Adaptive Suspension Damping… Real or Ruse? Which one do you have? Find out fast!

[pvdoug]

I had the pleasure of meeting Maaz today and we compared our two cars. Maaz has owned many Teslas and is very happy with his suspension. My car for the last 20 years has been a Honda Accord, and I find that suspension far superior to my Tesla. I have referred to my ride as horrible. There are differences in our vehicles. He has a much newer Plaid [with the extra weight of a third motor] model and runs his tires at 44 PSI. My tires are set at 41 PSI. My build date is November, 2021. We each were passengers in each others cars and went over multiple speed bumps. We only drove in Comfort mode. We also did the old “shade tree mechanic’s” shock test. Maaz took a video of both suspensions on the U.I. screen and plans to add that to his comments. These are my thoughts.
For the shock test, no difference.
For regular driving my car might even be smoother, although we both noticed the scraping of the Tesla installed mud guards. As to speed bumps, my "bounce" in the rear was harsher than his ride.
That's it, and not what I was expecting. As I stated in a previous comment, I go over 5 speed bumps every time I leave my condo and my girlfriend still laughs at my rough ride. I can't blame her.

 

[n2mb_racing]

I had the pleasure of meeting Maaz today and we compared our two cars. Maaz has owned many Teslas and is very happy with his suspension. My car for the last 20 years has been a Honda Accord, and I find that suspension far superior to my Tesla. I have referred to my ride as horrible. There are differences in our vehicles. He has a much newer Plaid [with the extra weight of a third motor] model and runs his tires at 44 PSI. My tires are set at 41 PSI. My build date is November, 2021. We each were passengers in each others cars and went over multiple speed bumps. We only drove in Comfort mode. We also did the old “shade tree mechanic’s” shock test. Maaz took a video of both suspensions on the U.I. screen and plans to add that to his comments. These are my thoughts.
For the shock test, no difference.
For regular driving my car might even be smoother, although we both noticed the scraping of the Tesla installed mud guards. As to speed bumps, my "bounce" in the rear was harsher than his ride.
That's it, and not what I was expecting. As I stated in a previous comment, I go over 5 speed bumps every time I leave my condo and my girlfriend still laughs at my rough ride. I can't blame her.

I guess they made one suspension for both the regular and Plaid and it is firm, with the option of being ridiculously firm in track mode... I'm ok with that, since I have a Plaid. Others might have wanted more comfort...

 

[Maaz]

Yeah me and Doug were pretty much in agreement over everything. The rides were pretty much the same, same 19 inch wheels and tires, only difference being mine has the extra plaid motor and my tires were inflated to 44 and Doug’s were at 41. The cars suspension felt pretty much the same. Only difference I felt was the more dramatic shake of the car as the rear of the car would exit a speed bump. My experience is coming from owning 2 2013 Model S, 2 2016 Model X, 2019 Model 3 Performance, and a 2021 Model Y. All of these previous vehicles had very HARSH rides and this Model S in comparison to those vehicles feels amazing.

 

[patgilm]

Yeah me and Doug were pretty much in agreement over everything. The rides were pretty much the same, same 19 inch wheels and tires, only difference being mine has the extra plaid motor and my tires were inflated to 44 and Doug’s were at 41. The cars suspension felt pretty much the same. Only difference I felt was the more dramatic shake of the car as the rear of the car would exit a speed bump. My experience is coming from owning 2 2013 Model S, 2 2016 Model X, 2019 Model 3 Performance, and a 2021 Model Y. All of these previous vehicles had very HARSH rides and this Model S in comparison to those vehicles feels amazing.

I keep my Plaid tires at 44psi but I have aftermarket 20” wheels.

After reading your test it seems like whether one thinks the ride of the refreshed Model S is all relative to what they have had before and are used to. I think my Plaid has a nice soft ride because my previous M340 seemed much more firm.

 

[Wilber]

Thanks a bunch pvdoug and Maaz. I have been anxiously awaiting your posts, since I consider my Dec 2021 build MSLR with 19s to have too harsh a ride. Especially when i choose 'Comfort'. I was anticipating this car being smoother riding than my prior Teslas that didnt have adaptive suspension. Guess i was wrong about that. Did you guys also compare cars over potholes and just plain irregular pavement? That is my main concern as i encounter those kinds of surfaces on every drive, but speed bumps rarely. One MS owner on this forum said his ride improved quite a bit once he added 200 pounds of bags of pool salt to his trunk. Makes sense to me. Any thoughts on that - other than that the bags will be a pain to deal with when you want to put lots of other stuff in the back area of the car! I think Cory of Munro Live said something similar on a recent video of the BMW IX. You mentioned both your tire pressures. Seems like it made little or no difference. Am I right about that?

 

[Maaz]

Thanks a bunch pvdoug and Maaz. I have been anxiously awaiting your posts, since I consider my Dec 2021 build MSLR with 19s to have too harsh a ride. Especially when i choose 'Comfort'. I was anticipating this car being smoother riding than my prior Teslas that didnt have adaptive suspension. Guess i was wrong about that. Did you guys also compare cars over potholes and just plain irregular pavement? That is my main concern as i encounter those kinds of surfaces on every drive, but speed bumps rarely. One MS owner on this forum said his ride improved quite a bit once he added 200 pounds of bags of pool salt to his trunk. Makes sense to me. Any thoughts on that - other than that the bags will be a pain to deal with when you want to put lots of other stuff in the back area of the car! I think Cory of Munro Live said something similar on a recent video of the BMW IX. You mentioned both your tire pressures. Seems like it made little or no difference. Am I right about that?

Im sure the tire pressure made a little bit of a difference, however the extra added weight of the 3rd motor might be the reason my car didn't have as drastic of a shake/bump from the rear when exiting a speed bump. There were a couple of potholes where the car felt the same. The only Model S I can compare this to is a 2013 P85 and 85. Which were MUCH harsher than this.

 

[Maaz]

I keep my Plaid tires at 44psi but I have aftermarket 20” wheels.

After reading your test it seems like whether one thinks the ride of the refreshed Model S is all relative to what they have had before and are used to. I think my Plaid has a nice soft ride because my previous M340 seemed much more firm.

and I think this is the main point here. Compared to all my previous Teslas this ride is amazing. However my 2011 BMW 3 series probably had a nicer ride or about the same as my 2022 Model S Plaid, that however didn't have 1k+ HP and a quarter mile under 10 seconds.

 

[pvdoug]

Thanks a bunch pvdoug and Maaz. I have been anxiously awaiting your posts, since I consider my Dec 2021 build MSLR with 19s to have too harsh a ride. Especially when i choose 'Comfort'. I was anticipating this car being smoother riding than my prior Teslas that didnt have adaptive suspension. Guess i was wrong about that. Did you guys also compare cars over potholes and just plain irregular pavement? That is my main concern as i encounter those kinds of surfaces on every drive, but speed bumps rarely. One MS owner on this forum said his ride improved quite a bit once he added 200 pounds of bags of pool salt to his trunk. Makes sense to me. Any thoughts on that - other than that the bags will be a pain to deal with when you want to put lots of other stuff in the back area of the car! I think Cory of Munro Live said something similar on a recent video of the BMW IX. You mentioned both your tire pressures. Seems like it made little or no difference. Am I right about that?

I don’t recall going over any potholes, but we did go over a lot of speed bumps. Both cars were always in comfort mode. As to tire pressure, he runs at 44 and I run at 41. I’ll leave it to others to draw their own conclusions.

 

[Email]

So… if lower % means less damping, (ie. Softer) why does the % INCREASE when you encounter rough pavement?

Just as with non-adjustable shocks, the amount of fluid Passing through the valve is going to be “stiffer” as speed of the shock’s piston increases.

It’s the difference between doing a belly flop at 1 foot above the pool, versus from the high diving board. The greater speed is going to require more pressure to move the water through the orifices in the piston.

Or, if you take a new shock and try to move it slowly through its range of motion, versus trying to do the same very quickly. The fluid has to move through the piston from one side of the shock body to the other. That’s how they “absorb shock”.

Forcing a greater volume through the same opening is going to require a greater percentage of force or pressure.

 

[aerodyne]

Just as with non-adjustable shocks, the amount of fluid Passing through the valve is going to be “stiffer” as speed of the shock’s piston increases.

It’s the difference between doing a belly flop at 1 foot above the pool, versus from the high diving board. The greater speed is going to require more pressure to move the water through the orifices in the piston.

Or, if you take a new shock and try to move it slowly through its range of motion, versus trying to do the same very quickly. The fluid has to move through the piston from one side of the shock body to the other. That’s how they “absorb shock”.

Forcing a greater volume through the same opening is going to require a greater percentage of force or pressure.

I am a little late to the party, but here is my data on a nearly new (May Build) LR, 94 miles. Parked on ~level garage floor, suspension in medium:

Auto mode:
LF -4, 4%, 0% RF -4, 4%*, 4%
LR 0, 0%, 0% RR 0, 0% ,0%

Comfort Mode:
LF -4, 0%, 0% RF -4, 0%, 0%
LR 0, 0%, 0% RR 0, 0%, 0%

Sport Mode:
LF -4, 28%, 36% RF -4, 28%, 36%
LR 0, 20%, 12% RR 0, 20%, 12%

*This value fluctuates every half second or so from 0 to 4%

Also, can anyone say what the max suspension height is? Is it the same as the MS cars, ie, 6.4" on very high?

 

[RichardL]

So I took delivery about 2 weeks ago, and finally got on to the regular software sequence the other day (2022.28.200). Car was built in late September. So i thought i would monitor the suspension so i can finally add something to this thread.

First the difference between Comfort and Sport is night and day.

I was driving around (mixture of city streets and freeway) and went into comfort first. At rest it says 0%, but as soon as I start driving it went to 4%. At around 30+ and on the freeway it went to 12 - 16%. On things like bumps or road transitions I was seeing spikes at 24.

In Sport at low speeds it was 24%, and in 30+ driving I was seeing 28 - 32. Again on transitions I saw as high as 44% at one point.

I tried Auto and found that was actually sitting in between - usually around 20, with higher spikes. I never saw it drop down to the comfort range I saw earlier (although i didn't monitor Auto on a freeway or autopilot etc.)

So very obvious difference (and waaaay nicer than the ride in my Model 3!) between modes and auto is definitely an in-between mode in both feel and the numbers.

Hope this helps

 

[blueice89]

Just curious tires shouldn’t matter right ? My old S had Michelin ps4s 21 inch and this car is 19 inch Pirelli electric

 

[beatle]

Tires work as part of a car's suspension, so some will absorb more/less energy than others, and this will affect how much energy the shocks need to damp. In theory, an otherwise identical car with 19s will see slightly different damping numbers than a car on 21s. I'm not sure of the differences in practice, however.

 

[the_burninator]

Late to the party here, and without numbers at the moment, but I have a 2022 Plaid, purchased in late-September. I find that it has a very rough ride, however:

1. I have had the misfortune of driving three Tesla loaner vehicles over the last three months. They were a 2021 Model Y, a 2021 Model 3, and a P90D. The ride quality in all three loaners sucked compared to my Plaid. The Model Y ride quality was particularly horrible. My motorcycle handles rough roads better than the Model Y.

2. I had been keeping my car in “Default ride height to low” mode. Until today. Because I read the owner’s manual, and it specifically advises that for the most comfortable ride, ride height should be set to medium. Not yet sure if it makes a difference.

3. I also recently switched from comfort to auto. Again I am not yet sure, but I think it’s more comfortable this way.

 

[vcor]

Our 2022 Model Y significantly improved the ride quality over the 2021 Y. Not sure what was done. We still prefer our 2022 S for ride comfort. Part of that is likely the lower ride height of S vs. the Y. SUV's higher ride height tends to make the suspension a bit more bouncy.

 

[glide]

Our 2022 Model Y significantly improved the ride quality over the 2021 Y. Not sure what was done. We still prefer our 2022 S for ride comfort. Part of that is likely the lower ride height of S vs. the Y. SUV's higher ride height tends to make the suspension a bit more bouncy.

You realize one is a coil system and one is not, correct? It’s not an appropriate comparison, nor is it what this thread is about.

 

[vcor]

You realize one is a coil system and one is not, correct? It’s not an appropriate comparison, nor is it what this thread is about.

Yep. I commented on the prior post about an older Tesla Y. I wasn't the one to bring a Y into the thread. My last 2016 S also had coil, and it wasn't quite as nice as the air suspension option at the time, but it wasn't a dramatic difference with the driving I do. The new S does feel better than my old coil S, but I can't say it's a huge difference. More of a nice to have.

 

[Tdriver]

I have an August 22 Refresh and everything is perfect.....no harshness or vibration, just perfect. Love the tilt screen.

 

[n2mb_racing]

I have an August 22 Refresh and everything is perfect.....no harshness or vibration, just perfect. Love the tilt screen.

Lucky! I'm in for service number 8 on my '21 plaid.

 

[glide]

I have an August 22 Refresh and everything is perfect.....no harshness or vibration, just perfect. Love the tilt screen.

Well…if you consider your adaptive suspension not working at all to be perfection, I guess so.

Show of hands… Adaptive Suspension

How many new Model S owners out there can actually FEEL the difference between “Sport” and “Comfort “? I know I can’t.… even though Tesla Service says it is functioning normally. No matter what I do with the suspension controls, my ride is the same… punishingly harsh. Yet, from these forums...

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