Bad roads, jolting ride - is this good for the Insight?

[dirty hippie]

For some reason I've become more sensitive to going over road imperfections and potholes on the road lately. It's not the "harsh" ride that bugs me but rather the thought that going over a bump or depresssion on the road is wearing engine mounts or suspension parts or loosening something. Is the Insight built to handle harsh roads? How does the aluminum frame handle sharp jolts and vibrations? Or is that it, I ride mtn bikes, and aluminum transmits vibrations more than a steel frame.

There is a stretch of the 5N freeway that is before the 605 freeway that is terribly bad, and I always get caught in the lanes that are bad. And on my way home from work there are areas that have a small bump at road "seams" where two asphalt/concrete slabs meet and over time have pushed up against each other so as to create a bit of a sharp bump. Going over them at 40mph makes me cringe. I've actually thought about changing my route, but it's an inconvenience. I'm running 50psi, but then again I don't think lowering it to 45psi would make much of a difference in feeling the sharp jolts. Again, I'm not bothered by the jolt that I feel, but by what the car feels. Sometimes it feels like my car is being punished by California roads. Should I lesson the psi to 40? Don't want to, but don't want to punish my car with such a stiff ride.

[BrianZ54]

Hello again Mr Hippie (I'm struggling to call anybody "dirty")-
Technically the frame was touted as 30% stronger than the same frame cast in steel. I've had my 2002 CVT for two years, 33,000 miles and I've yet to see anything I could blame on road conditions. We also get the added bonus of a moderately harsh winter. The expansion joints and blocks of pavement shift considerably when the temp is bouncing above and below freezing. Pot holes abound by February. I never actually run my tires at 50 psi but I do drop from 45 to about 40 when the roads get very rough. The tires stiffen up as it gets colder, too. One less thing you need to deal with in CA.

I'm quite sure the stiffness of ride is taken into account when designing and manufacturing. My wife has owned a couple coupes over the years so I've seen the stiffer ride before, although not quite as severe as ours. If you're one of those people that grit their teeth in heavy traffic you might want to get a mouth guard like the athletes use.
Brian

[02insight]

perhaps the tire pressure on the doors stickers also takes this into account. Maybe that is also one reason honda put it is so low. I think the jarring impacts are probably wearing out suspension parts like ball joints, sway bar links, tie rods etc...

I bought mine down from 50 to 40psi for a slightly smoother ride. Its still very rough though...

[Balboa]

I found newer tires helped my ride a lot. I don't even plan to change suspension components after doing that. No need.

[2001Insight]

Let's put it this way, I am new but on my 55 mile drive home today, I can tell a few things may play to this harshness.
The chassis is very stiff & light + Low RR tires/Less =
Lot's of road noise and vibrations transmitted to the chassis.
My Insight has about 210k+ miles and it doesn't feel loose or it's been rattling apart. I am sure the previous owner has driven it for the last 5 years on some rough freeways. Which ones in Cali are good anyways?

I already want to lower mines with some coil overs and get some nice spun covers.

[gilbertguy]

The guy I bought my car off of lived on a dirt road in NE, other then the 5 lbs of dirt I found under the car since I've bought it it has run nicely. All I've done is put the Matiz springs in the rear and it drives and rides great. I'm running at 45 psi tire pressure.

[dirty hippie]

It seems the sections of the freeway in the LA area are usually bad. The 710 that runs through E. LA is horrible and so is the 5N that is near the 605 interchange. I think the skinny tires really amplify bad roads. Today I was on my way home and I thought I had a flat because my car felt like it was going up and down as if one side was higher than the other. Almost got scared that I'd ruin my aluminum rims. I kept going for some reason--guess I'd hear terrible noises or smell something if it was a flat. When I got home I did check all tires and even if my spats were on! After all, I've read stories here where people have lost a spat. Also checked the rear suspension. Wasn't sure what I was looking for, maybe leaking fluids? I dunno.

For some reason I've become very sensitive to bad roads whereas before I didn't think anything of it.

[satchel]

Originally Posted by Balboa

I found newer tires helped my ride a lot. I don't even plan to change suspension components after doing that. No need.

I disagree. I put three sets of Potenzas on my '02 and somewhere around 150K I noticed an instability on a washboard gravel road where the car had been solid when younger. I was going to replace the rear shocks but now she sits crumpled in the garage.

It just hit me that that washboard was where I noticed it, carped at the wife's speed and then couldn't drive any faster myself.

The loss of control when the rear end goes crazy fishtailing is something I don't wish on any other Insight owner if avoidable.

This also caused me to reconsider running 60# and am at 50# on the 05's Potenzas. Which is the only tire for the car if you want the mpgs.

[Leeper]

Bad roads, jolting ride - is this good for the Insight? Absolutely, nothing helps the Insight more than jolting bad roads.