-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Coilover suspension upgrade on non-air ride TMS
- Thread starter Korperwulf
- Start date
Any updates? Just bought a '17 rwd for my wife and it's a pretty rough ride, made even worst because I went from 19s to aftermarket 20s. Was looking at either the MTMs or BC coilovers. It's only been a month of ownership and I'm already regretting not looking for an air suspension one. I have a lowered BMW 640 and it rides much better than this S at stock height.
A '17 Model S without air suspension?
I thought the 2016.5 was the last of the spring setup. I lowered mine with H&R Springs didn't really notice much of a ride difference. Should have waited a bit and gone with coilovers instead to get the ride height I was hoping for.
From what I've read, they stopped making coil around May/June 2017. Sad part was there was a 2018 with air in white for the same price but my wife insisted on red. Oh well. So Justin from MTM suggested their Paragon brand because he claims it's better for comfort which I'd rather take over performance. Hoping to pull the trigger sometime this week. Plus, the car looks like a 4x4 with the stock setup.
Cheburashka
Active Member
I don't find the air suspension to be any more comfy than the coils.. it's about the same, and I don't find the factory coils to be bad either.
Thanks. I did read multiple forums with air suspension owners complaining also. Just thought these cars would ride as comfy as all my past and current BMWs which were all as heavy. May have to go back to 19s or do the coilover route and hope that's better.
Yes, its on their website. I think its their house brand so me being a skeptic, assumes he's just pushing his stuff. Does anyone know if all these lower priced coilovers are just the same stuff, just rebranded and anodized different colors (bc, fv, paragon)? Alot of the carbon fiber parts are like that.....all made from the same factory in china but priced differently depending on brand.
Interested and following if anyone has any new update on BC coil vs Airtekk vs Scales vs Flatour vs HD racing on Ebay.
Scales has a 4-10 week lead time to build
You can find BC Coil and HD Racing available/stock on Ebay. But at least one person doesn't think BC is good quality.
This one, I haven't heard yet (Flatout) but has 4-8 week build lead time. Someone has installed them on their Model Y but haven't seen on a S yet on this forum. Tesla Model S Coilovers [CS]
KW V3 are slightly expensive at ~$5k.
Scales has a 4-10 week lead time to build
You can find BC Coil and HD Racing available/stock on Ebay. But at least one person doesn't think BC is good quality.
This one, I haven't heard yet (Flatout) but has 4-8 week build lead time. Someone has installed them on their Model Y but haven't seen on a S yet on this forum. Tesla Model S Coilovers [CS]
KW V3 are slightly expensive at ~$5k.
Update finally:
So, I ended up ordering the Airtekk coilovers, after not being able to get the BC's and D2's. Ordered about 2 months ago and it came in about 6 weeks to the shop. Finally had a chance to get it installed today. I wanted to go conservative so just a 1" drop before settling. From what I saw, the fronts were pretty simple. The damper adjustment is on the top like other coilovers so all you need to do is remove the liner to do the adjustment. The rears are built upside down so the coil and adjustment is on the bottom (smart design by Airtekk because you can't access the top of the strut inside the rear of the car). That way, damper adjustment can be done simply by removing the wheels and turning the knob. Frunk/trunk didn't have to be accessed for the install, everything was attached within the wheel well. I asked for the damper to be set higher than middle, hoping for a equal or more comfortable ride than stock. I'd say the ride now is pretty much the same as before. Ride height went from 29" from top of fender>ground to 28". It should settle another 1/4"-1/2". For me, I won't go any lower because of practical reasons. Install took the tech 4 hrs including multiple height adjustments. Overall, I'm very happy with how it looks and didn't have to sacrifice ride quality much.
before
So, I ended up ordering the Airtekk coilovers, after not being able to get the BC's and D2's. Ordered about 2 months ago and it came in about 6 weeks to the shop. Finally had a chance to get it installed today. I wanted to go conservative so just a 1" drop before settling. From what I saw, the fronts were pretty simple. The damper adjustment is on the top like other coilovers so all you need to do is remove the liner to do the adjustment. The rears are built upside down so the coil and adjustment is on the bottom (smart design by Airtekk because you can't access the top of the strut inside the rear of the car). That way, damper adjustment can be done simply by removing the wheels and turning the knob. Frunk/trunk didn't have to be accessed for the install, everything was attached within the wheel well. I asked for the damper to be set higher than middle, hoping for a equal or more comfortable ride than stock. I'd say the ride now is pretty much the same as before. Ride height went from 29" from top of fender>ground to 28". It should settle another 1/4"-1/2". For me, I won't go any lower because of practical reasons. Install took the tech 4 hrs including multiple height adjustments. Overall, I'm very happy with how it looks and didn't have to sacrifice ride quality much.
before
Attachments
Cheburashka
Active Member
That's awesome and great to hear about the comfort. Sounds like this is the route to go.
Do you know if they can be put at exactly stock height? Your drop looks great but with the roads around here I don't think my car would last much with any drop at all.
Do you know if they can be put at exactly stock height? Your drop looks great but with the roads around here I don't think my car would last much with any drop at all.
I hope these are also Airtek (but says Paragon) from MTM's website. My is AWD and 2016:
So, now I'm confused on which ones since same price and never heard of Paragon.
Paragon SI Series Coilovers for Tesla Model S
Paragon SI Series Coilovers are designed to give a wide range of ride height adjustability without reducing spring travel. Each coilover has 32 levels (clicks) of damping adjustability which combines both rebound and compression into one adjustment knob. Pillowball top mounts come standard on...
mtmautoworks.com
Otherwise, then this may are the actual Airtek:
TESLA MODEL S COILOVERS
TESLA MODEL S COILOVERSwith 33 way dampers shock and 3 ply rubber. comes with spanner wrenches comes with 4 dampers comes with 4 1/4 fittingsno modification direct bolt on.Please specify battery variant in the notes.
mtmautoworks.com
So, now I'm confused on which ones since same price and never heard of Paragon.
Yes, these can be used at stock height. The tech turned the collar a number of times to get it to 1". My concern would be longevity bc low to mid level aftermarket coilovers tend not to last that long compared to OE.
That's awesome! The car looks great. Did you have to specify the spring rate when you placed your order for the coilovers?
I didn't. They just sent the standard for street use. Although i love the way it looks, I'm taking it back tomorrow to raise it 1/2". Apparently, MS' hang really low underneath so I'm scraping everywhere at 28" bottom of fender to ground. Probably why they moved to smart air.
i like mine higher is that possible with these shocks?Morning all, (i'll preface by saying i am terrible at blogging, vlogging, and documenting as i work but i do take pictures along the way. but feel free to ask any questions and i can answer)
The update is finally here! I ordered the airtekk coilovers for 2014 Model S RWD standard suspension from MTM autoworks. Other than the scale coilovers which i addressed earlier in this thread, Airtekk are the only set i have found for the RWD Standard suspension S (i beleive MT has another brand available now as well). Justin at MTM was very helpful and explained that these are built to order so delivery could be 4-6 weeks. I ordered them on 5/27 and received them on 7/26 with email communication once that were shipped.
View attachment 694258
View attachment 694269
I knew it would take some time to install these so i had to wait about a week to insure i had the time allocated. I won't write out full install steps as Unplugged has a really good write up that can be utilized. Even those their write up is for air struts, the same process applies for coilovers. I have attached the link to that below:
Model S Plug & Play High-Performance Shocks Installation Guide
The installation guide for the Unplugged Performance Model S Plug & Play High-Performance Shocks for air suspension installation guideunpluggedperformance.com
View attachment 694272
Install went pretty smooth but i have installed coilovers on my previous vehicles. i'd say the biggest pain was adjusting the height, not difficult just time consuming. I'm impressed with Tesla's fenders and how much wheel well space you have to tuck the tires. I am probably not at my final height but seeing if any settling occurs for the next week or so then i will adjust and get the car in for alignment. I ended up lowering it 2" all around but would like it to be around 2.5" when settled.
Before
View attachment 694276
After (Better pics to come)
View attachment 694278
View attachment 694280
Overall i am much happier now that the car is lowered. Feel free to reach out with questions.
That's what I thought. My BMW 640 is lower than this car but when you look underneath, the tesla has less ground clearance, about 4" so with passengers, I'm scraping on speed bumps.
Similar threads
