koobah

Although the ride comfort is not the best on 21" wheels, it never really bothered me that much, however we recently had a baby and wife started complaining about the SQ5's harsh ride on city streets. She also accidentally hit a pothole and damaged the 21" tire requiring replacement. It now appears I have 2 options: replace the suspension (researching KW street comfort) along with smaller (thinking 20") wheels and bigger rubber, or replace the SQ with a less sporty alternative. New suspension with wheels/tires would run around 5-6k with labor and I'm not even sure if it would yield satisfactory results. Love the SQ and invested quite a bit into it incl execuhitch, winter wheels/tires, clear bra, etc, but on the other hand wouldn't mind getting into a new, more comfortable ride to make the wife happy. Thoughts?

ex-quattro PETE

You bought a very sporty CUV, just to now turn around and do everything possible to make it unsporty? It makes no sense to me. I'd say sell it and get something else.

But just curious - what size are your winter wheels/tires? Does it feel any more comfortable running on those?

hilld

Put on the 20" wheels, as a matter of fact find some lighter weight ones, should improve the ride and actually improve handling a bit by reducing the unsprung weight. Not sure if Coil Overs will give you a smoother ride.

koobah

Exactly, but that was 2 years ago before the baby. 19" winters are a lot better comfort-wise, but I'm not sure I want to run 19s in the summer on an SQ, that's why I thought of 20's with a better suspension. The only unknown for me is if the KW Street Comfort coils are significantly better than OEM in that aspect.

4SallyPat

Buy your wife a Q5 2.0T - much softer ride, laggy turbo and less jumpy supercharged engine...

Keep the SQ5 - that's an awesome machine!

asmi84

I'd say get rid of it and replace it with something softer. If you change suspension you will have a really hard time selling it afterwards (who would want to buy a "sporty" car that has been "de-sportified"?)

TJay74

Wow, the SQ5 is at the top of the benchmark for the class it is in, it was designed to be sporty and powerful. No way I would change out the suspension to something that was softer.


I would go the wheel route first, 19" wheels would be just fine plus would give you an increased sidewall height which will give you a softer ride. You might even let out a couple of PSI of air to soften the ride up as well.


I would do all of that before I went to changing the suspension.

dassq5

I know that bigger wheels is now considered more stylish, but I bought a set of 255/50R19 Conti ExtremeContact DWS06 on BBS XAs that provide an aggressive look, yet have softened the ride considerably in pothole infested Colorado Springs.

ex-quattro PETE

Agreed. And this is an easily reversible mod. When you're ready to sell the car, just put the 21s back on.

koobah

dassq5: any photos you could share?