I just bought new tires for my '08 xB because I needed them. I ended up with the normal 205/55R16 for my stock steelies. I bought goodyear Assurance Comfortreds because they're supposed to be somewhat comfortable, ok in the snow and where particularly cheap.

They do make for a bit nicer ride than the stock tires.

What's the next step for a more comfortable ride? I've got 48,000 miles on her. I commute about 100 miles per day- almost all highway. I only have basic mechanical abilities and tools and I know nothing about suspensions.

What's my best course of action? I don't know how to shop for shocks and I don't know enough to figure out if I need springs.

I don't care much about handling since this is my commuter car, I just want to stop spilling my coffee when hitting New England potholes.

 

Crap... this isn't the 2-Gen forum

 

Here's your solution:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=206857

 

If you're stock and want a softer ride, getting springs is NOT your solution, unless you pair it up with shocks as well that will match the springs spring rate. Anyways, when we first bought the xB the 3 things I immediately needed to change out because I felt it was just that bad.... were the tires, suspension, and brakes.

I haven't swapped out the brakes yet but with the other 2 already looked into I'm pretty happy with the ride now. I went with full coilover's but I suspect you should probably stay with stock shock/springs, and just upgrade your tires.

Out of the big brands, I personally feel Toyo is the best bang for the buck. The lower end wheels will give you lower end feel. I'm riding on Toyo Proxes4 on the xB and Toyo T1R on my other car and both are awesome. Higher performance tire generally leads to noisier tires. Getting more sidewall may help you as well, so pay attention to your tire sizes. Not knowing your setup thats the best advice I can give you.

 

He said he wanted a more comfortable ride, and I can personally guarantee (as well of dozens of other xB2 owners that have made the switch) that the NF springs ride noticeably more comfortably than the OEM springs. The linear stock rear springs were bouncy/choppy over the slightest irregularity in the road, or over freeway expansion joints. I drove with the stock springs for 6,000 miles, and have been on the NF's for 27,000 miles. The NF's are within 5% of the stock spring rates, and I have not observed any noticeable degradation in the shocks. This probably doesn't apply to many of the other lowering springs, but that is why I went with the NF's. I too wanted a more comfortable ride, and I got it with the Tanabe NF210's.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, I just wanted to explain why I made the suggestion by posting the link to the NF thread. I do wholeheartedly agree with what you said in general, especially about the tires. A good set of luxury performance oriented tires can help out greatly. I have heard many good things about the Toyo Proxes 4's. While I haven't tried them yet, my understanding is that the Falken FK452's can also help out in this regard. They were specifically designed with a quiet comfortable ride in mind, while still maintaining a performance orientation.

 

thats new news to me, i generally wouldn't recommend springs as a solution for anything except lowering a vehicle but if you guys and others all feel its more comfortable than stock then I say everyone's combined experience must have some truth. I guess in general.... its very rare for aftermarket springs to be more comfortable than stock springs.... but if the NF's are within 5% of stock spring rates than I' think thats awesome. Toyota may have just went cheap w/ the springs, who knows.... I do agree they are crap though!

impressive that they are what you say they are... you get what I'm saying though I'm sure..... its not everyday that any aftermarket spring is more comfortable than stock oe parts.

 

For some reason I think it's more comfortable than stock because they're probably softer than stock. There are tons of aftermarket lowering springs softer than stock, you're just not told that they are. (I've seen it in other cars)

 

Thanks Go_HIN, I'm glad you took it with the friendly intent and rationale that I was trying to impart. You're right, it's rare, but that's why there are so many happy owners that enjoy the increased comfort while still getting the better look and handling of a mild drop. :D

FromTheOld, they may be stretching the truth, but this is what Tanabe says on their website:
"The NF210 coil spring features a tasteful drop, and produces the best overall ride quality and comfort for a performance lowering spring. The lowered stance of the NF210 gives the car an elegant pose, while the spring rates, which are only slightly raised (up to 5% over stock) retain factory ride quality settings."

 

Yes, I understand that they say that on their website, and while this has nothing to do with an OE vs NF210 comparison, compare the spring rates of the DF210 and NF210. The DF210, the drop that goes much lower, is a softer spring rate in the front than the NF210s. Also if you look at the design of the NF210s, DF210s, and stock OE ones, you notice that the diameters are the same, but the coil spacing gets closer and closer as you go from the OE to NF210 to DF210. This indicates softer spring rates. This is all speculation, but it makes sense as to why the NF210s are more comfortable.

I'm not hating on any springs, I'm just trying to get the truth out there.

 

If they are truly softer than stock then I would have to lean towards the fact that maybe the slight drop put the car into the stock shock damper's sweet spot where rebound feels nice and road bumps are absorbed by the shock and spring. Being the xB in stock form sits so high, the more compressed shock may fully pressurize the gas in the shock making it more of an efficient shock absorber.....

who knows, its possible.

PS I still would recommend swapping the tires as the most obvious fix.

 

The real difference between the NF210s and the stock springs (forget about the spring rates drop etc) that really makes a difference in ride smoothness is that they are progressively wound as opposed to the stock non progressive springs. The closer coils in the spring absorb alot of the choppiness resulting in a smoother ride. The 1st gen xB had this issue and my 2" drop progressive springs rode a hell of alot smoother than the stockers even with the big drop.

 

As much as I love my nf210s, I don't know if I can say they are smoother than stock, but if anything, close to or equal to stock ride with being lowered. Hard to say, but who knows!

 

Watchout for what people say here! I suspect your definition of comfort is very different from most here. I changed springs and added a sway bar, but neither was really about "comfort", they were about stability and handling predictability.

If you want actual "comfort", outside of selecting a gentler tire (which you already did), I'm darned if I know what to suggest, but it definitely doesn't include aftermarket springs or bars or braces! Maybe there are softer shocks available for the car, though I'd be personally afraid of harming the cars behavior during emergency road manouvering. Seriously, I strongly suspect your choice of vehicle has limited your prospects for the traditional concept of comfort! Simply speaking, larger and heavier cars are more likely to fit that bill.

PS. I've installed Eibach Pro-Kit springs on both my xB and my Eclipse and both have improved the stability and behavior of the ride, but neither ride has been made more "comfortable" in the sense of softer or gentler. I absolutely don't believe the NF-210's are much different.

 

NF-210's for the win!!

100% better than stock, thats just how i feel


Def down the road in the years to come def would get a set of cusco coilovers or Tein but for now im super happy with my NF-210's.

 

I appreciate you trying to help the OP, but be careful making blanket statements when you don't have first hand knowledge or experience. I can tell from your statement above that you must not have ridden in an xB with NF210 springs because the ride is significantly different from Pro-Kit springs. Here's some real first hand experience from an owner that replaced his Pro-Kit with the NF's:

 

Thanks for the correction regarding Pro-Kit Vs NF-210, always willing to learn ! However, that by itself doesn't imply the NF-210 is softer than the very soft OEM springs. I still think installing any of the springs usually discussed here would be a waste of money relative to his expressed goal. Unless I completely miss his intent, he's not talking about handling or body roll or fender gap, he's talking about a soft cushy ride.