drifter Last edited by drifter : 18th May 2006 at 14:06.
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 14:05	#6
naveendhyani BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Melbourne Posts: 542 Thanked: 9 Times	congrats on the purchase bro! get the suspension checked, some times its just a case of bad part.
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 14:12	#7
zenx Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,161 Thanked: 158 Times View My Garage	Its called 'feedback' and hondas in general are tuned more for this than for ride. Do the vibs really get transmitted to the seat/spine ? My OHC does an ok job of that - and I'd imagine the new car is better. There's a shudder and u can 'feel' every inconsistency in the surface - but it rarely hits my back/seat. Given that, its a positive - more a driver's car than other more sterile feeling 'plush' setups.
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 14:18	#8
venkatrx BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: bangalore Posts: 453 Thanked: 4 Times	NHC had average suspensions and low ground clearence. When they release NHC ZX in an effort to improve the ground clearance, they made the rear-suspensions stiffer itseems to increase the ground clearance by about 12-13 mm. But this has resulted in the suspensions becoming too stiff at low speeds. Even though the rear-seats are comfortable, the ride quality is poor. To improve the ride quality you can try to reduce the tyre pressure a bit or go for wider tyres.
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 15:08	#10
Rayden BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Chennai Posts: 101 Thanked: Once	Even my Uncle's City ZX suspension is not good !!! PS : I forewarned you before you bought it
	() Thanks

18th May 2006, 23:47	#12
.anshuman Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Good-Gaon Posts: 7,763 Thanked: 11,064 Times View My Garage	NHC's suspension has a rough edge and gets noisy and you can feel the vibrations at low speeds but its acceptable at speeds,did you check the tyre pressure?
	() Thanks

19th May 2006, 00:13	#13
ThE_DoN BHPian Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 121 Thanked: Once	Yeah since the car is absolutely new its possible that it has grossly wrong tyre pressure.. Chk it and im sure you'd be fine... Com-mon manne it aint that bad..
	() Thanks

19th May 2006, 00:23	#14
v.tec BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 251 Thanked: 18 Times View My Garage	hey well the low ground clearance is a big pi**ing off thing. but the suspension is a bit cranky..but not as bad as you are describing... u can get the suspension a bit modified...im sure itll make a difference
	() Thanks

19th May 2006, 00:40	#15
The Wolf Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,118 Thanked: 71 Times	I agree that the suspension isnt tuned for plush ride quality(God knows what honda was smoking when they designed it!!!) Infact even accords suspension is no comparison to that of Optras or even Embera's as a matter of fact. My OHC is suffering form similar syndrome hence I go 28psi on all wheels and try to avoid bad surfaces at all times. There are few suttle ways of modding the suspension to extract a better ride but I wonder how many people who buy brand new cars would like to tamper with the shocker assembly!!! Honda has a reputation of making cars with sporty feel to them but I wonder what sporty means when the ride quality would disturb you from enjoying your sporty drive!!! The ride quality on marginally higher speeds is better but still...Honda needs to look into this matter quickly. Last edited by The Wolf : 19th May 2006 at 00:41.
	() Thanks