Evening,

I have a '13 plate MK4 Estate 2.0 TDCI which has always had an unsettled/crashy ride however it comes and goes. Tracking and balancing (twice) are all spot on after having them done last week (the ride was poor prior to this anyway).

Last year, I replaced all four tyres with Toyo Proxes CF2's. Tyre size being 215/55/R16 93V. When they were replaced, the tyre fitted said one wheel had a slight buckle and he would put it on the back. After having the tracking, balancing and tyres swapped from front to back the concern is still there. As a precaution, I swapped the wheels again and I was getting bounced around through the seat so I swapped the drivers side again but left the passenger side alone. This cured the poor ride quality through the seat and transferred to the front/steering, albeit nowhere near as bad.

I've read around on forums suggesting that the problem might be the tyres, suggesting they are replaced with Conti Premium 5's. Or the wheel could be buckled.

At the moment, I've ordered a new wheel to see if that is the concern (ideal to have a full size spare stored away). Failing that it must be the tyres. Could they have such a huge impact on ride quality?

Cheers

...an unsettled/crashy ride however it comes and goes

Most causes of an unsettled ride don't come and go, unless something changes, like the tyre pressures. One possibility is a dropped turn on a coil spring or a spring that isn't correctly seated. Has anyone looked for that? The other thing is to check that the shocks aren't leaking. If they are, they'll need replacing. Various rubber bushes could have collapsed, but usually when that happens, it doesn't come and go, it just stays.

93V strikes me as being on the low side, particularly for an estate, if you load it up (...if you only ever use it to transport inflated party balloons, then slightly less of an issue...) AFAICT, they don't make the CF2s in XL ratings, so there is no possibility of getting the higher rating with that tyre.

I believe that size is available in 93, 97 and 98 (a one-off winter tyre, I think...Goodyear UGP) and I'd certainly feel more comfortable about 97 than 93.

As a precaution, I swapped the wheels again and I was getting bounced around through the seat so I swapped the drivers side again but left the passenger side alone. This cured the poor ride quality through the seat and transferred to the front/steering, albeit nowhere near as bad.

Were you adjusting the tyre pressures? That is, whatever tyre pressure you decided was appropriate for the front, you had that on the front, after the swap?

In any case, I'd be inclined to try something counter-intuitive, and increase the tyre pressures a couple of psi. If what is happening is that you are pinching the sidewalls going over imperfect road surfaces, that could help. (And, if you are pinching the sidewalls, that will damage the tyres, eventually.)

Is there anything you can say about when this happens (smooth surfaces, general poor surfaces, traffic calming measures, etc)?