[Alex_bm]

Interested to hear impressions from the new owners and comparisons to G80/82 or other performance cars on how G87 handles city driving with bumps, potholes, etc. Especially those folks living in northern states and Canada where roads are "high" quality.

[Ravenseal]

It rides a lot smoother than I expected in the Denver area, which has pretty bad roads. Certainly not as spine shattering as the F87s I drove in the past. A little harsher than my G42 (which I drove back to back). The HEA car I drove had Michelin PS4S which did have a fair amount of road noise. At least the front wheels are 19", which should help dampen the ride better than 20". If you want a smoother ride, I don't think there is any harm switching to Pilot All Season 4 - which is what I run on my G42. They have a ton of grip, and work better in sub-40F weather.

[RockCrusher]

Mine felt fine on the way home on I49 heading south from KC MO to I44 then Bentonville AR. But the stretches of road I drove on are relatively new and in good condition. (The exception is about 5 miles of I44 I had to drive when cutting west to get back in I49 south. However, while this stretch of road is not new it is in pretty good shape and the M2 was fine.)

My initial experience though was the "test drive" from the dealer to a nearby gas station where the salesman filled up the fuel tank. The road from the dealer to the main road -- less than half a mile -- was one crummy stretch of road. But I took it nice and easy and swerved around the nastier looking potholes.

While a terrible bit of road it was not representative of the quality of roads I normally drive on.

So far my impression is the M2 is about on par with various other cars: (2006) GTO, Cayman S, Porsche Turbo, 3 Dodge Challengers (2 Scat Packs and one Hellcat but all on pretty much the same wheels/tires), even my 3 MINIs (2 JCWs and one S) and my BMW 230i; when it comes to roads. The smoother the road the better. The rougher the road... Well one just has to avoid real bad roads or if forced to use a bad road just be mindful the car is going to ride harsh and crash-y and slow down.

[Alex_bm]

I've never tried G42. My G20 with adaptive dumpers had a great ride, not a fun car though by any means. I've driven G82 with MP4S in Florida and I found it too be significantly stiffer compared to G20 to a point of being tiring driving in the city.
Tire swap is a great idea.

[ASAP]

this was one of my main complaints with the F87... you basically got a very hard ride that was super bouncy if you were on any onramps etc... it felt terrible, not really fit for an m car in terms of stability imho... hopefully the G87 with comfort settings etc is far more settled

[Alex_bm]

I feel that all 2-series of the F generation suffered from this. I owned M240i and it was a lot plusher compared to M2 but super bouncy over bumps or any road imperfections.

Originally Posted by ASAP

this was one of my main complaints with the F87... you basically got a very hard ride that was super bouncy if you were on any onramps etc... it felt terrible, not really fit for an m car in terms of stability imho... hopefully the G87 with comfort settings etc is far more settled

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Alex_bm

I feel that all 2-series of the F generation suffered from this. I owned M240i and it was a lot plusher compared to M2 but super bouncy over bumps or any road imperfections.

my understanding is that the spring rate was poorly matched to the rest of the suspension... to me it feels like bmw ONLY tests these cars on perfect roads... which is weird bcuz they test these cars on the nurgburging which is very bouncy and the problems should be obvious

[Tag]

Originally Posted by ASAP

this was one of my main complaints with the F87... you basically got a very hard ride that was super bouncy if you were on any onramps etc... it felt terrible, not really fit for an m car in terms of stability imho... hopefully the G87 with comfort settings etc is far more settled

That was my experience as well with the F87. It wasn't so much the stiff spring rates that bothered me but rather how the dampers handled compression and rebound giving you the bobblehead effect. I prefer a stiffer setup because it's more stable and I find it more comfortable so long as the dampers are able to settle the car down quickly. It's hard to explain unless you experience a car with a proper suspension setup. Basically, a taught yet controlled ride, not crashy or choppy. The opposite is true on soft suspension setups, they are too floaty and the suspension travel too long making me feel disconnected with the car and lacking confidence in it.

[Alex_bm]

Only few cars have that level of perfect balance between firm yet not crashy, comfortable but not bouncy. Alfa has nailed that balance with QV.

Originally Posted by Tag

That was my experience as well with the F87. It wasn't so much the stiff spring rates that bothered me but rather how the dampers handled compression and rebound giving you the bobblehead effect. I prefer a stiffer setup because it's more stable and I find it more comfortable so long as the dampers are able to settle the car down quickly. It's hard to explain unless you experience a car with a proper suspension setup. Basically, a taught yet controlled ride, not crashy or choppy. The opposite is true on soft suspension setups, they are too floaty and the suspension travel too long making me feel disconnected with the car and lacking confidence in it.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by Alex_bm

Only few cars have that level of perfect balance between firm yet not crashy, comfortable but not bouncy. Alfa has nailed that balance with QV.

not really... the f80 m3 especially comp felt fine... but the crappier springs in the m2 tied w a shorter body made it far worse...

hopefully the CLAR platform fixes some of that w suspension improvements

[Alex_bm]

Originally Posted by ASAP

not really... the f80 m3 especially comp felt fine... but the crappier springs in the m2 tied w a shorter body made it far worse...

hopefully the CLAR platform fixes some of that w suspension improvements

I only driven non-comp F80 with fixed dumpers and that car wasn't a good daily by my standards. Way too firm.