C30 General : Does Anyone find the Suspension really soft?

[chunkytfg]

For general driving my C30 1.6D R-design is really nice to drive but it seems to really struggle on the moulded plastic speed humps.

Ive found unless I literally crawl over them then the bounce off the back of them causes my Side skirts to smash into the top of the hump!

I realise Diesel engines are usually quite heavy but i've owned quite a few diesels over the years and never found them as bad as the C30!

Anyone else?

[T5R92011]

Sounds like your shock absorbers need replacing.

Their purpose is to eliminate the 'bouncing' effect from the suspension springs when you hit a bump.

How old/how many miles on your car?

[chunkytfg]

Originally Posted by T5R92011

Sounds like your shock absorbers need replacing.

Their purpose is to eliminate the 'bouncing' effect from the suspension springs when you hit a bump.

How old/how many miles on your car?

2010 model with 78k on it.

You mean compression and rebound dampening I assume?

The shocks are not leaking so I thought i'd ask on here to see what other people experience is before adding them too the list of jobs to do on the car!:roll eyes:

I can see from the MOT history on the car it failed not long before I purchased it(69k) for a broken front spring so i'm wondering if it had the correct springs fitted?

[FunkyMelon]

Originally Posted by chunkytfg

2010 model with 78k on it.

You mean compression and rebound dampening I assume?

The shocks are not leaking so I thought i'd ask on here to see what other people experience is before adding them too the list of jobs to do on the car!:roll eyes:

I can see from the MOT history on the car it failed not long before I purchased it(69k) for a broken front spring so i'm wondering if it had the correct springs fitted?

Quite possibly....

Volvo springs are a mine field, so many different types and part numbers depending on spec, trim package, engine type etc.

Best way to find what you should have is Volvo if they'll tell you. Failing that VIDA but even that can be a pain.

[dme123]

Dampers on practically every car are knackered by 80k - 90k, and you'll notice a very large improvement to road manners if you replace them at this point.

As they degrade slowly over time you don't really notice how bad they've become, but at 80k motorway miles my C70 was nervous and unsettled feeling on sweeping slip roads at 60-70MPH, and now it's totally planted at 90MPH+ on the same bits of road; suspension bushes are normally miles past their best long before they fail an MOT too. Best thing you can do to improve the way any older car drives is replace the rubber bits of the suspension and the dampers.

If one of the springs is wrong it won't sit evenly when it's parked on the flat.

I used Bilstein B4 shocks which are a direct replacement for the original spec, and weren't expensive (£200 the set maybe?). I'd think carefully about lowering/stiffening a car you use as a daily driver that has to cope with these ridiculous speed humps.

[chunkytfg]

Thanks guys.

I'll add springs and shocks to my list of things to fix then!

I wont be planning on lowering it so it'll be good quality OE replacements over sporty.

[PaddyB]

You could look at the build plate which will detail the suspension setup Volvo put on it. More details can be found here https://blog.fcpeuro.com/locating-th...30-s40-v50-c70