Enthusiastic Driving

Off topic chat about anything you like. Doesn't have to be about XMs (though they will inevitibly come up!). You can even discuss non-Citroens :o in here!
Peter.N.
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Location: Charmouth, Dorset

Re: Enthusiastic Driving

Post by Peter.N. » Sun May 24, 2009 7:32 pm

Comfort spheres No 1 fan :D The xm still has a harder ride with the comfort spheres that the BX or CX ever did, and they stuck to the road OK.

Peter
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

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Dean
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Re: Enthusiastic Driving

Post by Dean » Mon May 25, 2009 3:08 am

Comfort spheres No 1 fan :D The xm still has a harder ride with the comfort spheres that the BX or CX ever did, and they stuck to the road OK.
This is all very true, the only problem i have with comfort's is that they allow greater movement of the suspension when riding over bumps, for low frequency stuff this is fine, although it can cause the car to set up a swaying not unlike that of a boat, and with higher frequency stuff i found the comforts to make the ride worse because the wheel is allowed to move up suddenly with the lower resistance those sphere's offer, this is detected by the body movement sensor and sport mode is triggered making for some rather crashy handling.
now i understand that these characteristics will appeal to some whilst not others, depending on the individuals driving style and i think more importantly the type of road surfaces they mainly encounter.
I think this is one of those questions no one can answer for you, its all down to personal taste i guess and what suits you best for the roads you drive and loads you carry...............

D
92 Citroen XM Prestige 3.0i Auto R.P5678
14 Mitsubishi L200 Trojan
89 Talbot Express 2.0 coach built Auto-trail Chinook

Addicted to Crackanory

Peter.N.
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Re: Enthusiastic Driving

Post by Peter.N. » Mon May 25, 2009 10:55 am

Hi Dean

I have to drive over a longish forest track to reach the road and as the subsoil is very stony, you can imagine the sort of ride I get, strangly, it doesn't seem to matter which car it is or what spheres it has, I always get a rough noisy ride. The hydropnumatic suspension doesn't seem to be able to react quickly enough to absorb small. rapid movements. The hatch does to wallow a bit with comfort spheres but the estates seem to be much better.

My wifes ZX is better at soaking up the small bumps, it seems that the direct connection to the spring/damper asembly gives a quicker reaction time. The tyres appear to be most crucial factor in low speed, high frequency, movement absorbtion.

Peter
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

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andmcit
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Location: South Wales - far, far away too!! :D

Re: Enthusiastic Driving

Post by andmcit » Mon May 25, 2009 11:05 am

The best floaty ride over broken rubble and soil roads has been with my long wheelbased Cx estates.
The nearest I've ever had with anything else has been a 2CV!! a base spec saloon 2.2 CX and 2.0i Xm
that genuinely felt it had a hovercraft ride. I can only attribute this to the lower spec models having
puny anti roll bars and higher section tyres which the higher spec cars eschew for handling and grip
(and no doubt showroom appeal).

Only after rigorous renewal of all spheres,and flushing/fluid changes has my 24v been a match so a
soft ride is doable on a high spec car but everything needs to be in perfect optimum order. If I did
anything as a conversion, it wouldn't be the corner spheres and altered pressures but the changing
in spec of the middle spheres with higher pressure and a bigger jet in the housing where the
electrovalve lives - it can be done with the central jet being professionally machined to a wider
diameter.

Andrew

Peter.N.
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Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:29 am
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Re: Enthusiastic Driving

Post by Peter.N. » Mon May 25, 2009 1:02 pm

Accumulator spheres all round and cross ply tyres :D
'96 'N' 2.1 td VSX manual estate White RP6695. Sadly gone
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate, Red
2008 C5 2.0. Hdi Estate Silver


Located in Charmouth, Dorset

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