Rough ride 2020 Ecoboost Convertible

[Bikeman315]

Maybe you don’t have the shit roads we have in Indiana either.

I put over 40k miles on my 15' EB in Northern and Central NJ so I know from bad roads. Yes the roads down here in MB are better but not all glass either. That said, I feel like your looking for an excuse to go out and buy new tires and wheels. If this is the case just do it.

But, neither my 15' EB or 19 GT/CS has a race suspension. It is firm, not stiff. The ride is compliant over all road surfaces. If you were happier with a 14' than your 20' then something is wrong. Do what some of the others have said, test drive another one. If it's the same then wheels and tires it is. If it's not then get your car on a lift and take a look see.

By the way is this something that just started recently or was it there from the get go? It's it's the former you might want to look for suspension damage as well. You might have broken something.

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[Gregs24]

Mag ride does a better job with sharp impacts and rebound damping over the lesser trims, sure. I would go with Bilstein B6 dampers though the FRPP track shocks aren't objectionable either. Can you isolate the problem to just the rear or is it both ends? Find a soft-sidewall /45 section tire and that should help a fair bit. There's plenty of wheel-gap to work with afterall...

Magneride would have solved his problem but I don't think he wants to hear that now !

Having said that I drove a non Magneride car in the UK and the ride wasn't that bad even on our poor roads.

 

[shogun32]

Having said that I drove a non Magneride car in the UK and the ride wasn't that bad even on our poor roads.

VA roads ain't WVA smooth for sure and the ride on 255/40/19 factory pirelli (summer) pzero wasn't too harsh in my book. More chop than there should have been, sure. The suspension was soft but not ridiculously so. I don't understand OP's observations either except there's like 200 extra pounds in the rear of his car because of the soft top and he's accustomed to the total embarrassing mush in the suspension department from the high-sidewall of his previous car.

 

[Alan2955]

VA roads ain't WVA smooth for sure and the ride on 255/40/19 factory pirelli (summer) pzero wasn't too harsh in my book. More chop than there should have been, sure. The suspension was soft but not ridiculously so. I don't understand OP's observations either except there's like 200 extra pounds in the rear of his car because of the soft top and he's accustomed to the total embarrassing mush in the suspension department from the high-sidewall of his previous car.

I don’t like a harsh shitty ride. I never had people comment that the 2014 rode like a log wagon. And it cornered fine for my needs. I’ve owned a few Mustangs and this is by far the worst riding. I’d bet a fortune it’s not defective. The dealer just had it apart for a creaking strut bearing and aligned it too. If anything was wrong the tech would have seen it. It drives and rides just like before he worked on it. Vibration free and tracks straight as an arrow. It’s just biased to handling at the expense of ride quality. The 2014 felt looser and floatier but absorbed bumps much better. The 40 profile tires are no doubt a big culprit too. This is what we get when automakers try to satisfy the hard core magazines, at the expense of the 80% of folks who would prefer to not feel every crack in the road. We don’t even have curves here. It’s obviously harder sprung and damped than the 2014 V6 was I definitely don’t want to buy new wheels, and preferably not tires. My best bet may be live with it a while and eventually dump it on a better riding convertible. Problem is choices are few, especially American ones. Camaro or Mustang. Period. The only reason I bought it was because the top drops. It’s a play car only. And I do love the looks and acceleration. I honestly don’t care about how fast it takes a corner. Maybe a German convertible would be more suitable? Or just find a nice 2014 again. Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

[Alan2955]

I put over 40k miles on my 15' EB in Northern and Central NJ so I know from bad roads. Yes the roads down here in MB are better but not all glass either. That said, I feel like your looking for an excuse to go out and buy new tires and wheels. If this is the case just do it.

But, neither my 15' EB or 19 GT/CS has a race suspension. It is firm, not stiff. The ride is compliant over all road surfaces. If you were happier with a 14' than your 20' then something is wrong. Do what some of the others have said, test drive another one. If it's the same then wheels and tires it is. If it's not then get your car on a lift and take a look see.

By the way is this something that just started recently or was it there from the get go? It's it's the former you might want to look for suspension damage as well. You might have broken something.

Your idea of firm but compliant probably doesn’t match mine. I thought my Highlander SE rode rather poorly on rough roads. Now it feels mushy in comparison. A lot of ones feelings about ride quality depends on what you are used to. The passengers commenting on my Mustang ride aren’t driving sporty cars. So ‘firm’ feels bad to them. I wish Ford offered a softer ‘touring’ suspension for those of us that want a sporty looking coupe or convertible, but a smoother ride. I’m sure there’s a market for it.

 

[Soulja4187]

I have a 2020 GT Premium, PP1 with MagneRide and before I bought one I did my search. I test drove 2020 GT non PP and 2020 GT PP1 with and without MagneRide. Luckily a local dealer let me take each car over night so I could test drive them to work and see how it drove on my 65 mile round trip. I first drive the 2 non MagneRide GT's and I wasnt very impress but once I drove the MagneRide I was blown away. I'm 38 and I have back issues so ride comfort is very important to me, before this car I drove a 2013 V6 Accord and the ride on the GT feels better than the Accord. Also a buddy of mine has a 2018 GT PP1 with MagneRide sitting on 20 inch wrapped on 35 series tires and his car feels just like mine. I think your main complaint comes from the suspension as it may not be as complaint as you want it to be while the tires may be making your ride worse I don't think that they are all to blame. My wife's Lexus IS comes with 35 series tires on 18 inch rims and the ride is smooth even on shitty roads.

Maybe next time trade your car for a MagneRide Mustang

 

[Alan2955]

I have a 2020 GT Premium, PP1 with MagneRide and before I bought one I did my search. I test drove 2020 GT non PP and 2020 GT PP1 with and without MagneRide. Luckily a local dealer let me take each car over night so I could test drive them to work and see how it drove on my 65 mile round trip. I first drive the 2 non MagneRide GT's and I wasnt very impress but once I drove the MagneRide I was blown away. I'm 38 and I have back issues so ride comfort is very important to me, before this car I drove a 2013 V6 Accord and the ride on the GT feels better than the Accord. Also a buddy of mine has a 2018 GT PP1 with MagneRide sitting on 20 inch wrapped on 35 series tires and his car feels just like mine. I think your main complaint comes from the suspension as it may not be as complaint as you want it to be while the tires may be making your ride worse I don't think that they are all to blame. My wife's Lexus IS comes with 35 series tires on 18 inch rims and the ride is smooth even on shitty roads.

Maybe next time trade your car for a MagneRide Mustang

I agree with your assessment. Mine is pretty nice on a decent road, but some types of pavement, especially frost heaves, it’s pretty annoying. Kind of ruins the enjoyment of a top down evening cruise. I’ll have to hunt down one with MagneRide and try it. If it’s a lot better I’d spring for a new car. Probably a GT, the EcoBoost has plenty of power and gets great economy,but the droaning noise around 40 to 55 can’t compare the V8. Thanks for the input.

 

[JCFoster]

If your car has the standard front brakes for the EcoBoost the oe 17” wheels will fit it. Definitely will ride better. I went through the same thing with mine, it came with 20’s and hated it. Bought a set of 18’s and was much happier. It sucks you have to tweak these cars to make them better, at least I had to with smaller rims and better shocks.

In the vert section a while back someone posted that the EcoBoost premium convertible may come standard with magnitude. I have the GT vert so can’t say. I know when you go through the build configuration I couldn’t find an option for it on that model. Also enclosed a pic with one with 17’s.

 

[Bikeman315]

If your car has the standard front brakes for the EcoBoost the oe 17” wheels will fit it. Definitely will ride better. I went through the same thing with mine, it came with 20’s and hated it. Bought a set of 18’s and was much happier. It sucks you have to tweak these cars to make them better, at least I had to with smaller rims and better shocks.

In the vert section a while back someone posted that the EcoBoost premium convertible may come standard with magnitude. I have the GT vert so can’t say. I know when you go through the build configuration I couldn’t find an option for it on that model. Also enclosed a pic with one with 17’s.

The only way to get MagneRide on an EcoBoost is by getting the HPP with the handling packing. Unfortunately the handling package is not available on the vert therefore no MagneRide. Have to go to a GT with PP1.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

The base suspension is not super stiff, hell its not even really stiff. It is fairly compliant. The combination of the base suspension and stock tires should not be giving you a ride worse than your old 2014, period.

Yeah, good lord, anything outside of PP1 to me feels like a Camry - I actually love a nice tight suspension, and I even keep mine in Sport+ most of the time (PP/MR), and I'm running a 20" setup

I get bad roads, we have some areas around here that aren't great, but there's __plenty__ of smooth open stretches to cruise, and when the top is down, exhaust growling, I don't even really put much mind into a little bumpy ride. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[Alan2955]

Yeah, good lord, anything outside of PP1 to me feels like a Camry - I actually love a nice tight suspension, and I even keep mine in Sport+ most of the time (PP/MR), and I'm running a 20" setup

I get bad roads, we have some areas around here that aren't great, but there's __plenty__ of smooth open stretches to cruise, and when the top is down, exhaust growling, I don't even really put much mind into a little bumpy ride. Obviously, YMMV.

No Camry ever rode like this damn thing. Worst thing is frost heaves. And lots of roads around me have them every 50 feet or so. I dropped air pressure to 30 and it helps a tad but it’s still annoying to me. Honestly wish I’d just kept the 2014 with the 17 inch wheels. This car is much sharper inside and out, but I prefer the V6 sounds, the 6 speed well behaved automatic, and the smoother ride on the old one.

 

[Alan2955]

If your car has the standard front brakes for the EcoBoost the oe 17” wheels will fit it. Definitely will ride better. I went through the same thing with mine, it came with 20’s and hated it. Bought a set of 18’s and was much happier. It sucks you have to tweak these cars to make them better, at least I had to with smaller rims and better shocks.

In the vert section a while back someone posted that the EcoBoost premium convertible may come standard with magnitude. I have the GT vert so can’t say. I know when you go through the build configuration I couldn’t find an option for it on that model. Also enclosed a pic with one with 17’s.

No magnaride on mine. I love the looks of the 19 inch wheels but I no doubt would like the ride better with smaller ones. What shocks did you switch to?

 

[shogun32]

Worst thing is frost heaves.

frost heaves are a special kind of evil WRT suspension tuning. You need good high speed comp (pretty rare in industry) and fast-enough rebound. A soft sidewall crushes easily which takes the 'sting' out of the compression stroke impact. If the rebound is too fast you get a pogo action. if it's too slow you get a secondary 'impact' sensation when the wheel crashes back down to the road on the other side of the heave. A soft/tall tire helps on this second impact.

MR cars (can) do better because they absorb the high-speed compression impacts much better than traditional (and cheap) dampers. The minimum price for a good damper is about $600/corner. Everything else is shades of crap.

 

[JCFoster]

I went with Koni Actives. My biggest issue was the rear and like you on those heaves they would beat the hell out you. I tried just replacing the back first and saw good improvement. Then I did the front which really balanced the car out. Some people haven’t liked the actives, I’ve been very pleased with them. If you were closer you would be welcome to drive mine.

 

[S550 HPP]

Did the dealer let you test drive it before you bought it?

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