I'm sure it's been covered before.
I have a 2002 X Type. I'm running GoodYear 225/ZR17 Eagle tires. Pumped up to around 38psi. The ride is awful. Going over some railroad tracks yesterday I thought my fillings were going to come out!

Any suggestion on softening my ride? The suspension looks ok. Maybe some softer shocks or springs?

Thanks.

 

38psi seems a bit high to me especially in your local temperatures. Don't know what your book figures should be but I would be looking around 32psi.

Try it and see if it makes a difference.

 

flyrr, like was mentioned, try dropping the pressure down to 35 psi or even possibly a little lower. Part of your problem is that you are running a stiff sidewall tire. So, you are essentially forcing the suspension to do more work vice letting the tire absorb part of the bumps and whatnot. But, this comes at a cost of not having that high speed cornering ability. But, what is more important to you. This is also a problem with the run flat tires as they have a super stiff sidewall (which is what allows them to be run-flats and why you need the TMPS system to monitor their pressures).

If you have more questions or comments, let us know.

 

Jim & Thermo... good point. I'll let the pressure down later today, see what happens.
Thanks chaps.

 

32 is far better! Now either one or both rear wheels are out of balance. The car shakes in the rear above 50mph.

Ongoing adventure owning an X Type.

 

Hi bud as a qualified tyre fitter i can tell you that you're problem is as stated a stiff side wall tyre type, next time you change your tyres go for Michelin Primacy 3's nice soft side wall and the tyres are far superior for grip and mileage as well as fuel consumption.

As for pressures Jaguar has 2 stated tyre pressures for that size tyre one is the "comfort" setting and is 30psi all round. Do not use this as it is far to low a tyre pressure for a car of this size and while you will get a super comfy ride do expect to be buying tyres every 7000 miles! as the tyre shoulders will wear out super fast. I have seen loads of X-type owners fall for this trap.

The other Jaguar recommended tyre pressure is for high speed travel and is 38psi fronts and 35 psi rears. This is the pressure i run my 3.0 X-type at and my ride is comfortable but responsive and my tyres are wearing in a perfectly even pattern just FYI i am running on the Michelin Primacy 3's.

While this higher setting might be ok with the Michelins for ride comfort, running this on Goodyears will probably be a bit stiff so i would recommend you run your pressures at 34psi all round as 32 is still abit soft in my opinion and will probably wear out you tyres early but not as early as running at 30psi.