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Air Suspension no longer lowers at highway speeds (FW update v5.8)

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Whether they can put it back is not the issue, of course they can.
Well, technically they can make it happen obviously, but I'm actually curious about the legality. No, I'm not suggesting anyone do any lawsuits, I'm just academically curious. There's a line somewhere. For instance, Tesla couldn't throw in a change that limited the car to a top speed of 40 mph. The lowering of the car is a touted feature and I wonder where that line is on what can be removed and what can't.

Like I said, it's an academic curiosity for me, so maybe a topic for a whole different thread.
 
For instance, Tesla couldn't throw in a change that limited the car to a top speed of 40 mph.
Actually they probably can. I hope they never will but they surely can.

For reasons like this, the legislation for "noise pollution at low speed required" scares me. Perhaps we'll get grandfathered to "avoid the noise", perhaps not. But all it takes is a "mistake" in a firmware update to infect us all with this contagion.
 
Not able to manually select Low when driving at highway speeds, however it selects Auto Low when driving 161 km/h (100 mph) - when slowing down it selects Auto Standard when hitting 100 km/h (62 mph). When driving 161 kmh or more I can manually select standard and then low again. Perhaps it is a part of the German highspeed upgrade package (haven't tested top speed).

What are the odds this has nothing to do with the fires and is only a bug that was introduced with the Autobahn upgrade? It would explain why it's not in the release notes.
 
I have many hours at the race track between Porsches and karts. I did not notice any loss of handling on my P85+ this morning. I took a connector ramp at 70mph no problem. Better tire wear on the highway from less camber is a big plus.
 
Hey everyone,
Been readin the thread since this morning and when I got back to my car sure enough 5.8 was waitin. I delayed it and messed around drivin home to see what 5.6 would and wouldn't do.
@55-60 it auto lowered
@50 - 62 was still able to manually select Standard and it would comply
>62 wouldn't come out of low, auto raise on decel thru 40mph

Still waitin to do the 5.8 install till I here from Elon or functionality is returned. I really see the driver selectability to be the best solution. as its a you chose it you risk it kind of paradigm (shifting risk).

P.S. Our S60 w/standard suspension also got the upgrade today.

Dave & Colene
 
Yes, I made that precise point about the suspension change in my first sentence of the last post. Tesla is technologically capable of the change, but I'm curious what the legalities are.
Point of clarification:
I meant from a legal standpoint I think they can limit it to 40mph. I suspect there's not legal precedent on this one - yet.
 
Some things: this might have come from the clamoring of people who suggested this exact "fix" in response to the fires in other threads. Tesla responded to the customers' apparent collective desires, and the silent majority got screwed. Thanks guys... :tongue:

As for decreasing range, clearly this does. The question is how much? Tesla has stated it does, but a definition of how much probably varies greatly dependent on other factors. I doubt those that state "it's the same shaped object, just lower" have much background in aerodynamic studies. There are likely other factors, similar to ground effect on an airplane, that come into play that can cause a very significant difference in the aerodynamics of the vehicle. For ground effect in An aircraft, it can mean (if I remember correctly) up to a 50% reduction in drag. Ground effect is more apparent in low wing aircraft.

i don't think this will really change what trips were feasible though. Many factors all come into play affecting this, and any trip should have allowed for enough slop that this wont make or break it.

i doubt this will be a lasting change, but it will be very frustrating if it is. Not everything in life is risk mitigation/avoidance, instead sometimes it is risk acceptance. Sometimes we accept the risk and deal with it to get things done. Sometimes we prefer the risk because that's part of life. We could all just sit at home, otherwise, but life is more fun when enjoyed. There will always be a risk in driving, flying, jumping out of planes, etc. but that doesn't mean we should stop. Some of us bought aspects of this car to be as sporty as it can be, and we are willing to accept the risk that we might not be able to dodge road debris in time and burn up our vehicle. That's why we have insurance, anyway. That's why an option for "on" or "off" would be nice.

but if you want your life controlled for you, hey, to each their own...


as for this update as a whole, we now know that there are more serious issues being worked out. Unfortunately this has sneaked in and has destroyed the idea that the software developers can start working on bringing more functionality for our cars now that they are caught up with the nagging issues (sleep mode/optionality, map issues, screen clean mode)....

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What are the odds this has nothing to do with the fires and is only a bug that was introduced with the Autobahn upgrade? It would explain why it's not in the release notes.
It seems some have seen email traffic regarding the relationship between this and the fires.

further, they wouldn't have rushed this update out so much faster than any other update if that was the case.
 
Not everything in life is risk mitigation/avoidance, instead sometimes it is risk acceptance. Sometimes we accept the risk and deal with it to get things done. Sometimes we prefer the risk because that's part of life. We could all just sit at home, otherwise, but life is more fun when enjoyed. There will always be a risk in driving, flying, jumping out of planes, etc. but that doesn't mean we should stop.

Reminded me of this quote from 2011:

If one set a standard that you couldn't have loss of life, then there would be no transport. You wouldn't even be allowed to walk.
 
What are the odds this has nothing to do with the fires and is only a bug that was introduced with the Autobahn upgrade? It would explain why it's not in the release notes.

If it was a bug that was introduced it would show an extreme lack of testing on the part of Tesla. I do not think that is the case, corner cases they can miss but complete loss of functionality? No I suspect this was an intentional change.
 
For those complaining about the feature not being there because you paid for it, it's a ridiculous argument. You are still getting the air suspension.

Wrong. The feature we paid for, as BLATANTLY described, is called "Smart Air Suspension" , which lowers the Model S at highway speeds for optimum aerodynamics. As this is what was exactly disabled, they have just removed $2250 that every owner (with air) has paid for. How would you like it if someone reached into your bank account and pulled out a few thousands dollars without telling you about it and without your permission? That's basically what they did...which could easily have been remedied if they told us ahead of time that's what they were doing as a "temporary preventative measure" and that it would be re-enabled shortly. Again, this is a huge communication failure on Tesla's part. again, and again, and again...they don't seem to learn from their mistakes very well.

smartair.png
smartair2.png
 
Here is my proposed solution:

myairfix.jpg


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By the way, I am offering $20 to the first person who can crack Tesla's software and get inside to re-enable this feature. (and as a software engineer myself, perhaps I should be spending my free time trying to break in instead of trolling these threads).
 
Its called a "Smart" Suspension, it needs to figure out how to move up and down depending on how fast I go, not sit at one level the whole time. I've owned other cars that have air suspensions and they adjust lower at highway speeds.

Also, I've confirmed this was done on purpose with someone at Tesla, so its not by accident.

I agree with others that it should be a sticky user selectable option with disclaimer.

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Here is my proposed solution:


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By the way, I am offering $20 to the first person who can crack Tesla's software and get inside to re-enable this feature. (and as a software engineer myself, perhaps I should be spending my free time trying to break in instead of trolling these threads).


Has anyone contacted them to see if they can roll back to the previous version?
 
What are the odds this has nothing to do with the fires and is only a bug that was introduced with the Autobahn upgrade? It would explain why it's not in the release notes.
Agree that this is not a bug. The beta testers appear to get most upgrades for weeks before they are released to everyone. It appears this was rushed out as a couple beta testers have suggested they got the upgrade 24 hours before everyone else. So, little to no testing...just quick release.
 
Hah!
I can now replace the ride height sensors with a resistive divider set to Standard ride height and put coil spring dampers on my P+ WITHOUT getting any air suspension errors. I think I just found a very small silver lining to the lowering/not lowering cloud.


Nigel,
So you were the SLR owner.

That's is the kind of reaction I love in tesla owner.
This release is amazing, for what was not announced. A stealth update, in a wiper-cleaning/TPMS-Reset guise, actually existing for the sole purpose of raising the car, after noting publicly there is nothing wrong. My dear Tesla, have heart in the face of adversity. I suspect there is much we do not know - they would not enact such a change without real concern - of course, the question is whether the concern is for a factual increased risk with auto-lowering, or if the concern is perception about the risk. Bear with me - assume for a second it does make the car safer, without significant performance loss - they just completed a national 25,000 vehicle recall and repair in 24 hours. Wow. Try that in an Audi.
 
Here is my proposed solution:



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By the way, I am offering $20 to the first person who can crack Tesla's software and get inside to re-enable this feature. (and as a software engineer myself, perhaps I should be spending my free time trying to break in instead of trolling these threads).

I'd like to have the GOD option also!!