Help me cure my "Amish Buggy Syndrome" 2014 Civic LX

kursed

kursed

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Staunton, VA
We have about 4,000 miles on our 2014 Civic LX sedan. Just like the title says, this thing rides like an amish buggy. Every little bump or dip in the road is felt in my neck, back, and bottom. I've had static dropped mini trucks that were slammed to the ground and had a softer ride than this thing.

I've been looking all over the forum and net for a solution, but all I ever find are "sport tuning" options. This is not our family race car, it's supposed to be our family commuter car. I'm not as concerned with carving corners as I am with a comfy ride.

Anyone have any ideas on softening the ride up a bit? I'd rather just find a simple bolt in replacement as opposed to things like airbags etc.
 
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My koni setup is not as comfortable as the stock suspension on bumps. When the road is uneven or has a dip in it or any non sharp edged bump it definitely feels more controlled and you get once bounce instead of several. I turned my Koni struts to full soft but on "square" edged hits you really feel it. Hence, I think my wifes HFP setup is like luxury after banging around in my car all day. hahaha. That setup I do find a little bouncy.

Although I do attribute some of the rough ride to the drop springs. Shorter travel means stiffer rates than stock to keep things from bottoming out. I have not heard of anyone running a koni setup with stock springs though. It's a possibility but a very expensive one and especially when we don't know if the ride would be any better.

The only thing I can really think of would be new tires. They control a lot of what the ride feels like. I know the stock tires aren't terrible but they aren't great either. With only 4000 miles on the car I'm sure you still have a lot of life left in them. If they were closer to worn out a replacement set with a focus on ride quality may alleviate some of the harshness you are feeling. I know just switching between my summer tires and winter tires the ride is much more comfortable.

The LX does not have much sound deadening either so a lot of N/V/H gets transmitted to the cabin. A larger rear sway bar is fairly inexpensive and something you could try as it ties the suspension together much better. The improvement in handling alone is worth it IMO, and it is way cheaper than new tires. Just a place to start.
 
Thanks for the input. I'm sure I'll be dealing with it for quite a while since it's so low mileage, but someone out there has to make a better damping setup.
 
Are you sure there's not something wrong with the suspension? I've driven my friend's 2013 EX and it rides pretty smooth, even with Chicago's pothole ridden streets.
 
Have you checked your tyre pressure. with the label inside the drivers door?
It could be the dealer over filled them.
 
Tire pressure is good. We did notice a bit of vibration at around 70-73 yesterday on a Christmas shopping trip. Off to the dealer it goes.

It's a weird driveline feeling vibe that comes and goes, but it gets really strong at points. Has me wondering if maybe we have a strut going bad or something though.
 
Does it have the CVT? The vibrations could be from that. I've not driven or ridden in a car with one but that I've read that they feel quite different.
 
kursed said:
Tire pressure is good. We did notice a bit of vibration at around 70-73 yesterday on a Christmas shopping trip. Off to the dealer it goes.

It's a weird driveline feeling vibe that comes and goes, but it gets really strong at points. Has me wondering if maybe we have a strut going bad or something though.
Click to expand...

Much more likely an out of balance or bad tire. That may also be the cause of the rough ride where a bump generates a very short term vibration. Our '98 Ex has thrown weights more than once (over 150,000 miles).
Struts/linkage are much more likely to generate control issues (wandering or, in my case, "whiplash" when a heavy vehicle passes) and, unless you've damaged the suspension (or wrecked the car), shouldn't be a possibility until you're over 80,000 miles.
 
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