madfox

I did notice during city driving that bumps are more noticeable. Though I have only had mine for 3 days. Still getting use to it.

sqweak

i'm not, tone. The Lightning i traded was notorious for this problem. The worst place being the 280 in the bay area headed into the city from the 101, I used to live at the end and doing 70 would nail every joint on the down cycle of this hop. After about 5 or 6 cycles, it would be darn near hopping off the road. It toned down a little in socal, but then I switched to the M3. The m3 is tuned even tighter, so it just jars and rattles you when you hit 'em. Take your pick, stock/firm settings are going to give you that hop. Stiffening it up is going to be more jarring, but stick to the road better as well.

rhumb

Voila, that's the difference between a live axle and a good IRS in a nutshell.

With a live axle, you get either a good ride OR good handling.

With an IRS, you can get a good ride AND good handling.

Seems like Ford tuned the GT suspension a bit more towards handling, which is appropriate. But it will come to some detriment, much more so with a live axle, to suspension compliance and ride comfort. The earlier GTs probably were tuned a bit softer, but with much squirrelier handling than the '05. Live axles are especially prone to freeway hop as the whole hulking mass of the suspension is deflected by the bump and that's just a lot of mass and inertia in motion there.

woody1

B) Yeah, it is somewhat stiff and a little jaring. Not nearly as bad as our 99 4Runner. Better than my 01 truck. Definately not like the 67, 70 or 78 Caddy we owned. More like my old 71 XKE and 68 Z28 .....Oh, now I remember ....IT's A SPORTS CAR,

TBird Ted

Sounds to me like your tires may have too much air.

Give the car a chance to break in and you'll probably like it better.

Although I don't recommend it, I have put 200,000 miles on my '94 Thuderbird with 28#'s in the front and 25-26 in the rear. Just dropping the rear pressure a couple of pounds will make the car handle much better at speed with some Fords. I don't drive it faster than 75 mph. Am running Michelin Symetry tires on the Bird.

My experience with General Motors cars is to keep the tires all at the same pressure.
Also, the ride will probably soften up considerably, when you get a few miles on it.
My '03 Corvette has run flat tires. Took 3,000 miles to break them in. Before that the car rode like something out of a Flintstones cartoon!

Should have my new '05 GT in a couple of weeks. Can compare then. B)

SixtySix

I know exactly what CAStang is taking about, I lived in San Diego for 13 years, and that phenomenon was there too. I've driven all kinds of cars and trucks over that horrible expansion joint setup, and some cars were less noticable than others, but that setup is an equal opportunity PITA, IRS or not.

Hopefully they'll start doing what they've started doing here in the greater Phoenix area. Rubberized asphalt!

Eric B

Why are you all so amazed that a much much better handling car does not offer the same comfy ride as the ole SN95 did? It's simple fysics and whatever you change on the suspension, rims, tires, it's not gonna get anywhere near as comfy as the SN95 was. But like I said in return it handles waaayyyyy better. To get an SN95 to handle this good you had to carry out a lot of suspension tuning. And let's be honest, a lowered and modified SN95 is one hash ride. I think Ford has done a great job on the 05 suspension and other than upgrading to a set of 18"s I wouldn't touch it.

BillP

I did a quick search on tirerack.com and didn't see any 255-50/17's worth putting my money into. Not much of a choice in that size.

Rampant

The problem should be more about the shocks than anything else. Since the shocks control the oscillating movement of the springs, you may want to look at getting adjustable shocks first to see if that helps.

Tire size will help in lateral traction, and an IRS will help with bumps during cornering, but neither is the issue here. The issue is the shocks not controlling the springs enough and getting the bouncy feeling.

AZOmae

Hey Tony

Isn't it sweet?!?! I love the rubberized asphalt, and I don't complain when they close off 25 miles of highway on the weekends to do put it down. The ride is much better, and the lack of sound from the pavement. Wow. Now if they can only widen the 17........

ZERO

i haven't had any problems so far w/ a poor ride. in fact it's amazing...even at freeway speeds. i was on a good open stretch this morning and it was smooth as glass.

it's the old I-10 here in houston, so i'm not sure how the new segments of highway will treat it...i'll keep a watch though.

acadian

I've had my car for a few weeks now, and have driven streets, highways, interstates, you name it. I have had no problems at all. It's not the smoothest car I've ever driven, but definitely no complaints here. And as far as not going over 80... I have taken it up to 120, and it seems like the faster I go, the smoother it is. Definitely no control issues whatsoever.

JessicaRabbitt

I have lived in Cali for the last 35 years, (yes my entire life). I have driven EVERY freeway, and all the way from Oregon, to TJ. I can say that grandads Caddy was the easiest to drive, best ride ever. However, my current GT is still the most fun.

Funny thing, my GT has a much better ride than Hubbys truck...

I never noticed any difference between freeways going into SD county, and out of OC. I would think the freeways in OC would be the best, and the toll roads still are my fav. Smooth, (save the seams in the fast lane on parts of the 241), empty, and throws in a couple curves for fun. I dont know anyone who enjoys LA County freeways. Between congestion, and poor road conditions, you'd be hard pressed to have a truly enjoyable ride!

Its the speed bumps in parking lots that are the killers, and I havent found a car yet that takes them well, as long as I ease my GT over them, I dont end up with whiplash.

dke

You Californians. ;-) Seriously, I was a native that moved away. (Sick of the traffic, taxes, cost of housing, cost of everything, mismanagement of the state, moronic liberals in LA and SF driving the rest of the state into the ground, etc.)....

I live in Ohio now, but travel a bit. Expansion joints are annoying at certain speeds -- but for the most part, California roads are some of the best in the country. Live somewhere where they have snow+ice and freeze-thaw cycles. Even if they try hard, the roads aren't nearly as good as most in California.... I remember driving in Origon (Salem to Portland), where snow tires have chewed up the road so bad, that the tires buzz so loud you have to turn the stereo WAY up just to hear it. In NY+NJ, there are potholes that you could lose cars in; not to mentioned chunks in the road the size of footballs. Ohio toll roads are pretty well maintained -- the rest varies.

Anyways, the point is take your annoying expansion joints (which are more common in California), but then add in dozens of other problems, much worse, to get the rest of the nation, or at least the snow-belt. (All IMHO).

SixtySix

True enough, I'd take California, or Arizona Freeways anyday over any road in my native Rhode Island!