Hey all---

Got my Defender 110 X Dynamic SE Santorini Black with Black package in February 2024. I love the car. The best daily driver I've ever had.

In the past few weeks, I've noticed over bad roads (broken pavement etc), the car has some vertical motion and I feel jostled left and right. On good roads, it's perfectly fine.
I'm riding on the stock 19' wheels with Pirelli Scorpions.
I've had to take the car to the dealership for service and my wife's also, so i've had access to (3) different Defender loaners. All cars on 20s/22" wheels seemed to have a more planted ride: the car sticks to the road better with less transmission of road irregularities into the cabin.

I've taken it to the dealer and they can't find any faults.

Any ideas? I thought of taking it to an independent shop to check the suspension brushings and air suspension, and if they found an issue, to relay this to the dealer.

I've got 35K miles on the car.

Thanks all!

 

Is your car equipped with air suspension? If not and you drove the loaners with them, the difference will be noticeable.

 

I should have mentioned that earlier. Yes my car has the air suspension and both other loaners had it too since I could notice the easy access ride height going up and down getting in.
It's not a jarring ride on my car; Just seems to be a lot of bounce/noise in bad roads that I didn't notice in the first two years of ownership.

 

Have you checked your tires pressure lately?

 

Great suggestion and yes they are inflated properly, however, I'll definitely check the tread. It may be time to replace them.

 

Have you just seemed to notice it AFTER driving the loaners with the bigger wheels? Your 19's have significantly more sidewall than those 22's, so you may just be noticing that?
The 22's (and even the 20's) will be inherently stiffer, just due to less sidewall flex.
I know you said you only realized a few weeks ago that there was a change. So I'm assuming you didn't always feel this way about your 19's - I'm just wondering if the comparison was enough to make you notice it more recently...

 

Different tires can really affect the way cars behave on the road. The loaners might have a more road-oriented tire - whereas you may have a stiffer sidewalled tire. In general, a smaller wheel will give you a better ride but thats not always the case when comparing different tire types.

 

Great question...I think I noticed it a while back, but it became more stark in my mind after driving the loaners. Both loaners were '26 models. Riding on 20" and 22" wheels. Surprising as I figured they would ride significantly worse than my car because those tires have considerably less sidewall. I took my car out for a 3 hour drive today: I just notice more of the road surface transmitted into the car cabin and more lateral motion of the car over rough road---whereas the loaners felt more "planted" like glued to the road despite transmitting some road surface irregularities into the cabin. Hope I'm describing this right.

 

Are you still on the OEM Good Year Tires that came with your car? If you are, it may be time for new rubber.

 

Check also the tire load setting in the dashboard (not in the central pivipro screen).
I run mine on light setting with less PSI (about 38 instead of 50).
It is way more comfortable with my air suspension equiped 110.
Unless I go for a long trip with a heavy load, I keep the setting on light.