Has anyone experienced this? The tire is a Michelin Energy MXV4 S8 that is supposed to be very smooth riding.

I inflated tires to about to about 38 psi and progressively dropped it down to 34 and have noticed that the ride is harsh meaning, I feel and hear a jolt and shake anytime I hit any sort of imperfection in the road. I'm not talking about major pot holes, but small dips and bumps. Even at 32 psi, the ride is very much un-Honda like. FWIW, I had a 02 Taurus that I inflated to 38 psi with no noticeable harness with the same dimension tire 215/60 16.

Even on freshly paved roads, it is not as smooth as you would expect. I initially thought I had a balance problem as there was a vibration problem at higher speeds, but I had the local tireshop rebalance my car twice, at 500 miles (off by .5 and .75 oz)and again at 1900 miles (.5 oz) and the balance was off a little but not by much.

The ride is harsher than my other car with 245/40 18" tires! Any ideas? I guess my next step is a ride along with a tech, but my guess is that he'll shrug his shoulders and say it's normal.

 

You didn't specify what pressure you noticed the harshness at, and did it get worse with pressure, or is it just always harsh to you? Any Accord I've been in is always stiffer than any Taurus I've been in, except the SVT ones.

I haven't noticed any ride difference between 32, 36, 42 in mine- 12K on her now. I've taken her up to 105mph, no shudders at all.

Someone here might know about suspension, and what adjustment could be made to struts or whatnot to suit your preference.

 

Thanks for the reply. I noticed this stiffness at around 34 psi. I haven't dropped it down to 32 since I first bought the car. I dunno but it appears that the ride is harsh whether at 34 or 38 psi. I recently test drove a 06 accord ex-non-hybrid and it rides a lot smoother.

I guess I'll drop it down to 32 and head on over to the dealer.