truman911

Im looking to order an 09. I want the smoothest ride possible. Is the magnetice ride control better than the base suspension? I want the one with the most comfortable ride.

danl72

The ride is good ok both. The magnetic ride has the adjustable settings. For either one you will want to upgrade to the Z51 sway bars.

Vette_DD

I've had both the base suspension and the F55 suspension. Although there's not much difference between the base suspension and the F55 in tour mode, there is a little. If the roads you're going to drive on are good, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

MNVette

The OP is asking what is the "smoothest" ride, not what is the "best-handling" ride, not what is the "most aggressive" ride, nor what is the "most sporty" ride.

If "smoothness" is what you want, and by that I interpret your question to mean that you're asking what provides the most compliant, least-jarring ride over real city streets for the least cost, then the answer is the base suspension. I've found the F55 to be slightly more harsh on city streets than the base suspension but far better at the track, in corners, etc. (handling-wise). The F55 was the best solution for me. If you have no plans to push your Vette, then save your money and stick with the base suspension.

peter pan

I had the F45 on my 99 Coupe and dumped for Koni FSDs and purchased a base suspension Coupe and will be putting on Z51 bars this fall when I put PFATs Coil Overs on my C5 and then move the Koni FSDs to the C6, seems my base suspension floats like a Caddy and for my use as a daily driver that is perfect and with the Koni FSDs will be even smoother

BSE1956

The failure of all of these answers lies in the fact that the F55 is a real-time active suspension. It is not designed for "2" settings. It is designed for 2 modes that allow the suspension to adjust to real time conditions in fractions of a second.
Ride wise, you can choose softer of firmer, (touring or sport) but the work being done by the magnetic system is virtually unnoticed.
GET THE MAGNETIC. IT'S WORTH IT.

Shortimer

If you have the extra cash, go for it.

RES-N-8R

I had to make the same choice when I was ready to order my '08 and did a brief test drive in a standard suspension and thought the ride was good enough compared with my 50th Anniversary Edition - which came with the F55 magnetic suspension (that I only switched to “Sport” mode to show people the difference in the ride). So I ordered my ’08 with the base suspension.

While I am quite happy with everything about my new car – after driving it on the same highways and streets that I drove the ’03 on, I can tell you without a doubt – if I were to do it over again, I would order it WITH the magnetic suspension! The ride comfort of the base suspension of my ‘08 is not bad, but it is somewhere between the softness of the “Touring” mode and the harshness of the “Sport” mode of the F55.

If you are looking for the smoothest, most comfortable ride, the magnetic suspension in "Touring" mode is the way to go!!

rhedrich

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CETA 256

mvcrash

To the OP: Welcome to the site. Your question has been asked and answered many, many times on the site, use the search feature to find the threads from the past. If you need any other assistance please feel free to contact me through PM.

The Z51, F55 and Standard suspension question tends to bring out some heated discussions which usually turns ugly. I am therefore closing this thread.