Quote:
Originally Posted by DVC
I hope that's not what you took my post to mean... I currently drive an F30, and I've spent quite a bit of money to remove compliance in the suspension in order to improve grip. I think it's deplorable what BMW did to base - and even sport suspension in the F30 3 series. This is not an issue with the F8x suspension, so I'm not concerned about it for the M2.
What I'm referring to is the thought that stiffer (even to an extreme) is always better for grip on public roads. It's not.
|
I did, my bad soundbite interpretation, apologies.
Yes, you are correct, compliance can offer better turn in and actually better handling on less than perfect roads and even on tighter courses but in the context of what is happening to BMW suspensions and people, the issue is that they are getting too soft not for performance sake, but comfort. They are trying to make sports sedans and coupes as comfortable as a mercedes and supposedly as sporty as a sports car but it's not working. There are no extreme cases of BMW making their cars too stiff in this last batch except for a some ordering big wheels with low profile tires then complaining about jarring ride. Sidewall offers the biggest benefit to handling on poor road surfaces. No matter how soft or compliant your suspension is, it will not be able to deal with a bouncing or crashing low profile tire. Sadly, style is overriding performance. We need to get back to lighter weight, smaller wheels with some sidewall and firmer suspensions. BMW is softening theirs to compensate for the prevailing, mindless checking of bigger wheels without consideration for road conditions or unsprung weight. If we went with a little more sidewall, we could run a little firmer suspensions and the universe would be in order!
: )