Many new Model S owners are unhappy with the adjustable ride control in their cars. They feel no difference between Comfort and Sport. Others THINK that their systems are working… but can you be sure?… the “placebo effect“ is strong. When you select “Comfort“, it’s easy to convince yourself that the ride just got smoother. … even though it didn’t. To settle this issue, I performed an objective, technical analysis of the operation of my car’s suspension. This analysis PROVED what many have suspected… Adaptive Suspension Damping is NOT providing the range of ride comfort levels that the Model S/X is capable of. In my car, and many others, 5 of the 7 ride comfort settings result in the same ride… maximum harshness!… with “Sport“, ironically, being the softest! (Although still very harsh). In order to get this issue resolved, it is essential to understand how many cars have the problem, and to be able to identify them unambiguously. Fortunately, during the course of the investigation, I discovered a startling fact about the system’s user interface that directly reveals whether the system is working or not! The answer is there for the reading in the numbers labeled “percent damping“ on the “show suspension info” screen. I don’t understand why or how Tesla made this mistake, but these numbers are mislabeled. They are NOT % damping, but actually Pulse Width Modulation Duty Cycle readings! (Refer to my video for technical explanation
) PWM Duty Cycle is the “bottom line“ in this system. It is the actual electronic signal that controls the variable shocks… making them stiffer or softer. A 100% duty cycle will make the shocks as soft as possible, and a 0% duty cycle as firm as possible. Think of these numbers as “percent softness“. With this in mind, you can tell precisely how the car will ride just by reading them. For instance, if “Comfort“ results in 0% Softness, you know you’re in for a harsh ride! This whole issue is a software error. Service will tell you that ”your vehicle is performing according to specification“ because it doesn’t give them any error codes. That just means that the hardware is working properly. But the problem is real, and I’ve double checked my analysis… So, go check your numbers right now! It will only take a minute. Here’s what to do: while stopped, go to the Suspension menu, select ”show suspension information“, step on the brake to activate the system. Read and record the upper left number (Left Front Compression) for each of the 7 ride modes… Comfort, Sport, and under Advanced, each of the Ride Comfort settings from Soft to Firm… in that order. You only need to record the numbers for Left Front Compression. Record the numbers like this: Comfort 0, Sport 28, and Ride Comfort 0,0,4,8,20. (These are my numbers). If you have a working system, you will have larger percentages for the softer settings. Now, POST YOUR NUMBERS! Include the model of your car (S or X, LR or Plaid) and the delivery date. It’s very important to understand how many cars are affected by this bug, and when it started. PLEASE HELP! I’ve been working on this for six months… I believe that the only way to get it resolved is to show Tesla the magnitude of the problem. Thanks!
