CT5-V Tour vs Track suspension damping on the road

[travysh]

Reviews everywhere be like

comfort mode dials down the ride stiffness to near-luxury-car levels.

Leave the suspension alone; it's clever enough to trick Grandma into thinking this is her DeVille.

the CT5-V Blackwing is a different animal, smooth in the way you'd expect a big Cadillac to be in Comfort mode,

And I really have to ask... is this just reviewers being reviewers?

I'm very happy with the suspension in my car don't get me wrong. But when I switch between tour and track, I hardly notice a difference. When testing my wife (eyes closed, see if she can tell when it changes) she can't tell at all. Coming from the Chevy SS, it was blatantly obvious when switching modes. I have a really hard time telling if this is it doing the right thing or not. Like, maybe in either case since I'm just driving at casual speeds on a standard road, the suspension has no reason to act different.

But one thing is for sure, on Tour it is not going to tricky anybody in to thinking it's their DeVille.

 

[rdollie]

Yes, reviewers are just being lazy. Many or just bringing up old tropes they've heard since many of these reviewers (most?) are too young to ever have ridden in a Deville. Come to think of it, I'm 53 and I haven't either!

Regarding the differences between modes, I find it quite pronounced. More so than in the BMWs and Volvos I've owned with adjustable suspensions. Maybe you just need to find a bumpier road? Something with real bumps but not craters should provide a good demo (craters are going to feel the same regardless of mode and the same for new asphalt - no ability to discern between drive modes.)

 

[TFG]

4 or 5? Because the 5 in sport is quite stiff, probably the stiffest of any previous generation of cars that had the adjustment porsche/audi. To the point my wife doesn't like to ride in the passenger seat with it on the freeway. Could just be our roads though and yours are too smooth as rdollie said.

 

[rdollie]

4 or 5? Because the 5 in sport is quite stiff, probably the stiffest of any previous generation of cars that had the adjustment porsche/audi. To the point my wife doesn't like to ride in the passenger seat with it on the freeway. Could just be our roads though and yours are too smooth as rdollie said.

I too have a 5 and hadn't considered the tuning might be different on a smaller lighter 4??

 

[M2Cto4BW]

For the 4BW there is a difference from tour to sport to track.
My Mode is set to Touring suspension, Sport steer, Sport exhaust, Sport brakes and that works really well on spotty roads you want to zip along.

When I go to V Mode, Sport, Track I absolutely notice the difference on that same road, at sensible fun speeds the car is simply more unsettled, at silly fun speeds it gets better again just because of the pace in which you dispatch them.

For me Track is really good on really good roads, you definitely hunker down more IMHO, and the back end is more settled under 'hard braking'. On better roads I typically go to my V Mode, which is Track settings, but with steering and suspension in Sport and PTM in Dry.

On good roads, driving along nicely, but not really having a go, it is obviously harder to discern a difference and if I had to do a blind test I could very well fail in telling the difference, up until the inevitable crash.

Sport + Magnaride 4.0 + 18" wheels with thicker side walled tires may have been all they needed to do with the 4BW, but I do enjoy having the options.

 

[travysh]

Rdollie and I are more or less riding on the same roads. Ish. At least on the way to the dealership. And both in CT5.
(I'm south king county so it's not exactly the same, but there's really no total garbage roads around here)

That's part of the problem too, is at least in the immediate area there's no really crap roads. With the SS in track mode even tiny little breaks in the pavement were very noticeable. The CT5 in track, I don't feel them. The CT5 feels more like it's in sport mode, all the time. It's not overly compliant nor is it overly harsh. It's just... fine.

Maybe I need to find a dirt road or something around here and really give it a good test.

 

[M2Cto4BW]

Rdollie and I are more or less riding on the same roads. Ish. At least on the way to the dealership. And both in CT5.

That's part of the problem too, is at least in the immediate area there's no really crap roads. With the SS in track mode even tiny little breaks in the pavement were very noticeable. The CT5 in track, I don't feel them. The CT5 feels more like it's in sport mode, all the time. It's not overly compliant nor is it overly harsh. It's just... fine.

Maybe I need to find a dirt road or something around here and really give it a good test.

I'm not the 5BW's market, so very easy for me to be wrong, but it strikes me as the ultimate motorway/autobahn mile muncher, that will take you through one of old-school Top Gear's classic challenges from Surrey to Nice in relative comfort, while being able to stop along the way to do the Goodwood Hill Climb and lap Circuit Paul Rickard.

It's not an SS and it's 'firmest' suspension should definitely be multiple degrees 'less sporty' than an SS IMHO. Obviously I don't know what they are like just comparing the 5BW's suspension to itself, but to an SS or Mustang or Charger it should definitely be more compliant.

 

[travysh]

Exactly why I'm here asking this awkward question! Hah
I've had the car for nearly a year and I've never been able to determine if it is the way it is because its targeting comfort all the time (when not driving aggressively), no matter what mode, because it's a Cadillac.

 

[Tall Steve]

Exactly why I'm here asking this awkward question! Hah
I've had the car for nearly a year and I've never been able to determine if it is the way it is because its targeting comfort all the time (when not driving aggressively), no matter what mode, because it's a Cadillac.

lol, It rides like a Cadillac!

 

[668LT4]

If you "hardly notice a difference" between tour and track, something is wrong with the car or maybe you are very insensitive to such things. It should be easily discerned between the two.

 

[TK42ONE]

I definitely notice it on my 5. driving into the office when in track it is quite stiff. Even on the freeway it is noticeable to me.

 

[Finally-a-V]

For the 4BW there is a difference from tour to sport to track.
My Mode is set to Touring suspension, Sport steer, Sport exhaust, Sport brakes and that works really well on spotty roads you want to zip along.

When I go to V Mode, Sport, Track I absolutely notice the difference on that same road, at sensible fun speeds the car is simply more unsettled, at silly fun speeds it gets better again just because of the pace in which you dispatch them.

For me Track is really good on really good roads, you definitely hunker down more IMHO, and the back end is more settled under 'hard braking'. On better roads I typically go to my V Mode, which is Track settings, but with steering and suspension in Sport and PTM in Dry.

On good roads, driving along nicely, but not really having a go, it is obviously harder to discern a difference and if I had to do a blind test I could very well fail in telling the difference, up until the inevitable crash.

Sport + Magnaride 4.0 + 18" wheels with thicker side walled tires may have been all they needed to do with the 4BW, but I do enjoy having the options.

^^^This exactly. I've never had mine in track. I've heard you need to be careful on normal roads as it could damage a wheel if you hit something. Our roads here are a mixed bag.

I absolutely feel a difference between tour and sport. It's a firmer ride, steering tighter, more responsive braking and louder exhaust. I run mine in track exhaust, and that's louder still....not loud enough. It's the only car I've had where I can tell the difference.

 

[jumpmanjay]

Tour seems a little too bobble-y. In track, I feel and hear the road imperfections more. Sport I feel offers the best compromise for our crappy roads here.