I have a 2009 VDP with 31000 miles and the Yokohama tires are 6 years old with only 11000 miles on them. I'm sure the rubber is now dried up but aside from changing the tires, what other components should I consider looking at?

Thank you as always folks

 

What size wheels ? Smaller wheels and fatter tyres will make the ride better.

 

6 years is really not that old for tires, unless a belt has shifted or the car has sat in one sport for too long and developed flat spots I doubt that's your issue.

 

You could ask your dealer or jag specialist to program the suspension softer setting

 

"You could ask your dealer or jag specialist to program the suspension softer setting"

Is that even possible? The wheel size is 19". Now what about bushings?

 

Defintitely worth checking out the bushings. Not sure if they changed anything for the x358 (08/09) models, but the earlier cars had junk for bushings from the factory. My 2006 only had 45k on it and all of them need to be replaced, going to do it in the Spring.

However, even with the bushings on my car looking absolutely awful, the car rides beautifully. No noises, vibrations, etc. and its perfectly smooth. Front tires are also much older than yours with 2014 date codes so I doubt tires are your issue unless they are flat-spotted which is entirely possible if the car sat.

Hard to say what your issue is as a "smooth ride" can be pretty subjective. It could be your 19" wheels? My car has 18" and rides great, while my wife's 2016 Buick (totally different car, I know) has 19" wheels and in my opinion has rode like crap since new.

 

Please note you cannot "program the suspension softer setting". Jaguar supplied cars with either "Sport" or "Comfort" suspension. This was achieved by the air space for the air spring being smaller for the Sport suspension. This is clearly stated in the original technical notes for the car issued in 2003. So to change to Comfort, you have to change all four air spring units.
Other thing to check is for stored fault codes. Suspension fault codes cause the dampers in the air spring units to default to Hard. It's important to understand that damper settings are a key part of CATS that varies damper settings based on inputs from sensors and what the engine is doing. However the air springs are fixed, (Sport or Comfort).

Early cars had 17" wheels offered with fatter tyres. These reduce harshness quite a bit, and on my first X350, which had Sepangs, 20", as I remember,. I swapped them for 17" wheels and this was much better for comfort. Our roads are now so awful in the UK that the fitment of low profile tyres is usually a path to harshness. Having said that, my XE is on 19" wheels and isn't bad for ride quality at all. It has Comfort suspension. I think Jaguar have done a lot of work on ride comfort in recent times, to try to counteract the effects on ride of our really awful roads.

 

Is the car garage kept? If not tires will dry rot due to summer heat and winter cold. I have not been kind to my '89 Jeep Wrangler and ol' Ginny has rarely see the inside of a garage. Small cracks in the sidewalls are apparent again so it's time to re-shod her with fresh rubber.

 

Yes the car is kept in a non-heated garage, very cold in winter and very hot in the summer in that garage.

 

I somewhat misspoke. The sun's UV rays are the primary culprit for tire rot. Expansion and contraction of the rubber does not help, but if you are in an un-heated garage like i have here, you should be ok on that front. Someone mentioned flat spots on the bottom of the tires. Even in our garage when we get weather 15F-20F or so (had 4F a few weeks ago, the tires will form flat spots due to the air molecules contracting and the 'roundness' of the tires is compromised.

All this may be of no help. Checking the suspension components is a good idea as posted earlier. It's worth a try.

 

I have a few cars that I store for the winter in my unheated detached garage. I used to have issues with flat-spotting when not storing on jacks, but the past few years I just at the tires up to the max (usually around 50-55 psi) when in storage and no issues since and no need to mess with jack stands or those expensive plastic "flat stoppers".

 

Both are good ideas, but in my case my XJ-8 is a daily driver. New Conti's allow me better traction in snow 3 inches or less. DOT is pretty good about keeping our county and state roads passable. Or I use the '89 Wrangler and put many cars in my review mirror.

 

As long as the car doesn't sit for extended periods no need to do anything, tires should be fine. Performance/summer tires will flat spot a lot quicker, but you can usually drive out of it within a few miles.

 

Hi Vinnyboy,
I recently performed the below on my previous VDP (RIP) and she rode like she just rolled out of the assembly line. Didn’t break the bank, bought component in intervals too.

Upper/Lower Control Arms
Thrust Arms
Sway Bar Bushings
Front and Rear Control Links (Tie Rods)
Motor Mounts
Tranny Mount (aka 3rd Motor Mount)

This might seem like a lot but not if you purchase parts in intervals (per paycheck) like I did. Then my tech replaced everything in one swoop.

Ran like a dream until a drunk driver wrecked her 2 weeks after the work was completed…..😑

 

Thanks Indy. What do you think you spent for all those parts excluding labour? Did you purchase the parts from one supplier or many? Seems like L.A. temps were more consistent than the Detroit seasonal temps and the effect on those rubber parts..

 

no not possible .
depending on the age and deterioration of your height sensors, exchanging them for new ones can improve comfort. Well lets say on mine it was 10-15 % improved x350 2003
on an 2007 x358 the owner came back and claimed way better at least 15% better. That car was jumping int stiff mode once in a while . The exchange did not cure that