[agzand]

I have been driving my 1st Edition with 20 inch wheels for about a month now, and did my first road trip this past weekend. I have finally formed an opinion on whether I like the 20 in or 19 in wheels better for this car. I think as a family SUV the suspension on this car is relatively firm with 20 in wheels. Not as firm as a BMW i3 or classic sport package BMWs, but definitely firmer than a Honda or Toyota compact SUV. I think if you are looking for that sort of comfort the 19 inch wheels are a better option. I think with 20 inch wheels this car is not too far off the Tesla Model Y non performance in terms of suspension firmness.

On the other hand the handling is very good for this type of car. Again not too far off the non performance Model Y. I am not sure how much the handling will be affected by 19 inch wheels, it is mostly due to weight distribution and low center of gravity. I did a test drive of Pro S with 19 inch wheels but I didn't get a chance to push the car. Anyway my takeaway is that reviewers who claim iD4 1st edition has supple suspension on 20 inch wheels are probably comparing to cars like Tesla 3/Y Performance or other sporty EVs, not a mainstream SUV.

 

[Warrior]

I have 20 inch wheels on my 1st Edition and I find the ride absolutely fine. To me it handles very well and seems equally as good as my previous car, which was a Tiguan TDI SEL with 19 inch wheels.

 

[Nai3t]

There's a general notion you'll hear or read on the auto blogs about German or Euro vs. Japanese suspension or ride quality, and what you're describing fits that lazy trope: that Japanese cars ride soft.

Of course started that way it mplies Euro cars are "right," but just as often somebody will say that an Audi is too harsh and they they much prefer the civilized ride of a Lexus.

With what frequency this rule holds true IRL I can't say, but it must persist for a reason. But of course a car can only be judged against another car, I'd hope a 370Z rides firmer than an Atlas.

 

[agzand]

There's a general notion you'll hear or read on the auto blogs about German or Euro vs. Japanese suspension or ride quality, and what you're describing fits that lazy trope: that Japanese cars ride soft.

Of course started that way it mplies Euro cars are "right," but just as often somebody will say that an Audi is too harsh and they they much prefer the civilized ride of a Lexus.

With what frequency this rule holds true IRL I can't say, but it must persist for a reason. But of course a car can only be judged against another car, I'd hope a 370Z rides firmer than an Atlas.

For sure this car rides like a European tuned model, not a Japanese or US tuned VW model, at least on 20 inch wheels.

When talking about "right" suspension setup, one must consider the road conditions that the vehicle will be driven on a daily basis. Pavement conditions in Europe are on average much better than 3rd world road conditions in much of US, so a softer setup could make sense for us.

Anyway I think the ride is acceptable, but definitely not supple for a car of this type. My previous car (Honda Clarity PHEV) was supple, but the handling was inferior to iD4 even though it was a sedan.

 

[Huey52]

It's the design tradeoff of GTI-like handling vs. supple comfort. I think VW hit a nice balance point in the ID.4. But then I like a Germanic vehicle to feel like a Germanic vehicle.

 

[ID Fan]

I greatly considered the potential tradeoff of 19" vs 20" wheels/tires when I bought my ID4. In fact, I drove 2 models back to back, one of each size. You may shake your head at my conclusion, but I swear it's true, lol: the 19" wheels/tires had noticeably more road noise than the 20" wheel/tire combo. That made it easier for me to go with the 20s on the Pro S w/Gradient that I got. A friend of mine bought a Pro S with the 19s and I still swear I hear more tire noise in his than in mine. Make of this what you will!

 

[Froggy]

I think that the 19’s at Hankooks. I had them on my Jetta Sportwagen. From what I remember they were very long lasting but a bit noisy.

 

[Huey52]

Ordinarily long lasting, but be reminded we started out with "special" lighter weight/lower rolling resistance shallower tread so remains to be seen how much relative duration.

I think that the 19’s at Hankooks. I had them on my Jetta Sportwagen. From what I remember they were very long lasting but a bit noisy.

 

[gcrone-wayback]

I have a Pro S (non Gradiant) with 19" Bridgestone tires. I saw a Pro in the dealership that had Hankook tires, even though they are the same size as mine. I wonder why they use different brands for the same dimensions?

 

[Enzo589]

It might just be a supply issue.

 

[SSackey]

I definitely find the ride quality on our 20" equipped Pro S Gradient to be a tad bit on the firmer side for a family SUV, but not to an uncomfortable level. Over sharp impacts it is really good, ironing things out nicely.

The main issue I have is the 'bobbing' effect that the car seems to have over smaller or more rolling bumps - if you rest your head on the headrest, over bumps you'll find your head to be bouncing off the headrest slightly as you go down the road, which gets annoying.

I think this is separate from the firmness of the suspension and more to do with some other element of tuning or suspension design, as my Golf R even in its firmest suspension mode (which is "stiffer" than the ID4) does not cause this particular effect.

 

[JimmyVW]

I have a Pro S (non Gradiant) with 19" Bridgestone tires. I saw a Pro in the dealership that had Hankook tires, even though they are the same size as mine. I wonder why they use different brands for the same dimensions?

And mine are Pirelli Scorpions. For the 19" wheel they have at least three brands

 

[gcrone-wayback]

And mine are Pirelli Scorpions. For the 19" wheel they have at least three brands

Those are nice tires. My wife has those on her car and they have lasted her many years and miles now without any real wear on them. The only issue is they are expensive.

 

[JimmyVW]

Those are nice tires. My wife has those on her car and they have lasted her many years and miles now without any real wear on them. The only issue is they are expensive.

Well, factory installed, so I don't complain
Am curious what the life of them will be though, previous ICE tires lasted over 70.000 miles.
EV tires usually last a lot less. Only time will tell...

 

[surprising]

I definitely find the ride quality on our 20" equipped Pro S Gradient to be a tad bit on the firmer side for a family SUV, but not to an uncomfortable level. Over sharp impacts it is really good, ironing things out nicely.

The main issue I have is the 'bobbing' effect that the car seems to have over smaller or more rolling bumps - if you rest your head on the headrest, over bumps you'll find your head to be bouncing off the headrest slightly as you go down the road, which gets annoying.

I think this is separate from the firmness of the suspension and more to do with some other element of tuning or suspension design, as my Golf R even in its firmest suspension mode (which is "stiffer" than the ID4) does not cause this particular effect.

This is exactly how I'd describe it. I have a Pro S with 19" and the main issue is the bouncing/hobby horse ride over small bumps or wavy road. You can't drive with your head resting on the head rest because you're head is constantly bouncing off it. I've reduced tire pressure to 36 and it helped the overall ride quality but this one issue is still there.

Looking at the springs, I think the rears are way stiffer than the fronts, so perhaps over small bumps the rears don't compress enough to absorb the impact and you get this bouncing effect. Recently I drove with several hundred pounds of mulch in the rear and the bouncing/bobbing was significantly reduced so perhaps the springs were chosen to accommodate a full load. Or maybe they just installed the wrong springs on the car. For reference the rear spring part # on my car is 1EA511103H.

 

[ID Fan]

After having my ID Pro S w/Gradient for about a week, I checked the air pressure in the 20” tires. It turned out to be 46 or 46.5 psi in every wheel, as set by the dealership or factory. The sticker on the driver’s door stipulates 42 psi per tire. I lowered the pressure to 42 in each tire and the ride was slightly better. If you’re not happy with the ride, check to see what psi was put in the tire previously, if you haven’t already changed it. Also, knowing that lower air pressure correlates to decreased efficiency, I’m curious what’s the psi any of you have noticed that makes the most improvement in ride quality? Thanks.

 

[mlsstl]

On good roads, I don't find a big difference between 19" and 20" tires. Both handle fine as far as I'm concerned. However, we have a lot of bad roads in our city and I feel a bit more comfortable with the 19" tires in terms of them being a bit less likely to end up damaged. So I'm happy with my Pro S from that standpoint.

 

[SunWizard]

I’m curious what’s the psi any of you have noticed that makes the most improvement in ride quality?

The EU pressure for normal loads (2 people plus luggage) is 36 psi all around and will give the best ride. The 42 number on the US plate is for fully loaded since they dumb it down for US expecting we would never change it based on load.

 

[GhiaLover]

Setting the suspension to "sport" helps the handling a little without any harshness. Comfort mode seems a little mushy to me. I think the 42 psi keeps the efficiency without harshness. 36 psi seemed to effect the range.

 

[surprising]

Setting the suspension to "sport" helps the handling a little without any harshness. Comfort mode seems a little mushy to me. I think the 42 psi keeps the efficiency without harshness. 36 psi seemed to effect the range.

US models do not have active suspension so suspension setting should not affect ride quality at all. I too was convinced that there was a noticeable difference between comfort and sport though..