Realise this topic crops up for debate every few months, and the conclusion is usually a Renault or Peugeot from the 1980s, but what's the most comfortable car made within the last decade?
Comfortable meaning quiet, good seats, good primary and secondary ride and so on. There are aspects of many cars that fit the bill, such as the seats in an S60, the primary ride of a 7-Series and secondary ride of the new Superb, the library like quiet of a Phaeton etc.
I should confess a preference for the way older cars ride: I still have a '88 CX 25 GTi in the garage and would love a new 5-Series if only it rode like the last one! My worst nightmare is having to sit in any recent Audi while it's moving.
If we assume an arbitrary budget of 20K and no particular segment, what would you choose?
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Our old Renault Grand Scenic took some beating. Lovely seats (not far behind the Volvo's), acres of space, beautifully supple ride, and low NVH levels.
The S60 would win this outright for me if it weren't so crashy at low speeds. In every other respect it is like driving your favourite armchair.
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The most comfortable car I have yet driven is the Audi A8 W12. Extremely quiet, comfortable ride and beautiful comfy leather seats. It was like sitting in your favourite leather armchair. Wish I could afford to buy and run one.
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i would have thought anything large with a sensible wheel/tyre combination and hasnt been slammed by the manufacturer/owner
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To ride in, probably the living area of a motorhome on the basis you can change posture/seat and stand up and stretch your legs.
I've never been in a modern one, but big wheels and longish wheelbase should make for a decent ride.
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>>good primary and secondary ride and so on.
Not terms that I was familiar with, so I googled. If anyone else was as ignorant as I was,
Primary ride is how well a car controls its body motions over bigger road undulations.
Secondary ride is the ability of a car to soak up sharp surface imperfections ? you know, high-frequency, low amplitude stuff. Potholes and the like. The noisy, harsh and unpleasant stuff.
Source: tinyurl.com/yem6va8
Edited by tyro on 23/11/2009 at 17:02
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My Jag S Type...... v quiet, smooth, comfortable......I think the balance between comfort and not wallowing every where is absolutely spot on.
16" wheels and Pirelli P6000's are a good combination as well. If the wheels were any bigger, i'm convinced the ride quality would suffer too much.
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Most comfortable car I've ever driven - Mercedes S-Class.
Second most comfortable - poverty spec Renault Laguna with steel wheels and high profile tyres, amazingly compliant suspension and the first diesel I'd ever driven which I would refer to as quiet.
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"I still have a '88 CX 25 GTi "
Not sure you will ever beat that!
In my experience, most MBs are "comfortable", Audi A8 as mentioned above but also SAABs - have been surprised by their comfort not having driven one until recently.
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Most comfortable car ive ever driven, is a Renault Laguna a brilliant driving postion and always comfortable
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Espace 2006 2.2 CDi - half-leather seats like arm chairs, soft ride, and so long as you take corners carefully plenty of grip with decent tyres. No kids get travel sick either.
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Having driven today from Berkshire to Durham, given a 3-hour lecture and driven back again, with no aches despite being 61, I'm feeling fairly well-disposed towards my Octavia vRS. A slightly softer ride would make it perfect when not on motorways: 17" wheels as on other Octavias, instead of the 18"s on mine, might do it, although that might upset the handling set up.
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