Comfort Suspension Not Much of an Improvement

[Engi_Nerd]

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.
Admin note: Imaged added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[Yeah]

Suspension comfort is subjective

/thread lol

 

[Ogre]

I think all the companies in the VW group do an exceptional job isolating battery movement from cabin movements. The ETron is particularly good about this. Notice how well the cabin was isolated from battery movements after this bump?

 

[no-ice]

-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.

Complete agree. The suspension and wind noise in model Y is a deal breaker. Wanted to tade-in 7 year old 85d for a crossover, but the 85d (spring suspension is still better). Then I tried 2023 model S, the fit and finish & panel gap issues are appalling. Cabin is quieter but still needs lot of improvement to justify an upgrade. In the end decided to wait for Macan EV.

 

[WyoDude]

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.

 

[bobbyjae]

This is what I have been hearing more lately. The new "comfort" suspension cuts out some of the harshness; however, it's more bouncy/floaty than the original.

 

[mattnis]

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!

Rented a new CX-9 and it was very very nice and cushy.

 

[jjrandorin]

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

Are you trying to say trading in the 2021 model Y for a 2023 would be less money lost than buying an aftermarket suspension that you could tune to be what you wanted?

 

[YNoVA]

I think all the companies in the VW group do an exceptional job isolating battery movement from cabin movements. The ETron is particularly good about this. Notice how well the cabin was isolated from battery movements after this bump?

View attachment 902973

I remember that accident.. I'm pretty sure someone died. Glad we could use that person's death as an example for suspension.

 

[mswlogo]

Are you trying to say trading in the 2021 model Y for a 2023 would be less money lost than buying an aftermarket suspension that you could tune to be what you wanted?

I’ve seen so many reports with folks still not happy after getting suspension upgrades. As mentioned above I think cabin noise and cabin boominess amplifies suspension harshness.

I had a 2018 Model 3 AWD on 18” (and later 19”). I did a lot of small tweaks for cabin noise. It was almost tolerable.

Traded that for a 2019 Raven X on 20” (and 19” in winter). Didn’t do any tweaks other than fixed the drivers door window leaking badly myself. Suspension was great. Cabin noise acceptable. Phone noise cancelation non existent.

Then I traded that for a 2022 S Refresh on 19”. At first I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t much better than the X. Suspension is a little harsh but acceptable. I tweaked cabin, mainly adding top and rear sun shades. It’s partly all the glass in these cars that makes the feel harsh. Sun shades help take the edge off. Then ANC started working ( really does work but can be glitchy). Also I doubled up on mats and put after market Matt’s on top of factory. That helps absorb noise. After all that, now suspension feels better because the cabin is so much more cozy. Now S is 10-20% better than the X was. Still no Lexus or Mercedes but pretty darn good. Suspension comfort adjustment still seems crippled. X adjustment definitely worked.

I’ve seen a lot of the threads on model Y’s in particular of needing some adjustment on some cabin pressure vent. Complaints of headaches and earaches seem real.

Friend has 22 Model Y on 19”s and I keep expecting a harsh ride and it never appears. But I don’t own it or been on very long rides. A Harsh cabin / suspension kind of slowly eats at you. That’s what happened in my model 3. Thought it was ok at first until I decided it wasn’t ( after a year).

Glass roof is part of the issue.

 

[Bikeman]

MYLR w/19", tire pressures all at 41psi. Built Nov. 20th at Freemont. Supposed to be "comfort" suspension. It is not comfortable. Stiffest and most harsh of a ride of any car I've ever driven. In fact, it is awful and terrible. I'm hoping it will "wear in" or get better with warmer temperatures. Comfort is a joke.

 

[240vPlug]

My 22 P ride seems slightly better than my 21 LR but nothing significant. I may consider upgraded dampers at some point but with the 19s I have on it's much better than with the factory 21s.

 

[arbitrage000]

I guess post #2 sums it up.

But I'm not experiencing any of the harshness...settles right away after going over a bump or manhole. Never feels jarring or makes my head bob. Feels smooth driving. I actually wouldn't mind it to be a bit stiffer to improve cornering.

I never had booming but did have some ear pressure which I eliminated by doing the paper test while adjusting the hatch stops.

October 14th, 2022 build...1 week after "comfort" suspension started production.

/YMMV

 

[bobbyjae]

Friend has 22 Model Y on 19”s and I keep expecting a harsh ride and it never appears. But I don’t own it or been on very long rides. A Harsh cabin / suspension kind of slowly eats at you. That’s what happened in my model 3. Thought it was ok at first until I decided it wasn’t ( after a year).

This right here. When you first get the car, the ride feels great. Pretty much happy to finally get it.

After a few months is when I started noticing the harshness. Now I can't stop feeling it. Just try my best to avoid rough patches...

 

[240vPlug]

This right here. When you first get the car, the ride feels great. Pretty much happy to finally get it.

After a few months is when I started noticing the harshness. Now I can't stop feeling it. Just try my best to avoid rough patches...

Yes funny how it happens like that. I noticed a change after about 2,500 miles.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

To clarify, we leased our 2021, and the 2023 would be purchasing in advance of our lease ending. Our delivery is tomorrow and we're tempted to go through with it anyway because I expect it will be near the historical price bottom, including the tax credit. I suppose I can use the option of an aftermarket suspension to ease my mind a bit, though I feel like the improvement is likely to be marginal, despite several thousand dollars invested.

We are deeply frustrated because aside from the suspension, the Model Y is more or less a perfect vehicle. We sat in a dozen modern SUVs yesterday and many of them frankly feel like a joke in comparison. Even the Macan felt incredibly old from a powertain standpoint, failing to offer even remote start.

 

[jjrandorin]

To clarify, we leased our 2021, and the 2023 would be purchasing in advance of our lease ending. Our delivery is tomorrow and we're tempted to go through with it anyway because I expect it will be near the historical price bottom, including the tax credit. I suppose I can use the option of an aftermarket suspension to ease my mind a bit, though I feel like the improvement is likely to be marginal, despite several thousand dollars invested.

We are deeply frustrated because aside from the suspension, the Model Y is more or less a perfect vehicle. We sat in a dozen modern SUVs yesterday and many of them frankly feel like a joke in comparison. Even the Macan felt incredibly old from a powertain standpoint, failing to offer even remote start.

You definitely would not have wanted to put an aftermarket suspension on a lease though, so that makes perfect sense.

 

[240vPlug]

Yeah that's why most of us put up with the shortcomings of Teslas...because the positives carry more weight. Ohlin makes a kit, then you have other vendors like unplugged performance, mountain pass performance, and redwood. Only problem is Tesla SC is known to deny warranty if aftermarket parts are even remotely related to the issue.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Yeah that's why most of us put up with the shortcomings of Teslas...because the positives carry more weight. Ohlin makes a kit, then you have other vendors like unplugged performance, mountain pass performance, and redwood. Only problem is Tesla SC is known to deny warranty if aftermarket parts are even remotely related to the issue.

Remotely related doesn't cut it. The onus is 100% on the manufacturer to prove that the modifications that you added directly caused the part failure that they're denying warranty coverage on. The Magnuson-Moss act is very clear in this regard. If you tint your windows they can't deny warranty coverage on a brake caliper defect. However, if you change out your suspension they could potentially deny warranty coverage on a related suspension component like a control arm or similar.

The primary issue when the conversation of factory warranty comes up is that most people don't even realize that they have rights in this regard. When some desk jockey at a service center tells them they're not covering the warranty they slink out the door with their tail between their legs assuming that's the gospel word of Tesla. The reality is it's just some lackey that doesn't know how to do their job. This is evidenced by the dozens of posts every day on this forum alone citing some Tesla employee giving misinformation as fact because of poor training/knowledge.

It's important to understand that replacing factory parts with aftermarket parts could potentially void portions of the warranty so long as they're related. Equally important is to understand that you've got specific protections in this regard and it's important to know how the law protects you from manufacturers blatantly claiming your modification caused and unrelated parts failure.

 

[Ogre]

I remember that accident.. I'm pretty sure someone died. Glad we could use that person's death as an example for suspension.

It was like last week. None of the articles I read said anything about fatalities.