Cat Litter=Better Ride?

by **fotodad** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 3:22 pm

Okay, my wife and I own five, yes, FIVE cats! So, needless to say, we go through a lot of cat litter. Today I went to the store to buy our usual 75 pounds of litter. Usually we take our Honda Pilot, but today I took the Solara. I put the three bags evenly in the trunk and proceeded to drive home. I immediately noticed the ride was much firmer and more solid. Now I know I'm probably losing something in gas mileage and I may have a tougher time in deeper snow, but I really like the ride! And that's saying a lot because I loved the ride before the kitty litter.

Just an FYI.

by **slingshot** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 3:38 pm

Does the car ride better when your kids are in the back seat too? If not, then the added weight has to be further back I guess. This car isn't light, wonder why added trunk weight would be such a change.

by **Bbc84** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 5:09 pm

Im going to take a guess on that because of you adding more weight on the back axle it balances the car.

As with my FWD with engine in front, the nose of the car is usually heavy and not very balanced unlike some cars like that have near or perfect 50/50 weight destribution.

One car I can think of that is 50/50 is the old celica All Tracs.

by **fotodad** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:09 pm

slingshot wrote:Does the car ride better when your kids are in the back seat too? If not, then the added weight has to be further back I guess. This car isn't light, wonder why added trunk weight would be such a change.

Good question! Now that you mention it, when my kids are in the back it seems to ride rougher! Weird!

by **slingshot** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:36 pm

Maybe the ride is rougher because they aren't sitting still and jumping around alot? ;-)

by **fotodad** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:45 pm

slingshot wrote:Maybe the ride is rougher because they aren't sitting still and jumping around alot?

One of my kids did that once...ONCE! He's not with us anymore.

by **Shoe** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 8:30 pm

maybe you should just rip off the trunk lid and make a rumble seat that way ur wife can jump up and down all she wants ( previous post) u can throw the kids in there and get that nice ride without a load of cat toiletry products in there.

Shoe

foto i think your personality is really starting to shine threw in these posts !!!!

by **Mole** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 10:36 pm

the reason why you felt a stiffer ride is because you had added weight in the trunk. since you added a good amt of weight in the trunk, it compresses the spring and strut, so it does not have as much free movement as to unloaded items in the trunk.

Bbc84- FF cars do not have rear axles, only FR/MR cars do.

by **cdssolara** » Sun Dec 21, 2003 11:17 pm

I agree with TRDMole. The stock Solara's suspension is pretty soft. Compressing the suspension keeps it from bouncing quite as much. Also, with the added weight so far back in the car, it probably balances things out better. A lot of the Solara's weight is right over the front tires, and even in front of them, so it's pretty nose heavy. A more balanced car will handle better and just feel more solid on the road.

by **4banger** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:27 pm

how much difference do you notice between a full tank of gas compared to when it's running low? A full tank of gas weighs twice what the cat litter does, and it rides in the same part of the car.

by **fotodad** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 7:37 pm

4banger wrote:how much difference do you notice between a full tank of gas compared to when it's running low? A full tank of gas weighs twice what the cat litter does, and it rides in the same part of the car.

Now that you mention it, the Solara's ride after a fill-up is better.

by **HKSV6SLE** » Tue Dec 23, 2003 3:22 am

just like what everyone else said, when there's more weight in the trunk then the car is more balanced, and the springs don't move up and down as much. notice when you go over a speed bump it bouncs up and down more in the back then the front. the front of the car always has the engine the back may be empty a lot. all i know is that when my box is my trunk the back is more settled and stable.

by **dabuda** » Tue Dec 23, 2003 6:51 am

nice, so instead of getting trd springs just throw 75lbs of anything in the trunk

by **fotodad** » Tue Dec 23, 2003 9:56 am

dabuda wrote:nice, so instead of getting trd springs just throw 75lbs of anything in the trunk

Actually, TRD makes a special kitty litter designed especially for trunks in Solaras.

by **Shoe** » Tue Dec 23, 2003 3:17 pm

dont blame me when ur kitty litter bag gets a hole in it

shoe

Cat Litter=Better Ride?

Cat Litter=Better Ride?

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