Improving ride quality on a '13 Mazda5?

[pandus13]

Hello BITOGers,

I have the 2013 Mazda5, and it just reached 82k miles.
Ride seems now kind of wallowing. Current tire Nokian entyre (first generation) which we had for about 1.5 years and 15 k miles. 36 front 34 back.

What should I first expect to change as preventive maintenance (It didn't had any suspension or brakes work/maintenance done since 24k miles)
and
What could I do to improve ride quality?

This is just the daily driver family mobil.

Thank you

 

[Trav]

Start with a good set of replacement struts/shocks and OE springs and hardware. I like Bilstein or Sachs or OE, they ride well and last a long time without significantly deteriorating, do not go elcheapo with quick struts, they are not very good and use generic spring rates.
Your original springs are probably marked with a color code marking that you will need to get off them so you get the correct rate replacements.

 

[GenesisGuy70]

New shocks. Non-crap tires. Check bushings, replace as needed. The structure has loosened up, could throw in a stiffer sway bar to stiffen things back up.

 

[pandus13]

Much , much appreciated Trav.

Also, any brake pads + rotors you would recommend?

 

[SubLGT]

It's hard to believe you would need new springs after only 82,000 miles.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by SubLGT
It's hard to believe you would need new springs after only 82,000 miles.


OP lives in Chicago.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by SubLGT
It's hard to believe you would need new springs after only 82,000 miles.

OP lives in Chicago.

Thank you!

That ^^^ and used I65 in IN couple times and hit some bridge transitions so hard, all the phone and GPS where sent flying through the vehicle. No damage to wheels/tires surprisingly...
Now I take the long road to GA or FL...

 

[IndyIan]

I just replaced my original front struts on the Focus, with KYB quick struts. The damping rate is much higher again so the car bottoms and tops much less, but you also feel the expansion gaps on bridges again too. Turn in happens quicker though with functioning shocks. If KYB makes a quickstrut for a Mazda5 you could probably do all 4 corners pretty cheaply as I'm pretty sure you've got regular shocks at the back.
Your tires at those pressures aren't contributing to wallowing too much, even if they don't have a particularly stiff sidewall. You can get some pretty racey tires in your size but many would be grippy enough to put you on your side too!

 

[SatinSilver]

New tires like some GY Comfortreds will help soften the ride. The Nokian eNTYRES ride like they're full of cement. Although they do feel durable. I've had a set of them for a year and half/25k miles. They have their pros and cons like any tire but that's what I think is the issue here. Those tires will make an older soft riding Caddy ride like a JEEP. And many reviews will back up what I state. These things may even be run-flats which is what the Amazon description says but not sure if that's correct or not.

 

[4WD]

Replaced Conti with GY UltraTour from DT on the Cruze … way smoother ride …

 

[geeman789]

Is the OP talking about improving the ride, as in the comfort level over road imperfections when driving the car straight ? Or is he talking about firming up the handling, making the car more responsive to steering, braking and acceleration inputs ... ?

RIDE is often better with worn shocks, but the car does move up and down more (the wallowing ... ? ) Completely blown struts / shocks should be replaced. The car could probably run softer, grand touring type tires at lower tire pressure as well, as tires absorb some road impact first.

HANDLING is the result of having a crisply dampened suspension ( performance struts / shocks ), high performance, lower profile tires, maybe higher inflation pressures, stiffer springs / lowered suspension etc. RIDE is usually compromised to get better HANDLING.


New struts / shocks would tighten up the handling, but at the expense of maybe a slightly rougher ride, depending, of course what brand / model of strut is used. And the expense of the $$$ ... to do it.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by SatinSilver
New tires like some GY Comfortreds will help soften the ride. The Nokian eNTYRES ride like they're full of cement. Although they do feel durable. I've had a set of them for a year and half/25k miles. They have their pros and cons like any tire but that's what I think is the issue here. Those tires will make an older soft riding Caddy ride like a JEEP. And many reviews will back up what I state. These things may even be run-flats which is what the Amazon description says but not sure if that's correct or not.

SatinSilver, hmmmm
Previous Cooper Zeon RS3A, was noisy in the back, almost to the point of wheel bearing replacement noise until tire change...
I'm also not impressed by the entyres performance.

Did you changed them already or did you play with pressure settings? You had them on your Matrix (similar body size?)?

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by geeman789
Is the OP talking about improving the ride, as in the comfort level over road imperfections when driving the car straight ? Or is he talking about firming up the handling, making the car more responsive to steering, braking and acceleration inputs ... ?
RIDE is often better with worn shocks, but the car does move up and down more (the wallowing ... ? ) Completely blown struts / shocks should be replaced. The car could probably run softer, grand touring type tires at lower tire pressure as well, as tires absorb some road impact first.
HANDLING is the result of having a crisply dampened suspension ( performance struts / shocks ), high performance, lower profile tires, maybe higher inflation pressures, stiffer springs / lowered suspension etc. RIDE is usually compromised to get better HANDLING.
New struts / shocks would tighten up the handling, but at the expense of maybe a slightly rougher ride, depending, of course what brand / model of strut is used. And the expense of the $$$ ... to do it.

(Really nice explanation!

)
Ride/Comfort level.
This is the family mobile.
It is pretty much a Mazda3 with the NA 2.4L engine, with a mini-minivan longer and taller body. 17" wheels.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by pandus13
It is pretty much a Mazda3 with the NA 2.4L engine, with a mini-minivan longer and taller body. 17" wheels.

This is where the problem is. It's not a performance vehicle.
You can throw good money after bad replacing many components on this vehicle (most of which are probably still fine).

Enjoy it for what it is and put the extra $$ and time towards other projects.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I don't know how comparable this is...but I switched out the shock / struts in my old Mazda3 with 17" wheels at 65K miles and I viewed the end result as a barely perceptible difference vs. swapping out the tires to a nice riding grand touring category tire that was done previously.

The shock / struts were the KYB model that supposedly are closest to OEM and I felt that it wasn't money well spent...or at least didn't fix the issue as I perceived it. I think the potential is there to be a comparable circumstance unless your suspension is really worn.

 

[UG_Passat]

Do you really need 205/50r17 tires? I know mazda is about zoom-zoom... but if you drop down to 16" wheels with 205/55r16 tires, you'll get some extra sidewall and likely more choices for tires.

 

[geeman789]

Originally Posted by pandus13

... Ride/Comfort level.
This is the family mobile.
It is pretty much a Mazda3 with the NA 2.4L engine, with a mini-minivan longer and taller body. 17" wheels.



We had a Mazda 5 some years back. It came with 205/50/17 tires, on 17 inch alloy wheels. I always found the tires to be hard riding on rougher roads. When we used 16 inch wheels with 205/60/16 (slightly taller ... ) winter tires, the RIDE was much nicer ...

What are the recommended tire pressures ? Unless you run FULLY loaded ( 6 passengers ... ), you could probably lower your tire pressures and get a slightly softer ride.

 

[Skippy722]

Originally Posted by pandus13
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by SubLGT
It's hard to believe you would need new springs after only 82,000 miles.

OP lives in Chicago.

Thank you!

That ^^^ and used I65 in IN couple times and hit some bridge transitions so hard, all the phone and GPS where sent flying through the vehicle. No damage to wheels/tires surprisingly...
Now I take the long road to GA or FL...


If the people on 65 don't kill you, 65 itself will!

 

[pandus13]

Thank you,

I'll check the pressure again.


Re: 16" wheels, geeman789 and UG_Passat , did you use tires wheels from a mazda3 or older generations of mazda5?

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted by pandus13
SatinSilver, hmmmm
Previous Cooper Zeon RS3A, was noisy in the back, almost to the point of wheel bearing replacement noise until tire change...
I'm also not impressed by the entyres performance.

Did you changed them already or did you play with pressure settings? You had them on your Matrix (similar body size?)?


I still have them on the Matrix in size 205/55R16. Traction in the winter is pretty decent. I've played with the pressure settings from 32-35 and they still ride rough. I just had them rotated and inspected at DT and they said the tread was good and should last a long time. I was getting oil changes and rotations at this tire shop but I think they weren't really rotating the tires.

I do have a noise which sounds like it's from the front left tire. Kind of sounds like a bad wheel bearing or rubbing noise. But doesn't change in pitch when steering like other front wheel bearing issues I've had in the past. Mechanic wasn't what it was either and he does some very impressive work on all makes including European. I took the front wheel off thinking maybe it was the dust shield rubbing. Bent it back a little on the outer edge but that didn't seem to help. Although the shield was pretty rusty on the outer edges since it's an 05 with 155k. So kind of stumped.