It's no secret that MPP Coilover kits are a big hit on this forum. And there are lots of reasons for that, but I know a lot of forum members often times wonder what kit is better for their uses and preferences. Hopefully this summary can give folks the information to make an informed choice.
We just had the MPP Comfort Adjustable Coilovers installed – And I have to give a shout out to the excellent Merrimac Auto Repair (150 Amherst Street in Nashua New Hampshire) and the equally excellent service technician there who did the install, Ian. Ian is a real car guy, has his own streetable track car, a heavily modified Subaru (aftermarket brakes, coilovers, wheels and tires w/ full stage II turbo kit and 450HP), and he really appreciates performance sedans. It's very reassuring when you have a real car guy working on your car the way you would work on his own. Highly recommend that shop and Ian specifically.
Some context is useful – I've had the MPP Sports Coilover kit for over a year and love it, but it is pretty firm the way it's set up, (10/8 compression rebound, and with 265/30 and 275/30 tires), and my wife wanted the best possible ride - she's been asking me to "pimp out" her car to the same degree that I have modified my own! Who would've thought she would have given a bleep! Well it turns out my wife is in fact a Tesla Tweaking Junkie! She started out extremely skeptical, didn't want me to spend "that kind of money" on anything she was gonna be driving, and has always regarded cars as a necessary evil to get from point A to point B. After one week of driving the Performance Model 3, she was changing her tune: "it's the bomb!" Anything that I did to my car she basically wants at least consideration to having on her car. Who's to argue? After all, happy wife, happy life, as we all know. So after much ado, and the predictably long wait to get the excellent and backordered MPP Comfort Adjustable Coilovers (not MPP's fault!), sure enough, it actually took us a longer time to find a competent mechanic.
I set the Comforts at the recommended 12/10 Compression/Rebound, so this comparison is a bit between apples and oranges in terms of shock settings as the Sport Coilovers on mine are set 10/8. but here are my impressions from a day of driving my wife's car, which has almost exactly the same wheel and tire complement, except mine has 265/30 PS4S fronts and hers has the stock 235/35 PS4S. Both have the seriously chunky 275/30 Tesla spec PS4S rears. The amazing thing about that tire is that it rides just as well as the stock 235/35, which seems impossible. It's also seriously wide, with a tread width of almost 11 inches.
1) The Adjustable Comfort Coilovers ride quality has a kind of 'liquid' and supple quality that's really hard to describe but that's missing from mine, which is just really firm without being harsh.
2) Both systems have excellent isolation from road noise or any harshness coming into the driver from the 'micro-grain' of the road surface, despite both having really low (35 and 30 series) tires, and no change on this point that I can tell from stock (my car also has traction and trailing arms with spherical bushings that I was originally concerned might add some 'grain' to the ride, but that hasn't been the case). I'd caulk that overall smoothness up to the really good suspension design with excellent rubber isolation of the suspension, and the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S sidewall and tread being pretty forgiving, this despite a lot of tread and not a lot of sidewall (esp. on the 265/30 fronts on my car). This makes a huge difference on long distance driving fatigue, and is notably better than for example a late model BMW M3. There is some tire noise at higher speed, but it's mostly drowned out by the wind noise.
3) My car with the Sports Coilovers has notably less roll esp. as G forces rise in cornering, but hers is better than it was stock. I haven't pushed her car in a corner but i suspect it will have some terminal understeer with just the stock 235/35 front compared to my 265/30 front setup (no terminal understeer at all).
4) both cars have an excellent ride/handling balance, but mine is tighter, firmer, and almost rather abrupt and stiff over larger bumps. Rear spring rates are significantly higher in my car and I can feel this, esp. over bumps. Hers is softer without being at all mushy. I prefer the ride of hers over the stock car - she is less sure and wants me to dial back the shock rates. This is against my religion.
5) Appearance wise, the car looks sooo much better - in fact it's almost a centimeter lower than mine, and may need to come up a tad on the rear. But it's really hunkered down nicely.
Conclusion: You can't go wrong with either kit, but if handling is your thing or you want to ever track the car, get the Sports. If you have to share with your wife, get the Comforts and may be just tweak the shock rate if it's not firm enough for you - just don't tell her about it! (we are truly fortunate in that we each have our own car, otherwise we'd be fighting over who got the Tesla and who was stuck with the POS ICE car!)
Bravo @MountainPass for having two such great kits. His and Hers Tesla Tuning?
We just had the MPP Comfort Adjustable Coilovers installed – And I have to give a shout out to the excellent Merrimac Auto Repair (150 Amherst Street in Nashua New Hampshire) and the equally excellent service technician there who did the install, Ian. Ian is a real car guy, has his own streetable track car, a heavily modified Subaru (aftermarket brakes, coilovers, wheels and tires w/ full stage II turbo kit and 450HP), and he really appreciates performance sedans. It's very reassuring when you have a real car guy working on your car the way you would work on his own. Highly recommend that shop and Ian specifically.
Some context is useful – I've had the MPP Sports Coilover kit for over a year and love it, but it is pretty firm the way it's set up, (10/8 compression rebound, and with 265/30 and 275/30 tires), and my wife wanted the best possible ride - she's been asking me to "pimp out" her car to the same degree that I have modified my own! Who would've thought she would have given a bleep! Well it turns out my wife is in fact a Tesla Tweaking Junkie! She started out extremely skeptical, didn't want me to spend "that kind of money" on anything she was gonna be driving, and has always regarded cars as a necessary evil to get from point A to point B. After one week of driving the Performance Model 3, she was changing her tune: "it's the bomb!" Anything that I did to my car she basically wants at least consideration to having on her car. Who's to argue? After all, happy wife, happy life, as we all know. So after much ado, and the predictably long wait to get the excellent and backordered MPP Comfort Adjustable Coilovers (not MPP's fault!), sure enough, it actually took us a longer time to find a competent mechanic.
I set the Comforts at the recommended 12/10 Compression/Rebound, so this comparison is a bit between apples and oranges in terms of shock settings as the Sport Coilovers on mine are set 10/8. but here are my impressions from a day of driving my wife's car, which has almost exactly the same wheel and tire complement, except mine has 265/30 PS4S fronts and hers has the stock 235/35 PS4S. Both have the seriously chunky 275/30 Tesla spec PS4S rears. The amazing thing about that tire is that it rides just as well as the stock 235/35, which seems impossible. It's also seriously wide, with a tread width of almost 11 inches.
1) The Adjustable Comfort Coilovers ride quality has a kind of 'liquid' and supple quality that's really hard to describe but that's missing from mine, which is just really firm without being harsh.
2) Both systems have excellent isolation from road noise or any harshness coming into the driver from the 'micro-grain' of the road surface, despite both having really low (35 and 30 series) tires, and no change on this point that I can tell from stock (my car also has traction and trailing arms with spherical bushings that I was originally concerned might add some 'grain' to the ride, but that hasn't been the case). I'd caulk that overall smoothness up to the really good suspension design with excellent rubber isolation of the suspension, and the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S sidewall and tread being pretty forgiving, this despite a lot of tread and not a lot of sidewall (esp. on the 265/30 fronts on my car). This makes a huge difference on long distance driving fatigue, and is notably better than for example a late model BMW M3. There is some tire noise at higher speed, but it's mostly drowned out by the wind noise.
3) My car with the Sports Coilovers has notably less roll esp. as G forces rise in cornering, but hers is better than it was stock. I haven't pushed her car in a corner but i suspect it will have some terminal understeer with just the stock 235/35 front compared to my 265/30 front setup (no terminal understeer at all).
4) both cars have an excellent ride/handling balance, but mine is tighter, firmer, and almost rather abrupt and stiff over larger bumps. Rear spring rates are significantly higher in my car and I can feel this, esp. over bumps. Hers is softer without being at all mushy. I prefer the ride of hers over the stock car - she is less sure and wants me to dial back the shock rates. This is against my religion.
5) Appearance wise, the car looks sooo much better - in fact it's almost a centimeter lower than mine, and may need to come up a tad on the rear. But it's really hunkered down nicely.
Conclusion: You can't go wrong with either kit, but if handling is your thing or you want to ever track the car, get the Sports. If you have to share with your wife, get the Comforts and may be just tweak the shock rate if it's not firm enough for you - just don't tell her about it! (we are truly fortunate in that we each have our own car, otherwise we'd be fighting over who got the Tesla and who was stuck with the POS ICE car!)
Bravo @MountainPass for having two such great kits. His and Hers Tesla Tuning?
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