22's And Factory Brakes

[DZeckhausen]

Originally Posted by pd171

This is the big thing that I have noticed where my BMW with a stock suspension was vastly superior. Could better shocks be a partial cure for this or would it be much more involved? This is the number one area I would spend money on for mods (before wheels, grills or any cosmetics); brakes would be number two.

I'm not sure how to fix it yet. One thing I've noticed is the wheels and tires on this car are very heavy. When I switched from the C wheels to the Magnum RT wheels, I dropped about 3 pounds per corner and the ride did improve noticably. But the skittish behavior on choppy roads is still bothersome.

It's going to take a tuner with lots of time, money, and know-how to come up with a properly balanced set of springs, shocks, and swaybars to make this thing handle better. It should be interesting to see if the new SRT8 is much better in this regard. If not, then we may be stuck as it could be the Mercedes designed chassis which is the culprit.

[joey]

Originally Posted by pd171

This is the big thing that I have noticed where my BMW with a stock suspension was vastly superior. Could better shocks be a partial cure for this or would it be much more involved? This is the number one area I would spend money on for mods (before wheels, grills or any cosmetics); brakes would be number two.

I have posted a couple of threads regarding the 300c's ride, and I agree it is the number one thing that needs fixing.
Too many bumps and bounces
Evaluation of Consumer Reports review

I keep trying to find the best way of describing the ride, but "jarring" may be the best. Any small undulations in the road become big jolts in the cabin.
I feel like the entire car is tossing me up and down in my seat when I am riding over small undulating road imperfections.

A good example is a road lined with trees and the tree roots are creating humps in the road. Driving over these humps is a jarring ride in my C. In my other cars the suspension handles these humps much better.

I think I understand what a "stiff" ride is. A stiff ride to me is feeling more control and precise wheel/car response. I don't feel precision in the ride. Someone else described the C's ride as a pin-ball ride.

I think I have beat this issue to death. The only reason I keep bringing up the ride issue is to hopefully find a solution. If there are enough of us that agree on the problem, then somewhere in the future someone will remember to post a fix if they find one.

[05 300c]

BMW has always been known for their performance, specifically for their handling ability. I’m not aware of the skidpad rating the 2005 BMW 5series or how it compares to the C’s. I wonder what kind of numbers the C would do with a brake and suspension (lowering springs) upgrade.

I know C/D 0-60 and ¼ mile time has not been duplicated. 0-60 is closer to 6 and the ¼ mile is 14-14.5 range. All still very impressive numbers for a 4,000lb plus car.

C/D TEST RESULTS
ACCELERATION, Seconds
Zero to 30 mph, 2.0
40 mph: 2.8
50 mph: 4.1
60 mph: 5.3
70 mph: 6.8
80 mph: 8.8
90 mph: 11.0
100 mph: 13.4
110 mph: 16.1
120 mph: 20.1
Street start, 5-60 mph: 5.6
Top-gear acceleration, 30-50 mph: 2.8
50-70 mph: 3.4
Standing 1/4-mile: 13.9 sec @ 102 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 130 mph
BRAKING
70-0 mph @ impending lockup: 184 ft
HANDLING
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.77 g
Understeer: minimal moderate excessive