Just wondering if this is the way the E is or whether some suspension component needs to be replaced.

My wife complained about motion sickness while riding in the E and I just thought she was being overly sensitive. Then one day I was riding shotgun and felt nauseous as well.

I thought it was the soft sidewalls of the tire causing the car to wobble a bit and upgraded to 18" rims and a 235/50/18 Falken 912 tire. Maybe a little bit better? But wife still gets nauseaous a little while riding.

Don't think it's the wheels since they've been balanced with new tires. No wobble in the steering wheel, although there may be the slightest pull to the right (maybe a slight alignment is needed).

Car has almost 60,000 miles.

Any suggestions on what is causing this? Sorry, I really can't explain what is causing the unsettled feeling, but something's there...

Maybe I need to take another E out for a drive to see if the ride quality is the same...

Motion sickness can be caused just as much by visual stimuli as by equilibrium disruption. Issues with suspension/tires/alignment/etc could cause the latter but the visual stimuli could just as easily be caused by the perspective the passenger has of what's outside the vehicle. The E has a pretty unique set of cabin dimensions that could be off-putting to some people.

Try changing a few things to see if they make a difference:


Driving with the visor on both sides down as much as possible without impairing safe driving
Have the passenger wear a baseball cap with the brim pulled down
Have the passenger wear sunglasses
Not sure how you'd try this temporarily but tinting the front windows can also make a big difference as it focuses your view to the front rather than the sides

You can also just keep some good, strong ginger candies in the glove box :-) I buy great ones at a local Asian grocery store and use them for when I fly (which is pretty often lately). This particular brand is very good and has a high ginger content. It's a little "spicy" so might not be good for delicate pallets.

http://www.veryasia.com/160154.html

You're not driving on a concrete road when it happens, by any chance? Mine has a tendency to subtly rock front to back on a couple of roads here that never caused a problem before I got the E and it causes the same effect with passengers. Sometimes it's subtle enough that you won't realize what's happening and other times it's not very subtle at all.

Haha! You should've seen when I first got the E. The rear shocks weren't hooked up and it bounced on those roads so much that your head banged against the seat and loose items would fall off of the seats. Try putting a hundred pounds or so of anything in the back end and see if your problems stop. That'll tell you what's happening. The driver picks up subconscious cues from driving that the passenger doesn't feel, which is why the passenger is always the one to get the worst of it.

Just wondering if this is the way the E is or whether some suspension component needs to be replaced.

My wife complained about motion sickness while riding in the E and I just thought she was being overly sensitive. Then one day I was riding shotgun and felt nauseous as well.

I thought it was the soft sidewalls of the tire causing the car to wobble a bit and upgraded to 18" rims and a 235/50/18 Falken 912 tire. Maybe a little bit better? But wife still gets nauseaous a little while riding.

Don't think it's the wheels since they've been balanced with new tires. No wobble in the steering wheel, although there may be the slightest pull to the right (maybe a slight alignment is needed).

Car has almost 60,000 miles.

Any suggestions on what is causing this? Sorry, I really can't explain what is causing the unsettled feeling, but something's there...

Maybe I need to take another E out for a drive to see if the ride quality is the same...

You may have one weak(er) or broken shock absorber that is no longer "absorbing", but bouncing along (very) slightly, just enough to rock your ride a smidgen and make the eye plus inner ear think your at sea. I'd check those.

I had a car once that had a slightly imperfect windshield on the passenger side which caused the person sitting there to feel woozy because the glass was slightly warped.

Thanks all. Keep the suggestions coming.

"Ummm honey, some of the people on the board think it may be the suspension. I'm going to have to buy coilovers..."

:grin: