CX-7 - rides like a bucking horse!

[ljb2000]

My '7 rides really rough. I thought the Gran Touring would have a smoother ride. I don't remember either of the demos riding so poorly. Any suggestions?

Good thing it's pretty! LOL :D

Thanks, lb

[MAZDUH]

I would take it back to the stealership and talk to them about it.

[ljb2000]

Thanks - I mentioned it to them when I took the car in to have the HomeLink mirror added. They had NEVER heard of such a problem and had no complaints...

[MAZDUH]

Tell them to check it anyway. that is their JOB and that is what a warrenty if for.

[shadow1]

What do you mean by rough? The CX7 has a firm sporty ride by design. You will feel bumps in the road.

[Raider]

We have had our GT for a year, and never had a rough ride in it. Something is not right. Is it happening when accellerating, or cruising?

[Alpha Wolf]

ruff ride is subjective...

If you expected the CX7 to have luxurious ride like an 1979 Cadillac you picked the wrong car.

This is a Sports Utility with the emphasis on sport as in sports car.

Thus they have a very firm suspension so you can feel what the road is doing to allow you to know what is going on. Thus it rides more like my Koni equipped Trans Am, not a Lexus.

If you valued bump absorption over handling then a car like the Subaru Outback or Baja would be better as they absorb every bump and makes flying off road sweet. But they do not handle on the street like the CX7.

FYI Sport, Touring and Grand Touring all have the same running gear and all ride the same.

If it goes beyond another CX7 on the same road, then there may be a problem. But mostly comments like these are by people who are used to mushy luxury cars and expect that type of ride in all cars.

Stiffer springs, shocks and sway bars mean stiffer ride.

Nothing is free, and so neither is good handling.

[erhayes]

Check your tire pressure cold with a good digital gauge. Should be 32 psig front & rear

[brakeheart]

Mine also road rough,I checked the tire pressure it was 37lbs. I dropped it to 32lbs now it drives great!

[shadow1]

I personally run 35 psi for better handling.

[rexercx7]

For long life of my tires, better handling, and often carrying heavy loads, my tire pressures are 36 front, 34 rear, and it does get a little bit "rough" sometimes but you pays your $$, and you makes your choices (Iggy Pop, 1977)

I've had it 32 all around, 34 all around, but where I have it now is absolutely perfect for my uses. Don't forget, the vehicle has more than 60% of its weight on the front wheels, so a little higher pressure there is a good thing, just a little bit, not too much.

Kindest regards,
rexercx7:cool:

[mikomi]

edited quote

Sorry. I made a wrong assumption. Sorry.

I read somewhere that the AWD GT has a weight ration closer to 51/49, but I cannot find that information. But I did find that Car and Driver put the weight ratio at 58.7/41.3 for a pre-production AWD Sport model.

[ljb2000]

Thanks for the info - I think most of the problem was the road - the spacer distance in the cement. On blacktop it's much better. I'll chekc the tire pressure though. Thanks again!

lb

[rexercx7]

edited quote

Sorry. I made a wrong assumption. Sorry.

I read somewhere that the AWD GT has a weight ration closer to 51/49, but I cannot find that information. But I did find that Car and Driver put the weight ratio at 58.7/41.3 for a pre-production AWD Sport model.

Mikomi, I stand corrected, sort of! I also read the C&Driver stats on the pre-production AWD Sport, with 59% front and 41% rear weight distribution with interest, but then it hit me...my CX-7 is FWD!...not AWD, and it's the one with more than 60% front and 30%-something rear weight distribution...I can't remember where I read or heard that statistic, but it makes sense when you think about it. The AWD transmission system weighs a couple hundred pounds, and that shifts some weight to the rear, a couple of % at least, so that C&Driver road test on the pre-production CX-7 makes me even more sure that my FWD GT has about 61-62% front, and 38-39% rear weight distribution.

I am going to query Mazda on those statistics, and also go to my Road & Track Road Test Summary in the current magazine and see if they've tested a FWD or an AWD CX-7...but it's probably an AWD CX-7 as usual, my guess. Mazda pretty much *only* let the press have their AWD CX-7's for testing purposes, and that makes sense, of course. Why not let them drive the "balanced" model with AWD and avoid any bias toward the FWD model, period...good or bad? I believe that's what Mazda's press people were thinking if I might be so bold.

I purposefully bought a FWD CX-7, both to save $$$ and because I owned an AWD Honda CRV EX with all the bells and whistles for almost 26 months in 2004-2006, and I never used the AWD once, to my knowledge. I just don't go off-roading with my personal vehicles, and as far as snow goes let's just say I drove the CRV some 14K miles without driving through any. As for "balance" of the AWD vs. FWD CX-7? I drove both, extensively before I purchased my FWD GT and I honestly couldn't tell the difference on dry pavement no matter what I tried to do, be it take a corner briskly, full-out acceleration runs, whatever. The only thing I really noted was that the FWD GT was faster, by a little bit...not much, but I could tell it was faster 0-60 and all around, just a little anyway by subjective measurement.

I didn't mean to hijack this thread here, so I'll stop now about the F/R weight distribution of the cars, but I hope I've made myself clear about it, in any case explained where I am coming from with regard to what it actually is, and why on the FWD vs. the AWD CX-7 GT.

Kindest regards,
rexercx7:cool:

[MAZOOM]

Although this adds to the thread jacking, the weight distribution varies one percent in FWD trim
Weight Distribution AT (Front)
58
Weight Distribution AT (Rear)
42
AWD
Weight Distribution AT (Front)
59
Weight Distribution AT (Rear)
41

[erhayes]

After much playing with tire pressure I setteled on 34/32 F to R

[rexercx7]

MAZOOM, where did you get those stats! Attribution, please...

Kindest regards,
rexercx7:cool:

[tscheifler]

Reviving old topic. Our new 08 GT AWD seems noticeably more rough than either of the demos we drove. Yes, I know it is a “sport” utility vehicle. Yes, I know what a sports car rides like. I don’t expect it to be as soft as my MB E430 but I also don’t expect it to be as hard as my (spec) Miata race car. And for my wife (her daily vehicle) it is too much like the Miata. So next opportunity I’ll be checking the tire pressures and tossing it on the rack to take a look at the suspension myself. Of course, I’ll also provide feedback to the dealer.

[MAZOOM]

Yes, check the tire pressure, and the wear, 32 psi is for the most comfort, and the tires do ride terribly on there own.

[ljb2000]

I agree - the ride in the two demos I drove was not nearly as rough. If you find out how they "fixed" the suspension, please let me know. I have a 3 hour commute (round trip) and this thing is killing my back!

lb

[ljb2000]

I'm on a concrete three-lane tollway - so I don't expect the ride to be like off-road. I find myself gripping the steering wheel and leaning forward to try to avoid the bucking. After 8 months I think the suspension should be "broken in" by now. Thanks for the info, lb

[MAZOOM]

If the ride really is that bad consider new tires.

The Turanza's are awful and the RS-A's are worse, read up on some of the tire rack comparisions for the RS-A tire, assuming you have them, the ride is firm, but I enjoy it, it's just as firm as our A4 and my old S40 without the wallow both of the cars had, I took the CX-7 out on the 515 express way and it stayed glued at well over 80-90 mph.

I do have new tires, and they attribute a lot to that.

[Raider]

Our CX-7 has 30,000 miles on it since july 2006, and it rides better with the Yokohama Spec X SUV tires. If they reflashed the ECM and TCM, then I would consider a tire upgrade.

[erhayes]

The vary first thing to do is set the tire pressure cold to factory specs. 32 psig F&R is what Mazda suggests for safety, Handleing, comfort and tread wear as the best compromise. Depending on what you want you can go up ~10% or so but, going higher, you are trading off comfort for handling for instance. I would never go lower as some people suggest. If this does not improve your ride then talk to the dealer. You state that the demo rides were much smother and I see no reason that your ride should be worse.

[tscheifler]

The cold pressures were 35-36. Dropping them to 32 all around has provided noticable improvement. Have not yet checked with dealer or put it on the lift myself to take a look around.

[Shamkis]

Found I was a little heavy on the gas petal when I first bought it and it caused turbo to kick in creating a bucking sensation.