Hi -

My 2006 S60R "road feel" has changed in recent months.

The car has 55,000 miles and is currently equipped with Pirelli P6 all-weather tires.

It just seems that every little imperfection in the road is majorly exaggerated in the cabin. Meaning, it translates to a banging hard ride for even the smallest ruts, humps, manhole covers, etc.

At first, I suspected the selectable chasis mode was not working, but it still changes the ride, so I believe that is working correctly. Then, I began to wonder about the shocks.

I have not spoken to the dealer yet; I wanted to get some input here first.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. It's not my imagination... the road behavior has definitely changed... my wife notices it too and she rarely drives the S60.

 

What 4C setting are you driving around in?
You might want to ask over in Swedespeed, There is a big R Specific forum over there.

Just curious, but does your "Comfort" setting feel too harsh too?

 

Over inflated tires?

 

Thanks, guys.

I drive in "sport" mode probably 20% of the time and rarely in "advanced." Primarily in "comfort" mode and, yes, still harsh.

Tire pressure... funny... I keep meaning to check that. Will do.

Thanks again.

 

I did the Pirelli's once, never again only had 40-45k miles and they where cooked you might have a bad cord belt gone in the tread of the tire

 

I have a 2007 S60 R and its way better than a Corvette but yea feels a little tight. Think its just a bit rough and no fix for it. The suspension doesn't bother me near as bad as the poor turning radius. It seems like its always at least a 2 point turn to park.

 

Well... checked tire pressures. All at/near spec of 35psi.

Any other ideas?

Toddro... I agree it's a generally hard/aggressive ride, but something has changed since I've had it. It was never this hard from day one. Still mystified.

What are the odds the shocks went bad by 55,000 miles? Some people tell me that is unlikely.

 

It is unlikely your shocks are bad. Your suspension module could be bad and not adjusting as it should when you change it. Or your tires are wearing and just getting rougher. Ive seen worn tires on XC90's cause a rough ride.

 

Thanks, DealerTech.

The suspension module... do you think that would throw diagnostic codes that could be verified?

I will check my tires more closely... only second set on that car after the original P4's.

 

Depends on if its communicating. If it is offline totally, it wouldnt throw any codes but another module like the CEM should see it missing.

 

Thanks again, DealerTech. Could be worth a diagnostic visit.

On the tires, I misspoke before. The car came with Pzero Rosso, not P4. I replaced them at 24,000 miles and went to the P6 All Season. So, the P6's now have over 30,000 on them. Maybe time to take a closer look even though I recently passed inspection and all. The tread depth looks OK to me, but since I don't use snows, maybe time to replace before this coming winter.

 

The struts on the S60 R are basically filled with a liquid metal hydraulic oil. When you apply voltage to the struts the liquid thickens making the travel rate limited depending on the amount of voltage. I have seen the same thing on GM fan clutches and the liquid gets tacky and becomes thick causing the fan clutches to run all the time. So its possible that the mileage on these vs conventional hydraulic struts are limited. I bought mine at 52,000 so not much help there.

 

Toddro... thanks for that technical insight. Very interesting in terms of how it works. Will keep in mind.

In the mean time, and as I coincidentally have a Volvo coupon for "free" diagnostic check-up, seems like a good time to cash that in. A few posts back, you will see me asking the question about possible codes that might have been thrown. DealerTech gave me some hope that is quite possible. At least that would allow me to rule out a malfunction of the controller for the selectable chasis modes.

To be continued...

 

Upshot...

I took the car into Volvo today and had the full diagnostic check-up.

They found no codes and even put the car on the lift to further inspect suspension.

Everything came back "normal" / no problems found.

I must be losing my mind.

Sigh...