I am the happiest and the first to volunter as lunch-time driver @work.

But offlate, I have noticed that the Car is riding better with more people (ie more weight). It is smooth and silent and less rattle noises.

When I ride alone, I hear bit of rattles here and there. But not annoying ones.

Have you guys felt the same?

tomorrow I am going to try with my 200lbs weights. Am I going crazy here?

 

It's true.

 

That's true w/ all vehicles. The more weight you tug around, the less the car "jumps" around, causing all the resulting rattles and thumps. When the suspension is forced to sit lower w/ more weight, the car wants to "stick" more to the road, forcing the shocks/struts to actually do their job..."absorb the road". When the car is empty, you're riding more on the springs than the shocks, causing the shocks to participate less w/ the ride. The springs are more for holding the car @ a steady height, not to absorb the road as the shocks are forced to do when you put more weight. Can you understand what I'm saying? Hope I didn't make it worse for you... lol

 

What hofb99 says is true for all cars, but especially true for the SE, which has some of the stiffest springs of any car on the road.

I had a friend who had always driven Buicks test an SE, and he said it was a very sporty, powerful, attractive . . . STAGECOACH. He actually said it rode like a stagecoach.

I've never ridden in a stagecoach, but I think I know what he is saying. I guess an SE would seem like a 'stagecoach' ride after decades in a Buick.

 

You guys are great!!! Thanks for the info

 

dang, i pland on throwing some cynder blocks in my trunk this weekend, this way here the car rides smoother and stays clean(no extra dirty shoes)

 

That doesn't work, I've tried it with bags of fertilizer. It does get into the soft spot on the rear springs but it makes it feel tail heavy and the front end feels light. Three or four passengers thought works real well.

 

Bluemaxx - You should have placed a 100 pound bag of fertilizer in the front passenger seat, one in each rear seat, and one in the trunk.

Seriously, when the Maxima was released over a year ago, the SE represented over 75% of the stock for most dealers in the Atlanta area. Several area dealers did not even have an SL. Now, my dealer gets in twice as many SLs as SEs, and sells them faster.

I test drove both over a year ago, and knew immediately I would rather spend my long freeway trips in an SL. It doesn't have the 'elan', or long-standing image of the SE, but I am not entered in any road rally, and I do like some comfort in my sports sedan.