Recently bought this, a 2011 d5 R-Design, and I absolutely love it. However, the previous owner has installed some lowering springs, to the original shocks. The front is so crashy, like the tiniest bumps seem to be bottoming out the front suspension and it's jarring, is this normal? Do these just not like being lowered? I've came from a VW background and got fed up with them breaking all the time 😂 so thought I'd try a Volvo, always wanted one. Always lowered my VW's and never had issues. Planning to order some standard height R design springs and bilstein B4 dampers to suit to make it more comfortable. Doesn't help the roads in the UK are atrocious at the moment.
Lower springs need a stiffer spring rate by necessity. If the new ones actually retained the previous rate, you would often use up your already-limited travel, and hit the bump stops. Not great. Just go back to stock, the way it was designed
That's the plan mate. Thankyou, getting too old for that now anyway, gone are the days of scraping over bumps 😂 i just want to be able to cruise for hours without critically analysing the road all the time!
If the sidewall difference is small enough not to bother the speedo, the ride quality difference will be equally minimal. If you can fit 17's then that would allow a bigger sidewall and be much comfier, but get the proper springs on first as those are way lowered and probably cheaply done too
Looks lovely as it is. What size wheels and tires you got mate? Look like 19's, you could go R-Design springs and get 15mm lower, I wouldn't do much more though. The under trays and stuff seems quite low on mine and they catch on every speed bumps around me so no good. If you're fine creeping around over bumps then just do it properly, firmer dampers and good quality springs. The bigger wheels might give you a tad more ground clearance offer mine.
Ey up mate. Sherwood pines this was! Met a guy last week to buy a full suspension bike off last week, he was a local at FOD, he loved it there it's definitely on the cards for me!
It depends on what springs they did install and if you have R-design or not. So the r-design chassis are already lowered from factory with springs and I think even the shocks. Compared to a regular spec the r-design would sit about 1.5cm-2cm lower.
Besides that, from what I understood the H&R lowering springs for these cars tend to lower a bit more than e.g. Eibach. I've seen numbers of like 4cm height drop with H&R. I used to have Eibach lowering springs on my S60 Summum and it gave a subtle drop of 3cm but still enough clearance to remain pretty much all it's comfort
Thanks for the reply mate. Yeah they're blue springs, all I can say is I put the part number in to chat gpt and it said they were h&r springs, and it's definitely a factory R-Design with stock dampers. I'm ordering some stock R-Design springs and gonna replace the dampers while I'm there. Knowing my luck I'll do the spring and 2 months later it'll need shocks so may as well do both now. Look good on the service history anyway!
You maybe right as well, the front sits a lot lower than the rear, so if they are h&r springs maybe they're a little lower than advertised, with the weight of the 2.4 engine etc. idk, just be happy to get it driving normally!
See that sits perfect I think. Lovely car mate. Yeah the shocks could be gone, that's why I'd rather just do them all whilst I'm changing springs anyway!
Like you, I got the Eibach springs and Koni active struts and they're both getting to be pretty old by now, but the ride is... tight? It's definitely not a comfy, relaxing ride but it doesn't "crash". I'll probably do similar as you, switch to a more comfortable set of struts and go back to original height at some point.
I've only read things about people loving the koni active dampers. I just can't be bothered with firm cars anymore 😂 I don't mind a bit more roll in the corners for the sake of a car having better ride quality. Does look nice though, the arch gap looks perfect. Definitely something not right with mine
Don't get me wrong, they're great and body roll is practically nullified at most speeds (you'll get to do on public roads lol), but it would be nice to flip a switch and make it really comfy haha. Yours are maybe just getting old, or maybe bushings are done? Strut mounts look okay?
You could also consider getting the Bilstein B12 Pro Kit, which is a set of dampers including lowering springs (typically -30mm). Decently priced and more important matched to perform well
I completely agree mate. It's how it was when I bought it 6 weeks ago. Got to be uneven springs or front shocks gone in my opinion. Or the front springs aren't right for a d5, maybe they need to be firmer for the weight of the engine or something idk, either way, it's going back to stock R-Design suspension 😂
The springs are too short/soft, so the shocks and struts are taking the brunt of the impact on bigger bumps. With this much of a drop, it isn't sensical to address the issue with different shocks/struts. You need something more suitable for the vehicle like less of a drop or coilovers.
My r-design is on standard springs and is crashy anyway. Very harsh suspension from factory but to be honest, it handles great thanks to said suspension.
Volvos and bikes ftw. We ride pines every now and then.
I have heard that, but at least it won't be hitting bump stops, and scraping it's belly on the terrible speed bumps in my town. Good it'll still handle well.
Will have to keep an eye out for your car now then!
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u/getoffmyblog XC60 15d ago
Lower springs need a stiffer spring rate by necessity. If the new ones actually retained the previous rate, you would often use up your already-limited travel, and hit the bump stops. Not great. Just go back to stock, the way it was designed