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

[yobigd20]

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

lol approximately 17 minutes before someone picked up on that. nice

 

[NoMoGas]

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:

The clear answer here is that it should be OPTIONAL, perhaps with a warning that if you are lower, you increase risk of hitting road debris.

Ground effect is more apparent in low wing aircraft.

Tell that to the guy putting a 172 down at VNY 16L a little too hot Ground effect comes from the ground interrupting the wingtip vortices of an aircraft from a distance equal to the wingspan of the aircraft to the ground, I'm not sure that truly comes to play here as we are dealing with a vehicle and the difference of inches... although undoubtedly there will be some aerodynamic difference I'd be astonished if it were more then negligible.

 

[jchangyy]

Another data point.

went from 4.5 to 5.8. At 78mph, suspension at Standard. when I pushed Low, dash board warning: selected level is not available.

Don't have to "balls" to drive much faster in the Bay area. There are too many crazy (idiotic) drivers here already.

 

[rlang59]

lol approximately 17 minutes before someone picked up on that. nice

I'd prefer Noclip mode, that would solve all the problems!

 

[yobigd20]

I'd prefer Noclip mode, that would solve all the problems!

hah, damn thats even better.

idkfa, couple of BFG cells in the frunk and we're good to go. now you can blast your way through traffic.

 

[Kraken]

The clear answer here is that it should be OPTIONAL, perhaps with a warning that if you are lower, you increase risk of hitting road debris.



Tell that to the guy putting a 172 down at VNY 16L a little too hot Ground effect comes from the ground interrupting the wingtip vortices of an aircraft from a distance equal to the wingspan of the aircraft to the ground, I'm not sure that truly comes to play here as we are dealing with a vehicle and the difference of inches... although undoubtedly there will be some aerodynamic difference I'd be astonished if it were more then negligible.

oh for sure this isn't exactly ground effect were talking about, but my point is that the interaction of the ground with the aerodynamics of the car probably does have some influence similar to how it can have influences on other aerodynamic situations. I don't know the aerodynamics behind vehicles very well like I do aircraft, but I do know that there is a trend for low clearances in faster vehicles. I also know tesla spent time and money to put the lower mode in there for some calculated and at least somewhat significant reason, and my guess is that it wasnt purely aesthetics.

 

[GBoar]

(EDIT: Oops, looks dreamin posted most of the numbers I was looking for while I was typing my post. Thank you! However, don't see the numbers for "High", and what are the units? They can't be inches or centimeters.)

I've searched the Forums but cannot find these numbers:

What is the road clearance of the S with the standard coil suspension?

What is the clearance for all settings (Low, Normal, High, Very High) of the Air Suspension option in 5.6?

Thank you.

This is the message I got from the Tesla service advisor, to my query, regarding Smart Air Suspension

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Date: Nov 9, 2013 3:45 PM
Subject: Air Suspension

Also note that the steel spring suspension is the same height as the standard mode of the air suspension


Very High

• Can be selected at speeds below 10 mph (16 km/h).
• Sets suspension at 1.3 inches (33 mm) higher than Standard.
• Used to gain extra ground clearance in unusual situations.
• If selected and vehicle speed exceeds 10 mph (16 km/h), the vehicle automatically
• lowers to High.

High

• Can be selected at speeds below 19 mph (32 km/h).
• Sets suspension 1 inch (23 mm) higher than Standard.
• Used to gain extra ground clearance in parking lots, parking garage ramps, large
• speed bumps, etc.
• If selected and vehicle speed exceeds 19 mph, the vehicle automatically lowers to

Standard

• The vehicle automatically levels to the Standard ride height to ensure optimum
• comfort and handling under all loading conditions (extra passengers, heavy
• luggage, etc.).
• This also ensures that the vehicle has the proper ride height under all loading
• conditions (the rear of the car does not sag down when heavily loaded).

Low

• Automatically lowers the vehicle by 0.75 inch (20 mm) for improved aerodynamics.
• Lowering starts when vehicle speed is between 60 mph (90 km/h) and 72 mph (115
• km/h) for more than 30 seconds. When speed increases above 72 mph (115 kph),
• the vehicle immediately goes to Low level.
• Can be selected from the touchscreen when parked, for easier loading/unloading
• of passengers and cargo.
• If selected when stopped, the vehicle automatically rises to Standard when driven
• at a speed above 3 mph (6 km/h).

​

 

[gaswalla]

This sounds pre-, 5.8

 

[Mphmd]

I upgraded from the p85 to the p85+ because of the the difference in handling.It was an expensive move and had i known they would have disabled the smart suspension feature with the latest download ,I never would have installed it.I could understand they don't want the bad press from another fire but you should still let the car owners know exactly what is in the update.Most people would probably accept the update anyway but i wouldn't .On the Fl turnpike the average speed is around 80 MPH.At that speed I'm sure ride height makes a difference on wind resistance and handling .It seems my smart suspension just got DUMBED down.

 

[Kraken]

This sounds pre-, 5.8

The email was dated a week ago... So it probably was.

 

[gaswalla]

Thanks for checking the date of that email from Tesla... If it's a week old, why would someone post in the 5.8 thread?

 

[Kraken]

It defines how much height the low suspension drops and when it dropped previously, both of which were discussed/pondered earlier in this "air suspension no longer lowers" thread.... That was my best guess to the reasoning behind it being posted

edit: it also seems to answer the question asked in the quote he quoted for what the clearances were in 5.6 and earlier.... Which I guess fully answers the question of whether he was talking about pre 5.8 or not.

 

[teslasguy]

Need. GOD. Mode.

 

[GBoar]

Thanks for checking the date of that email from Tesla... If it's a week old, why would someone post in the 5.8 thread?

It was for 5.6( before the update 5.8)
Ecarfan was asking a question related to 5.6

 

[mep]

As I am currently riding in my car, let me answer your questions.

2. Your car will automatically return to standard when you get over 8 miles an hour.

Boy, I really got concerned about this statement. I really do not care much about the lowering issue. I think the car will be safer this way. Not just because of debris on highways but because of the conditions of some highways.

Anyway, I bought the car with the air suspension because of the snow in Chicago. I do not think that I would be able to drive our daughter to school on snow alert days. I actually tested the speeds at which the car changes back to lower settings. I needed to know what to expect before the snow hits and it will hit.
Result of my testing (while I was still on 5.0): Car lowers from highest setting to high at exactly 10 mph, from high to standard when reaching 20mph. I just updated to 5.8 and I am very relieved that this feature was not changed. Although, I would like to be able to keep the highest setting at a speed up to 20 mph. I have a feeling I will need it.

 

[omarsultan]

It would not surprise me if this is another one of those times that Ownership and the SvCs are caught flat-footed with another unannounced change. I would imagine there are a fair number of WTF e-mails flying around on the teslamotors.com email server this weekend. :biggrin:

O

 

[Lloyd]

Is it possible that they got 100mph confused with 100Kmph in the rollout of 5.8? The numbers seem to match......


62 mph is the normal trigger to lower which is 100 kmph. Now after 5.8 the lower trigger is 100 mph. They just got their units messed up! Silly error, but after thinking about no notification, etc. This makes perfect sense.

 

[Kraken]

Boy, I really got concerned about this statement. I really do not care much about the lowering issue. I think the car will be safer this way. Not just because of debris on highways but because of the conditions of some highways.

Anyway, I bought the car with the air suspension because of the snow in Chicago. I do not think that I would be able to drive our daughter to school on snow alert days. I actually tested the speeds at which the car changes back to lower settings. I needed to know what to expect before the snow hits and it will hit.
Result of my testing: Car lowers from highest setting to high at exactly 10 mph, from high to standard when reaching 20mph. I just updated to 5.8 and I am very relieved that this feature was not changed. Although, I would like to be able to keep the highest setting at a speed up to 20 mph. I have a feeling I will need it.

according to the email on the last page, the next step up is only .3 inches higher. You'll probably be fine in just high to 20mph

 

[InTheShadows]

Boy, I really got concerned about this statement. I really do not care much about the lowering issue. I think the car will be safer this way. Not just because of debris on highways but because of the conditions of some highways.

Anyway, I bought the car with the air suspension because of the snow in Chicago. I do not think that I would be able to drive our daughter to school on snow alert days. I actually tested the speeds at which the car changes back to lower settings. I needed to know what to expect before the snow hits and it will hit.
Result of my testing: Car lowers from highest setting to high at exactly 10 mph, from high to standard when reaching 20mph. I just updated to 5.8 and I am very relieved that this feature was not changed. Although, I would like to be able to keep the highest setting at a speed up to 20 mph. I have a feeling I will need it.

I agree, I think there should be a snow mode too that will let you keep high to 45-50mph and the highest up to 35 mph.

 

[jerry33]

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

I'd settle for just logging in as the superuser.

- - - Updated - - -

according to the email on the last page, the next step up is only .3 inches higher. You'll probably be fine in just high to 20mph

Also more than half the time when very high is selected the "suspension too high" error message appears.