This is not much but may help with some info. I went to the Kia dealer and drove two other Kia's. One with Kohmo tires and another with the Michelin tires like I used to have. I have 17 inch tires and these had 16 inch tires. I should have known this but never asked. 16 will ride better or softer than 17..duh! And it is because the 16 will have a taller sidewall to absorb bumps. Think of it as a thicker pillow?. I think the Kia is never going to ride as smooth as some of the other mini-vans and probably doesn't have as much sound deadening as others, hence more road noise transmitted into the interior. Having said all that I have about 1000 miles on the Goodyear Comfortred tires, I bought and while they may not rate at the top in a few areas, they do rate at the top in ride comfort and noise. Mine are 235/60/17 and I had to call Goodyear to find them in my size because the dealer didn't show them yet on the computer. They are rated as 80,000 mile tires and so far I like them and it has made a noticeable difference in the ride and road noise. We'll see about the tread wear and everything else as we go, but for now I'm pleased. There are comments on Tire Rack about low tread wear but it sounded like some are not rotating and getting alignments done. If I do go by the book and they give out early, I'll get them pro-rated and by then the new reviews on all season passenger tires will be out? Hate to say this but we went to a town about 50 miles from here and my wife's cousin rode with us in the second row. She is one BIG FINE WOMAN close to 300 lbs and the ride was much smoother. If you could find such a women to ride with you all the time that might help
Back to being nice...I know that my coil springs are not missing any rubber bushings and my struts are good (35,000 miles on the van)...The kia van is just set up stiff. Hope this info helps with your frustration, you would think it should ride better? Mine is a 2006 and have no other issues so far.
2006 rough ride
Linear Mode
