I’ll drive 99% on the road. Which trim would you expect to have a smoother ride on a road surface? Overtrail with the E-KDSS?
Which GX provides smoother ride on roads?
- Thread starter Fishinglion
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I find that having an off-road suspension with a tire that has a good amount of sidewall provides a great ride on our roads here in the Texas Hill Country and on the construction-riddled highways when we venture into the city. It absorbs potholes, rough pavement, cattle guards, and highway expansion joints very well. Vehicles I have driven with standard suspension, large wheels, and low-profile tires have not been as comfortable, IMO. Hopefully, I will get to drive a GX Luxury and Overtail back to back to see if this holds true between these trim levels.
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Thanks for the information. Please let me know what you learn if you get the opportunity to drive both.
I would have thought the same, but after watching reviews, it seems like many folks say that the Premium and Overtrail variants actually have a more composed ride. The tiny sidewalls on the large Luxury wheels do the ride no favors. Even with adaptive suspension on the Luxury+.
That said, I'm curious to drive both and see for myself.
Makes me excited for my P+, as a smooth ride on long journeys is one of the items on my list.
Keep in mind that the "Luxury" or "Premium" trims refer more to accessories/options that the GX is equipped with than to a difference in suspension/ride. The Luxury+ trim does get the Adaptive Variable Suspension, which will improve the ride, but all the Overtrail models get the most advanced suspension along with smaller wheels and tires with more sidewall.
I think the overtrail would have the best ride because of EKDSS. It’s slated to be a great on road advantage to keep the vehicle flat in corners and over undulations and imperfections. It’s a shame kdss wasn’t standard for all trims.
TheTopher talks about the ride differences in his experience between the different trims in the video below starting at about the 18:30 mark.
TLDW - The Overtail+ rides much better and more compliant than the Luxury+ with 22-inch wheels. There's not a big difference in ride between the Premium and Overtrail.
TLDW - The Overtail+ rides much better and more compliant than the Luxury+ with 22-inch wheels. There's not a big difference in ride between the Premium and Overtrail.
Coming from a previous 2023 GX460 with 19" wheels (which adds more sidewall even compared to the current 22" Luxury wheels), and now owning an Overtrail, our Overtrail ride seems more compliant with the 18" wheels PLUS the adaptive suspension compared to our previous tires with the larger wheels. So larger wheels will definitely affect the smoothness of the ride since your sidewall is reduced. We aired our tires down a bit as well since they came to us with 40 psi and there was minimal sidewall flex.
Note the both the Luxury and Overtrail models come with Adaptive Suspension but only the Overtrail has the larger tires / taller sidewall. The 22" wheels on the Luxury model will probably corner better but not offer as much cushion. If you set the adaptive suspension to Comfort, the rebound rate is a bit more plush and slow, vs. Sport+ which tightens up everything and makes cornering firmer.
It's subtle though, some folks can't feel it. We formerly owned a performance car with 22" wheels and ultra-thin OEM sidewall (an inch of rubber between the wheel and the street lol) and we could feel every road bump.
I also want to note that for on-road use, the E-KDSS system is not really in play as often; it uncouples the front and rear sway bars to allow the tires to travel further up and down (ie. "articulate") -- up to 24 inches, which most roads hopefully won't require. If you keep your GX on the road mainly, you may not notice whether E-KDSS exists at all (since the driving dynamics of cars with and without it are the same on-road).
Note the both the Luxury and Overtrail models come with Adaptive Suspension but only the Overtrail has the larger tires / taller sidewall. The 22" wheels on the Luxury model will probably corner better but not offer as much cushion. If you set the adaptive suspension to Comfort, the rebound rate is a bit more plush and slow, vs. Sport+ which tightens up everything and makes cornering firmer.
It's subtle though, some folks can't feel it. We formerly owned a performance car with 22" wheels and ultra-thin OEM sidewall (an inch of rubber between the wheel and the street lol) and we could feel every road bump.
I also want to note that for on-road use, the E-KDSS system is not really in play as often; it uncouples the front and rear sway bars to allow the tires to travel further up and down (ie. "articulate") -- up to 24 inches, which most roads hopefully won't require. If you keep your GX on the road mainly, you may not notice whether E-KDSS exists at all (since the driving dynamics of cars with and without it are the same on-road).
I've heard that the OT &OT+ have a slightly larger E-KDSS bar than the other models in the 550 lineup. This helps contribute to the OT models handling a little better on the road with less roll in the corners.
Great point - from images and video of the underside, the bar looks beefy. I would be curious to know the size difference between the different trims.
Size matters
