How should a BX ride?

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BXcitro
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How should a BX ride?

Post by BXcitro »

I've had my TZD for 6 months now and loving every minute of her.
I had the spheres and LHM changed shortly after buying the car as the old ones were passed their best.
I still find the ride quite 'crashy' though and just wondered if that's normal?
Driving on a motorway, she glides along merrily, but around town and local driving I do find it to be quite hard over the bumps.
Is there something else that could cause this?
What do your BX's drive like?
Thanks
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by morningglory »

Sounds about right to me. Super silky on fast roads but not much different to normal springs around town (except speed bumps, which you can take really fast but don't tell anyone). I think the crashyness around town is more build quality and light weight rather than any suspension issues. I'm told you can get comfort spheres which are more plush due to larger fluid apertures, but I presume they don't damp as well so loll around more. Might treat myself to some when I'm a big boy.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by rutter123 »

Yep agreed with /\, regardless of whichever spheres are fitted-and ive tried all of them on my t/d if you hit a pothole is does become quite ^crashy" as you describe, i find my standard fitment spheres superb on the Fenland B roads but not so good round town at slower speeds.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by Tim Leech »

Yep as the guys said, it seems the suspension can't react quick enough to pot holes, I find comfort spheres to help and mk1 cars are better riding if more wallowly.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by BXcitro »

Well it's good to know it's not just mine that behaves like that, i'm guessing on later 'heavier' Citroen's this was less of an issue?
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by themildbunch »

Yes, all the above - I use mine daily and it bugs me fairly often...

Worth checking the lower arm bushes - if they are very old or look splayed out at all they're probably shot and this can make a much harsher, rough ride.. Droplinks can cause rattles too.

I have comfort spheres on my estate and they are great, very soft but still don't deal with sharp potholes or nasty broken road surfaces well.
I think more sound deadening under the carpets, etc would probably help though and remove some of the noise associated with this kind of surface..

Certain brands of tyres are supposed to make a difference too. Michelin's, I think, are supposed to have less still sidewalls and were historically always specced with new Citroens so might be worth a try..
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by senmathal »

It´s a common problem that the front struts will bee stiff and then the car will not run as smooth as it should. You can test to put upp the boot and put some oil on the piston and then test if the car will run smoother. The problem will sadly come back after a while.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by rutter123 »

I have also found my bx rides much better with 4 people on board as opposed to just the driver, just seems to soak up the uneven road surfaces much better.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by BXcitro »

Yes totally agree with the 4 people on board thing, much smoother on the bumps, I really noticed when everyone got out then I drove home, it was back to the crashy ride.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by RobC »

Yeah I always wondered why it was that it was so much more comfortable with a full load - I thought the point of self-levelling suspension was that it acted the same no matter the load. Would be interested to know the physics of why this isn't the case (in terms of comfort at least, the handling does seem fairly similar no matter the load).
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by Defender110 »

bag of sand in the boot :-)
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by rutter123 »

I wouldn't drive around with that much money in the boot.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by xjs36uk »

Without going all scientific, it's a drawback of hydraulic systems. Fiuids don't compress well.
Basically if you put your hand in a bucket of water it will feel soft, but if you smack the water quickly it will sting. Which is called 'hydraulic lock'

In the hydropnumatic setup the lhm is pushed into the sphere which then compresses the argon gas. On undulating surfaces the system glides. but with broken surfaces the rapid shocks are quicker than the ability of the lhm to transfer the energy to the gas. It's present in all hydropnumatic systems DS,CX,GSA,BX,Xantia,XM,C5,C6 and so on. What makes it so noticeable on BX's more than others is the Macpherson struts which is in itself was an attempt by Peugeot to give the BX a more 'normal' feel on the road and reduce body roll. The result was a huge improvement on body roll over previous cars but at the cost of overall ride comfort on broken surfaces, not a major issue when the BX was still new as most roads in Europe were super smooth, of course that is now a different story! Later systems Hydractive 1, 2 and 3 managed to improve on this ride issue but at the cost of overall ride comfort.
My phase 1 non-hydractive Xantia rides well on most surfaces and has a good amount of body roll, something I adapted to after over 20 years with CX's,

Hope this helps a little.
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by RobC »

Interesting, but still the question remains why they're more supple when loaded up?
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Re: How should a BX ride?

Post by xjs36uk »

sorry missed that bit of the explanation, tyres also play a big part, a laden car will have more flex in the tyres and consequently act much more like a conventional shock absorber thus ironing out the road imperfections leaving room for the hydropneumatics to do what they do best.
87 Capri 3.0S
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91 BX 1.6 IE Image (just sold)
91 W124 250D Kombi
93 Xantia Phase 1 1.9TD SX
93 XJ40 4.0 Sport
95 X300 3.2 Sport
97 LDV Convoy
99 P38 2.5DSE
99 E280 4-Matic Estate

83 Kawasaki GT750
85 Yamaha XT500 55W
86 H**da CBR500R
86 Kawasaki GPZ1000RX
86 Kawasaki GTR1000
88 Kawasaki GTR1000
89 Kawasaki GPZ900R
90 Kawasaki ZZR1100C
00 Kawasaki ZX12R

If you cut me I bleed Green :mrgreen:
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