Hi, whilst I love my V8 disco 2 ES on a smooth billiard table flat road, I'm finding normal driving on current pockmarked, potholed roads becoming unbearable. The car seems to crash into every minor road imperfection with larger poor sections of road making the whole car shudder and shake. Poorly repaired sections of road can make the car the car change direction alarmingly, requiring intense concentration at all times. I've checked the suspension as best I can and it all looks fine, the rear air bags were changed by the previous owner and they seem to have done a professional job, even deleting the air on the ECU.
Tyre pressures are ok and there is no undue wear on the tyres to show any tracking or alignment issues.
Is it possible to get a softer more compliant suspension coil and shock arrangement and what type/manufacturer would people recommend? To be fair I am more used to wafting around in my supercharged Range Rover so I might be expecting too much of the Discovery's ride but I'm sure my previous Disco was better than this. Incidentally the car is fitted with ACE which is all working fine.
Many Thanks. Ian

When you say he has deleted air, I assume that he has converted to coil springs. They are coulour coded for stiffness. http://www.discovery2.co.uk/Frontsprings.html What colour are they? Apparently Diesels are heavier than V8 so they have longer springs. Make sure he hasn't fitted a type that is too stiff.

Air gives a better ride than coils, also what upsets the car is side to side corrugations.

Try looking for tyres with a compliant ride, I would suggest some but they keep changing and dropping them so nothing to recommend.

I have swapped air for coils and there was no difference in the ride. Air springs and coils are springs. Dampers smooth out the ride. Air does give the option of increasing ride height and levelling whilst towing.

I have the same complain from my D2 as well. It rides on air at the back and Ironman shocks all around (previous owner said they are 2 years old).

Does anyone recommend another shock for a better ride? Rough roads and bumps feel extremely harsh compared to any other car I have driven.

Tyres can also have a marked effect on the harshness or otherwise. I have found that the ride is appreciably harsher when I have the 18" rims fitted as opposed to the 16" inch rims. The tyres on the 16" rims having a much deeper sidewall and therefore more compliance than the tyres on the 18" rims.
I have noticed that a neighbour who runs a Pajero (wash my mouth out with soap and water) has what looks like 13" rims, even though the overall diameter of the wheels look fairly similar to my Disco.
Trying to design in a comfortable off-road ride as well as a predictable handling characteristic on the road, especially when such "low-ish" profile tyres are used can only be a compromise at best.