Ideas to improve seat and suspension comfort for California's crap freeways

[calisnow]

So here are two ideas I've had this morning while bumping along the freeway on our nasty, nasty, poorly maintained concrete freeways:

1 - Have the driver's seat re-constructed by a high end upholstery shop. I have the next-gen leather seat - I'm thinking perhaps putting memory foam in the bottom cushion.

2 - Have a race shop build a custom suspension set-up geared more toward comfort and less toward sport. This would be a set of springs with lower rates, plus digressively valved shocks, such as Bilstein's PSS9 series. Digressive valving means a shock is softer over small bumps (such as expansion joints) while retaining damping over big hits.

 

[calisnow]

And yes - I realize this would reduce the sporting nature of the car. And yes, I know I'm the same guy who posted several months ago about how I wish the P85+ suspension was still an option. But autopilot has completely changed my paradigm of driving pleasure.

 

[jmsurpri]

I think any solution to soften the small bumps would be much appreciated. It is disheartening to drive down even a recently paved road and still be jolting up and down with every little imperfection, even though the road looks smooth as glass.

I recently took a road trip where the city roads were much worse than than the ones in my city. My car performed so poorly on those roads, we were literally bouncing up down left right in our seats. I thought the car was going to fall apart.

 

[Evbwcaer]

You could make sure your tire pressure is at the lowest allowable PSI.

 

[jmsurpri]

I have 19s and air and have tire pressure set to 42psi. At 45 it feels like I'm riding on wood tires. At 42, slightly softer

 

[K_style]

Off topic but how is that we pay most tax $ in a highest populated state that has the shittest road there is.

 

[Krugerrand]

Blow up seat donut.

 

[K_style]

I have this purple seat cushion.. better try it.

 

[DÆrik]

I was just in the Fremont area for my factory tour and had rented a P90DL for while I was there. The roads were awful! Here in Colorado the roads can be bad, but it depends on the road.

But my view might be slightly skewed because the car had 21" tires, whereas my Tesla has 19". I think that was the biggest difference in the ride quality as both car had air suspension.

@K_style - I had a previous employer offer those for our desk chairs. Might be worth a try.

Thanks Erik

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Do the Kardashian diet.
Use a pillow

But, more seriously I do hope Tesla introduces adjustable suspension so you can choose comfort mode or sport mode.

 

[CHG-ON]

The 21's most definitely ride much harder. I got a loaner with 19's and I was like "oooh, this is sweet!" But I still like my 21's...

 

[ShotgunF15E]

Off topic but how is that we pay most tax $ in a highest populated state that has the shittest road there is.

Off topic answer.....tell your elected officials to giving out free entitlements to everyone living here. Go drive in Nevada, their roads ROCK and they have NO state income tax.

 

[Booner]

So here are two ideas I've had this morning while bumping along the freeway on our nasty, nasty, poorly maintained concrete freeways:

1 - Have the driver's seat re-constructed by a high end upholstery shop. I have the next-gen leather seat - I'm thinking perhaps putting memory foam in the bottom cushion.

2 - Have a race shop build a custom suspension set-up geared more toward comfort and less toward sport. This would be a set of springs with lower rates, plus digressively valved shocks, such as Bilstein's PSS9 series. Digressive valving means a shock is softer over small bumps (such as expansion joints) while retaining damping over big hits.

Did you ever find someone to customize a suspension setup for you? My other car is a 2016 535i M-sport and if I could find a solution to duplicate the BMW ride/handling compromise I'd be a very happy man.

 

[pkodali]

Why doesnt the Model X air suspension have adjustable comfort? Literally every other air suspension on the market can do this

 

[ReturnZero]

Why doesnt the Model X air suspension have adjustable comfort? Literally every other air suspension on the market can do this

Because adjustable ride comfort requires adjustable dampers which Tesla doesn’t have. Air suspension adjustments really only change ride height.

 

[David29]

So here are two ideas I've had this morning while bumping along the freeway on our nasty, nasty, poorly maintained concrete freeways:


2 - Have a race shop build a custom suspension set-up geared more toward comfort and less toward sport. This would be a set of springs with lower rates, plus digressively valved shocks, such as Bilstein's PSS9 series. Digressive valving means a shock is softer over small bumps (such as expansion joints) while retaining damping over big hits.

Did you ever get this done? Or even get any good ideas on what to do and how to do it?
I have been wondering about the same thing. MY 70D with coil springs is not as pleasant to drive as I would like. We feel every bump.
I understand some of the things that drive Tesla to a stiff suspension: low ground clearance (presumably for aerodynamics), a desire for good handling, the high weight of the car. I would prefer a suspension that is less stiff and more compliant, even at the loss of some handling. i have no desire to throw a 4500+ pound car around a track or even around tight curves on local roads without any lean.

I will be very interested to learn if Tesla made any different design choice with the Model 3, on the issue of comfort vs. handling. I should think that good handling would be even less of a priority on Model 3 because of the price point.