Comfort Suspension Not Much of an Improvement

[ozzy4654]

At the tire shop now, making them check roadforce.
Yesterday I bought a full set of CrossClimate 2 tires. Had them on my last car and loved them, and worked great in the snow.
The MY has only 1500 miles, have not curbed it yet. But wondering if the rims are not round or warped in some way.
Thanks nate704 I will look into those as well.
Also just to be clear the vibration is not crazy, but feels like electric toothbrush or like a old school pager vibration. Either way its not right.

 

[jcanoe]

At the tire shop now, making them check roadforce.
Yesterday I bought a full set of CrossClimate 2 tires. Had them on my last car and loved them, and worked great in the snow.
The MY has only 1500 miles, have not curbed it yet. But wondering if the rims are not round or warped in some way.
Thanks nate704 I will look into those as well.
Also just to be clear the vibration is not crazy, but feels like electric toothbrush or like a old school pager vibration. Either way its not right.

I sometimes sense the same vibration while driving my 2020 LRMY. I attribute the source of the vibration to the HVAC compressor depending on the speed of the compressor.

 

[ozzy4654]

I sometimes sense the same vibration while driving my 2020 LRMY. I attribute the source of the vibration to the HVAC compressor depending on the speed of the compressor.

I had the HVAC off,
Tires came back good, wheel rise everything is normal. Need to go back to tesla for the 4th time to address the issue. Now that i know tires are good, road force came back normal.... its now something suspension/drivetrain related.... Tbh I prob have a Lemon Model Y.

 

[jcanoe]

I had the HVAC off,
Tires came back good, wheel rise everything is normal. Need to go back to tesla for the 4th time to address the issue. Now that i know tires are good, road force came back normal.... its now something suspension/drivetrain related.... Tbh I prob have a Lemon Model Y.

What is the feeling through the steering wheel when preconditioning for Supercharging? If cold enough what you are sensing could be the Tesla Model Y using stator heating to help warm the battery. This would be similar to preconditioning for Supercharging. (Even with the Climate Control turned Off the Tesla Model Y's thermal management system will continue to automatically warm or cool the battery, electronics and drive units as required.)

 

[ozzy4654]

What is the feeling through the steering wheel when preconditioning for Supercharging? If cold enough what you are sensing could be the Tesla Model Y using stator heating to help warm the battery. This would be similar to preconditioning for Supercharging. (Even with the Climate Control turned Off the Tesla Model Y's thermal management system will continue to automatically warm or cool the battery, electronics and drive units as required.)

Only feel it in motion.
My family has owned (MS, M3, MY)Teslas in the past and I never had this issue including my 2018 M3 LR

 

[jcanoe]

Only feel it in motion.
My family has owned (MS, M3, MY)Teslas in the past and I never had this issue including my 2018 M3 LR

2018 Model 3 uses PTC heater to warm the battery. The Model Y, from its introduction, has used the motor stators to warm the coolant that circulates inside the drive unit. This warmed coolant is then pumped through the battery.

 

[sleepydoc]

2018 Model 3 uses PTC heater to warm the battery. The Model Y, from its introduction, has used the motor stators to warm the coolant that circulates inside the drive unit. This warmed coolant is then pumped through the battery.

I thought the MY used the heat pump?

 

[jcanoe]

I thought the MY used the heat pump?

When the Tesla Model Y needs to warm the battery the combined action of the heat pump and the drive unit is used to warm coolant that is sent to the battery.

Part 2 - See Heat Mode 6 (4:20)

 

[Unclepaul]

Believe an air suspension would be a super popular option on 3 and Y.

 

[ozzy4654]

Went to SC test drove their Mrs with 19 and 20inch wheels. Same vibration... then Service manager drove my car. States this is normal on MYs.... so im SOL....wish I new the steering vibration.....I would have gotten a Different EV then.
My brother-in-Laws Mach-E is smoother and quieter than my 23 MY LR....
SO the only option if I want to proceed further is aftermarket suspension....or suck it up. For the kind of money we pay for these cars they should be smooth. Even cheap ICE cars have smoother steering.

 

[ozzy4654]

I wonder if upgrading the Unplug Performance Luxury suspension kit will be worth it..... Wonder if anyone out wither with 2023 suspension has done that upgrade yet???

 

[Daekwan]

This was v. helpful, ty! It must’ve been longer while since you swapped – any more thoughts on the ride quality difference after putting on 19” ones? Were you able to play around with tire pressure, and if so did it have any additional affect?

So I've driven about 3,000 miles on the 19" Gemini's and stick by the original statement. I do the exact same drive at least once a day which is 60 miles roundtrip. Sometimes I do it twice. It's all highway and even know which lanes have potholes and other imperfections. Still feel the 19" Geminis are about 10% softer than the 20" Inductions. Granted I do run my PSI high.. I have them set for 45 PSI because its still pretty cold here.. was freezing last night and temps still in the 30 degrees for the next 2 weeks.

Once April comes around I'll lower them to 40 PSI cold for two reasons: 1) Just to see how much more comfortable the ride is.. 2) I run lower temps in the spring/summer because the tires heat up much quicker. Even at 40 PSI cold, I'd imagine they will get up to 45-46 PSI hot when its like 80-90 degrees outside.

 

[cab]

I have to admit, if I had an earlier build Model Y LR or Performance, I would likely be VERY tempted to order the current gen LR or Performance struts/shocks/springs to swap them in. One thing that I haven't looked at too much is the control arms or strut mounts to see if there are any deltas in part numbers there (less about physical geometry changes and more about bushing durometer - aka "hardness" - changes). I basically did something similar on our Volvo XC60.
I do wish Koni would come out with some replacement shocks struts for the 3 and Y - I have used their FSD (now called Special Active "Red") and Sports ("Yellow") on cars in the past with good luck (note: prefer the Yellows). They would likely be a lot cheaper than full-on coilovers and could make a decent difference....maybe when Tesla sells another 2 or 3 million cars they will get the hint!

p.s. for fun I just e-mailed Koni to ask if they plan to enter the Tesla "space". We'll see if thye come back with anything.

 

[Daekwan]

I do wish Koni would come out with some replacement shocks struts for the 3 and Y - I have used their FSD (now called Special Active "Red") and Sports ("Yellow") on cars in the past with good luck (note: prefer the Yellows). They would likely be a lot cheaper than full-on coilovers and could make a decent difference....maybe when Tesla sells another 2 or 3 million cars they will get the hint!

Same thoughts here. I'm not putting $3,000+ coil overs on the commuter car that I bought specifically to save money because I spending so much in gas.

At this point, the only consideration I would have is replacing the factory stuff.. with a reasonable aftermarket shock/spring setup. I actually did this with my old '99 Lincoln Navigator about 4 years after purchasing it. The air suspension died on the vehicle.. I purchased aftermarket shocks/springs for $600 and had a local shop install them for $300. So for less than a thousand bucks.. the vehicle rode perfectly and at the proper ride height for another 10+ years. One of the best values I've spent when it comes to car modifications.

Another option would be trading my current 2021 Model Y for another newer/better EV. But I feel like for everything in my price range.. the 2023 Model Y Performance is probably what fits my wants & needs best. And I just don't see myself paying $15K more for what essentially is the same exact car I already drive.. but with a softer suspension & faster acceleration.

 

[enemji]

Has the Coil Spring Isolator been updated?

 

[Dennisis]

I have to admit, if I had an earlier build Model Y LR or Performance, I would likely be VERY tempted to order the current gen LR or Performance struts/shocks/springs to swap them in. One thing that I haven't looked at too much is the control arms or strut mounts to see if there are any deltas in part numbers there (less about physical geometry changes and more about bushing durometer - aka "hardness" - changes). I basically did something similar on our Volvo XC60.
I do wish Koni would come out with some replacement shocks struts for the 3 and Y - I have used their FSD (now called Special Active "Red") and Sports ("Yellow") on cars in the past with good luck (note: prefer the Yellows). They would likely be a lot cheaper than full-on coilovers and could make a decent difference....maybe when Tesla sells another 2 or 3 million cars they will get the hint!

p.s. for fun I just e-mailed Koni to ask if they plan to enter the Tesla "space". We'll see if thye come back with anything.

I have a Jun 2020 build and I'm fine with the suspension. That said, better suspension is on my list of things I'll be looking for in 2 years (5 year mark). This is the first time I've kept a car longer than 3 years for quite some time so I'm already getting antsy!

 

[cab]

I have to admit, if I had an earlier build Model Y LR or Performance, I would likely be VERY tempted to order the current gen LR or Performance struts/shocks/springs to swap them in. One thing that I haven't looked at too much is the control arms or strut mounts to see if there are any deltas in part numbers there (less about physical geometry changes and more about bushing durometer - aka "hardness" - changes). I basically did something similar on our Volvo XC60.
I do wish Koni would come out with some replacement shocks struts for the 3 and Y - I have used their FSD (now called Special Active "Red") and Sports ("Yellow") on cars in the past with good luck (note: prefer the Yellows). They would likely be a lot cheaper than full-on coilovers and could make a decent difference....maybe when Tesla sells another 2 or 3 million cars they will get the hint!

p.s. for fun I just e-mailed Koni to ask if they plan to enter the Tesla "space". We'll see if thye come back with anything.

Well, Koni got back to me (fast)! I specifically asked if they were planning to introduce dampers for the Model 3 and Y - either their "Special Active" (Red - formerly FSD) or their classic Yellow sports. Their response (with pics!):

COMING SOON: Both are in the works and still in early stages of pre-production as vehicle fitment and ride testing are mostly complete. We are hoping that these will be available to dealers later this summer or early fall.

Note: I'll also create a separate thread on this just so folks are aware....

 

[enemji]

 

[bobbyjae]

2021 Model Y owner, love the car but hate the suspension. Ordered a 23 for the comfort suspension as soon as the major price drop happened and just test drove one locally ahead of upcoming pickup. Very disappointed in both the ride quality and build quality of the newer car.

Test drove 2023 Model Y with 400 miles on it, riding on 19s:

+It felt like they managed to reduce the harshness of major impacts by probably 25-50%, such as when hitting big potholes or going over train tracks. Each time we were expecting a major thwack at the end of the travel, that never happened, which was good.

-The overall ride quality over small imperfections felt like it somehow got worse though, resulting in a more or less constant jittering / head bobbing that felt noticeably "busier" than our 2021. This effect was amplified the slower you drove and tended to lessen / smooth out a bit as you got closer to highway speeds.

-Our VIN630K had the worst interior booming of any of the six or so Model Y I've driven, even going back to the first 50K VIN we tested. Don't know if it was from a poorly adjusted hatch or what, but it made the super busy ride quality feel ten times worse, like the car was assaulting your whole body. Our 21 Model Y booms over big impacts as sound bounces around, but does not do it constantly over every little bump. Maybe this could be fixed with adjusting the hatch, but this is the car Tesla gave us for a test drive.

-As a palate cleanser, we went and test drove a CPO Macan that would be the same price as our incoming Y and the ride quality even on steel springs and runflat 20s was glorious. Each bump, one and done.

Honestly not sure what to make of this. Don't understand how some people can say this is so much better, when we found it to be marginal / worse. Suspension comfort is subjective, but it's not THAT subjective. I'm half convinced that in Tesla's rush to build a ton of cars from the price drop, they could be mixing in old parts. Also super disappointed about the booming, I definitely understand why that thread has so many posts now. Definitely recommend folks test drive them before trying to replace older models!

"Tesla Model Y Shishi 01 2022-09-04" by JamesYoung8167 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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OP, just rode in my friend's 2023 MYLR last night and it felt exactly as you reported. Very busy and a disconnect between the car and road.

Can't say this is an improvement over the old suspension.

 

[tris]

OP, just rode in my friend's 2023 MYLR last night and it felt exactly as you reported. Very busy and a disconnect between the car and road.

Can't say this is an improvement over the old suspension.

Side to side swaying when the road is less than almost perfectly smooth is very excessive, especially during low speed. Seems like "comfort suspension" means more bouncy. I kinda wish it was more harsh but stable/planted.