Extremely Uncomfortable Ride and Side to Side Rocking Motion on all Velars?
Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:39 pm
Hey guys, I've had my Velar for over a year now and till now I haven't faced any major issues. Apart from this; the ride quality on the Coil Springs with Adaptive dampers. It is absolutely appalling. I owned a Freelander 2 for 9 years before upgrading to the Velar, and I have to say that in terms of ride quality it feels like an absolute downgrade.
In my city, the road quality changes quite drastically throughout the year, during summer we have these almost impeccably smooth roads, but the lesser I say about the condition of the roads after the monsoons, the better. My old Freelander 2 used to almost glide over these imperfections (albeit a bit noisily) and even let me drive flat out on non existent side roads I took to escape traffic snarls. For nearly 190,000 kms! I did not have to replace any major components of the suspension save for the anti roll bars and the bushes. The Velar's suspension? I don't think it can ever match the comfort or the durability of the Freelander 2's.
Here's why. Though the suspension on the Velar makes little to no noise over most surfaces, it is simply too stiff. In Auto or Comfort mode the Adaptive dampers become incredibly soft, but because the coil springs themselves are too stiff, it makes the spring and damper rates terribly mismatched. This can cause unnecessary stress on the rest of the suspension components. Again, Land Rovers have always had slightly stiffer suspension than rivals, and I loved that. The difference is on my Freelander 2 the body always remained flat and composed.
From my experience, the Velar runs out of suspension travel too fast and the mismatched spring and damper rates contribute to a profound side to side "rocking motion". It feels like I am sitting on a trampoline and is in no way worthy of a £90,000 (that's what it costs over here after taxes) SUV. While sub £20K cars drive at normal traffic speed, I am forced to slow down to a crawl, which is a serious traffic hazard. Land Rover never should have allowed such a suspension to be fitted on a Range Rover.
Selecting Dynamic Mode on the Terrain Response 2 stiffens the dampers and arrests most of the side to side rocking motions. However, this makes the ride so stiff, that the shock from each and every expansion joint, cobblestone, pothole and such causes the whole car to vibrate and the jolt is then transferred onto my back.
Don't get me wrong, the Velar remains very composed around corners and is supremely comfortable when the road surface is good, but that has got more to do with the robust aluminium chassis, the smooth transmission, sound dampening and all the electronic aids.
Fundamentally as we all know, the suspension is responsible for delivering a comfortable ride and it isn't even about the stiffness. My nearly 15 year old W211 E-Class has a much stiffer coil suspension (and less wheel travel too) but even after all these years it delivers a very flat ride with no side to side rocking motion.
Also, my Velar doesn't even have crazy large wheels, it is specced with the more reasonable 20" 7 spoke wheels with a decent amount of sidewall on the tyres. Air suspension isn't available as an option on the D180.
This may seem like a long rant (and it well may be) but is this a problem only with the Velars on Coil Springs? I ask this because many of Land Rover's own marketing material, we can see the body of the Velar is not very flat.
So my regret is this, I could have spent slightly less and got a more comfortable SUV (the Discovery Sport) or I could have spent slightly more and got a much more comfortable and practical SUV (the Defender 110). Instead, I'm stuck with missing my old Freelander 2.
I wish to hear your thoughts about this, have you experienced similar "Side to Side" rocking motion problems from the suspension on your Velar? Let me know in the poll above. Is this behaviour normal or should I send my Velar to the dealer so they can check if everything is fine?
In my city, the road quality changes quite drastically throughout the year, during summer we have these almost impeccably smooth roads, but the lesser I say about the condition of the roads after the monsoons, the better. My old Freelander 2 used to almost glide over these imperfections (albeit a bit noisily) and even let me drive flat out on non existent side roads I took to escape traffic snarls. For nearly 190,000 kms! I did not have to replace any major components of the suspension save for the anti roll bars and the bushes. The Velar's suspension? I don't think it can ever match the comfort or the durability of the Freelander 2's.
Here's why. Though the suspension on the Velar makes little to no noise over most surfaces, it is simply too stiff. In Auto or Comfort mode the Adaptive dampers become incredibly soft, but because the coil springs themselves are too stiff, it makes the spring and damper rates terribly mismatched. This can cause unnecessary stress on the rest of the suspension components. Again, Land Rovers have always had slightly stiffer suspension than rivals, and I loved that. The difference is on my Freelander 2 the body always remained flat and composed.
From my experience, the Velar runs out of suspension travel too fast and the mismatched spring and damper rates contribute to a profound side to side "rocking motion". It feels like I am sitting on a trampoline and is in no way worthy of a £90,000 (that's what it costs over here after taxes) SUV. While sub £20K cars drive at normal traffic speed, I am forced to slow down to a crawl, which is a serious traffic hazard. Land Rover never should have allowed such a suspension to be fitted on a Range Rover.
Selecting Dynamic Mode on the Terrain Response 2 stiffens the dampers and arrests most of the side to side rocking motions. However, this makes the ride so stiff, that the shock from each and every expansion joint, cobblestone, pothole and such causes the whole car to vibrate and the jolt is then transferred onto my back.
Don't get me wrong, the Velar remains very composed around corners and is supremely comfortable when the road surface is good, but that has got more to do with the robust aluminium chassis, the smooth transmission, sound dampening and all the electronic aids.
Fundamentally as we all know, the suspension is responsible for delivering a comfortable ride and it isn't even about the stiffness. My nearly 15 year old W211 E-Class has a much stiffer coil suspension (and less wheel travel too) but even after all these years it delivers a very flat ride with no side to side rocking motion.
Also, my Velar doesn't even have crazy large wheels, it is specced with the more reasonable 20" 7 spoke wheels with a decent amount of sidewall on the tyres. Air suspension isn't available as an option on the D180.
This may seem like a long rant (and it well may be) but is this a problem only with the Velars on Coil Springs? I ask this because many of Land Rover's own marketing material, we can see the body of the Velar is not very flat.
So my regret is this, I could have spent slightly less and got a more comfortable SUV (the Discovery Sport) or I could have spent slightly more and got a much more comfortable and practical SUV (the Defender 110). Instead, I'm stuck with missing my old Freelander 2.
I wish to hear your thoughts about this, have you experienced similar "Side to Side" rocking motion problems from the suspension on your Velar? Let me know in the poll above. Is this behaviour normal or should I send my Velar to the dealer so they can check if everything is fine?
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