Harsh, crashy ride on 2016 MS 85D with 21"

[willdashwood]

Hello,

I recently bought a 2016 UK Model S 85D with smart air suspension and Pirelli P Zero tyres on 21" turbine wheels. It's got nearly 90k miles on the clock but overall in good condition.

I'm finding the ride pretty harsh on poor surfaces, which unfortunately accounts for most of the roads local to me. If I hit a pothole it tends to judder fairly violently side to side and takes longer than I'd hope to settle back down. That's on top of the initial, quite violent, impact from the pothole.

I have to admit, I was expecting better from a car with air suspension. My old 2006 Skoda Octavia handled these poor surfaces better and the suspension on that was well past it's best!

My first thought is to try and switch to 19" wheels so I can get a higher side wall and choose tyres more suited to soaking up bumps. But could there actually be something wrong with the suspension? I haven't seen many MS owners complaining about this online, in fact the very opposite. I bought the car from my boss and I know the suspension hasn't had an easy life as his house is down a very bumpy track.

Does anyone have any experience of comparing 19" to 21" wheels on this era of Model S? I know suspension on the S has changed a lot since 2016, as with most other things. If I do switch to 19", which wheel should I go for; Tempest Aero, Slipstream, Base Wheel or Cyclone?

Just after some advice and suggestions really!

Thanks,
Will

 

[Ostrichsak]

Short answer: get 19's.

Long answer: search as this conversation has been beaten to death over the years with TONS of information and first hand experience.

 

[willdashwood]

Thanks. I did try searching but all I found were threads complaining about the M3's harsh ride and how the S with air suspension was much better. Don't suppose you have any links to relevant threads?

 

[Ostrichsak]

Thanks. I did try searching but all I found were threads complaining about the M3's harsh ride and how the S with air suspension was much better. Don't suppose you have any links to relevant threads?

When you search, use the option to search only this subforum for Model S. It sounds like you're doing a global search which will be far more posts about 3/Y given the volume made. I almost never do a search on this forum w/o specifying Model S since I have no interest in those conversations.

 

[willdashwood]

Ah I didn't spot that, thanks that's helped massively!

 

[omarsultan]

For the 21s you need to be religious about tire (tyre) pressure, so that is a good place to start, but the 21s give you an inherently stiffer ride. Switching to 19s will give you a more compliant ride. The air suspension in the older cars only adjusts ride height, it does not adjust spring rate/dampening like some system do.

One other thing, if you running the run-flat version of the P Zero, the stiffer sidewall will make everything worse.

 

[willdashwood]

Thanks for your input. Currently running them at 42 PSI. Haven't experimented with adjusting pressures, that's just how they came. They're not the run-flat version fortunately.

 

[willdashwood]

I'm picking up a set of Cyclone wheels this weekend so I'm now looking at what rubber to put on them. My starting point is the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 because ATS are doing a cracking deal on a full set at the moment. But given my top priority is improving the ride quality and ideally a quieter tyre than the 21" Pirelli P Zero, what else should I be considering? Thanks!