Am I going to regret leaving off the air suspension option?

[meloccom]

I ordered mine with Air Suspension as my parents house has a nasty dip at the bottom of the driveway and the dip has removed part of the front valence of every car I have owned. :cursing:
However on this side of the Pacific where most Australians drive Utes and SUV's, at least it seems that way, many curbs and parking stops are high enough to scrape the underside of the front bumper of my Model S so I have about six or seven "High" locations set into the GPS and even one "Extra High".
If you don't have these clearance issues however, I don't think you will miss it.

 

[Nigel Tufnel]

If I hadn't gotten it, I'm sure I wouldn't have missed it. But now I'm spoiled and will get it on the next one. My issues are with curbs. "Very high" clears them when parking and the car remembers when to raise itself up. I like the fact that I can change the "look" of the car at a moments notice, and then have the car lower itself on the freeway. My girlfriend has coils and doesn't appreciate my ability to raise myself up on demand. Wait....

 

[sobep85d]

Do not regret leaving off the air suspension. The stock coils are pretty good, every bit as good as the air in "low" position when it comes to handling. The beauty with coils, you can upgrade them. When Tesla becomes main-stream, you will be able to upgrade you suspension to an adjustable-high-end coil over system. Our cars are VERY heavy. To handle they will need a major suspension upgrade over stock. Spending big $$ for air is not going to match Ludacris mode....

 

[Blu Zap]

I got the air suspension since I have the 21s. Also I live in a neighborhood with speed bumps and have a rough driveway entrance. I am sure you will be fine with coils.

 

[AC123]

I am mostly around smooth roads, 19" and coil - no regrets.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I have air in both our cars, but I don't think I would miss it - its more of a gadget to play with. Unless it is auto leveling and helping assist on cornering, I would skip it and save the weight penalty of the additional gear.

 

[Ride Long]

I'm starting to think that it was a mistake to not include the air suspension on my 85D that will be ready in 2 - 3 weeks.

Can it be added after?

Any strong opinions on big benefits of the air suspension?

Reading this thread reminded me of an argument I had with co-workers (some from the west, some from the east) about the merits of In-N-Out burgers vs. Five Guys. The west coast guys were loyal to INO and the east coasters to FG: classic confirmation bias. I went with the coils because no one could articulate a clear benefit to me (smooth roads, not a high performance model, etc) and I decided it was one less thing to spend money on or to have to fix later.

The Model S is such a great car that you do not look for things to quibble over: you just want to love your car exactly the way it is, so make your choice and don't look back.

 

[mknox]

I appreciate like the fact it lowers itself at highway speeds for better efficiency.

I don't actually think it does. Probably 85% of my driving is on the freeway and during the period after the fires when auto-lowering was disabled, I could discern no difference in my car's efficiency. I think with all the other factors affecting efficiency, anything that comes from the car riding lower is so inconsequential that it would be below the level of detection. I feel the same way about the door handles. I can't imagine you could quantify any real world efficiency savings over any other modern door handle design.

 

[Soolim]

True, but as in every other car, so will taking it at an angle so one wheel hits the curb before the other.

Yes, but not in steep grade when garage door width requires a straight in approach. More so with regards to break-over angle, not simply approach angle.

 

[MileHighMotoring]

Sure, that's true. Every garage door I've seen is 20+ feet from the curb so that's what I'm going on.

 

[JKerensky]

I don't actually think it does. Probably 85% of my driving is on the freeway and during the period after the fires when auto-lowering was disabled, I could discern no difference in my car's efficiency. I think with all the other factors affecting efficiency, anything that comes from the car riding lower is so inconsequential that it would be below the level of detection. I feel the same way about the door handles. I can't imagine you could quantify any real world efficiency savings over any other modern door handle design.

You're right, I have no math but that's how they sell it.
And with both the lowering and the door handles, it looks cool, it's something to show off, and both make me happy.

 

[KidDoc]

I have 31k miles on my coils and have no regrets. I don't go off roading or deal with steep driveways though.

My only regret on my basic S85 was not getting the pano roof. But I love convertibles and sun roofs.

 

[MichFin]

I don't have it and haven't missed it.

 

[sorka]

Air is the only reason why my bottom front isn't scraped at all yet.
It allows my wife to get in and out easier at the highest setting. Happy wife makes it worth it.
I get better MPE at the lowest setting compared to the standard spring ride height.

 

[mknox]

I get better MPE at the lowest setting compared to the standard spring ride height.

How do you know? For one thing, the standard coil spring ride height does not correspond with any of the Air Suspension settings.

 

[sorka]

How do you know? For one thing, the standard coil spring ride height does not correspond with any of the Air Suspension settings.

That's not true. I park my P85D next to a an S85 with the same 19" wheels but with coils weekly. The standard height on the air is within a mm of the one with coils.

 

[linkster]

The standard height on the air is within a mm of the one with coils.

Your correct.

I edited my post (#7) at 2:07 today.

I believe Tesla is starting to simplify/standardize (for both air and coil) the ride height verification process before an alignment (which I believe to be a good thing).

 

[mknox]

That's not true. I park my P85D next to a an S85 with the same 19" wheels but with coils weekly. The standard height on the air is within a mm of the one with coils.

Tesla says the coils have a ground clearance of 5.65" and air varies from 4.7" to 6.4". I believe "Normal" is 5.3" and High is 5.8". The coils kinda split the difference between the Air's Normal and High. My point is the difference of less than 1" between coils and Air on Low is likely not going to make any measurable difference in energy consumption. When Auto Lowering was temporarily disabled after the fires, there was a lot of discussion around whether the difference between Low and Standard (a bit over a half an inch) was making any difference and no one could prove it was.

 

[CleanPower]

I drove both back to back on curvy roads and had a much bigger smile when driving the coils.
The air suspension was quieter and I felt like I was just floating over the bumps, but...

I felt much more connected to the road during the coil test drive.
You are almost certainly going to be happy with your choice no matter what you choose.

There is a poll you might want to look at - Deciding on suspension, how does everyone else about air vs. coil? - View Poll Results

Basically about 95% of people who choose air are happy they did and just about the same percentage of folks who choose coils are happy they did.

My car just went into production this week and I went with the coil suspension.

 

[mknox]

I drove both back to back on curvy roads and had a much bigger smile when driving the coils.
The air suspension was quieter and I felt like I was just floating over the bumps, but...

I felt much more connected to the road during the coil test drive.
You are almost certainly going to be happy with your choice no matter what you choose

I have Air, but really liked the coils when I've had loaners with them. To me, the air suspension feels more harsh. My car kinda goes bang-bang over bumps, while the coils felt more like a solid thump-thump (if that makes any sense).