LR RWD suspension refresh: MPP Comfort Coilovers vs Koni Red vs OEM

[thefrog1394]

My LR RWD is approaching 100k miles which is when I typically start to think about doing a suspension refresh on my vehicles. My main criticism with the current suspension is it feels uncomposed with too much rebound after large bumps. Not sure to what extent this is an issue with the stock suspension vs shocks just starting to wear out (probably both).

This is a daily driver for the family and we cover a lot more highway miles than canyon roads so I don't want anything overly stiff, although I'm used to sport suspension package BMWs so I'm ok feeling some potholes. I had no problem with the stiffness level of the OE suspension (2018 Long Range RWD) like some folks apparently do.

I want to maintain stock ride height.

Options I'm considering. If anyone has direct experience or comparison between them would love to hear thoughts!

MPP Comfort Coilovers (@MountainPass)
Most expensive option. At max ride height, I'm still looking at a small drop I think. Am I compromising anything running these at max height all the time?

Koni Special Active (Red) Dampers (@tom @ eas)
Middle option on price. Anyone actually have experience with these yet? Is tuning a compromise b/c they aren't specifically designed for FWD/RWD spring rates and can handle lowering springs? How should I expect these to compare both comfort-wise and handling-wise to the MPP coilovers?

OE 2023 Model 3 RWD Dampers
There's folks on here selling OE Model 3 take-offs for like $300. Obviously the cheapest option. I hear Tesla has made changes over the years to the OE suspension, I'm not entirely clear how I should expect the suspension to compare to my early build. Model 3 LR RWD is nearly identical weight to the newer LFP SR+ RWD Model 3.

 

[tom @ eas]

The MPP Comfort Coilovers would be my pick out of the 3 in your situation. It's a very affordable option compared to the MPP Comfort Adjustable Coilover kit, and you get a perfectly matched kit with a very well balanced ride for a the road. Essentially a "one and done" kit for daily driving.

Mountain Pass Performance - Comfort Coilovers - Tesla Model 3

We’re extremely excited to bring you our jointly developed MPP / KW Comfort Coilovers. After speaking with a large number of Model 3 owners in the community, we realized that there was a large demand for the ability to lower your Model 3 without reducing the ride comfort, especially over large...

europeanautosource.com

Some BMWs with Sport package even come a bit stiff from factory. For those looking for canyon carving and taking corners at double the speed limit, there are other (albiet more expensive) kits for that.

 

[James Cole]

Would like to know this as well... Koni reds come OEM in the new model 3 right?


JC

 

[thefrog1394]

Would like to know this as well... Koni reds come OEM in the new model 3 right?


JC

The new Highland Model 3 (the one not yet available in North America) apparently has frequency selective dampening tech used in the Koni reds. Not sure if this means they licensed the tech from Koni or are actually sourcing the shocks from Koni or what. I doubt they are just literally slapping Koni reds out of the box on the cars lol but who knows I guess.

 

[tm1v2]

My 2c, which is all this post is worth, if that.

At 100k you should take a very close look at all your suspension bushings and bearings. I would guess some could use replacing. I wouldn't bother putting nice coilovers with worn out control arms / bushings. I just replaced every control arm on my 150+k mile Model S and it was a huge improvement. All the old car suspension noises are gone, and it rides and handles better than it has in years, even with the original air suspension dampers. The bushings were busted in every way possible - torn, flaking, leaking (sealed bearings), permanently compressed and offset, etc. Everything needed replacing, so I replaced all of it. YMMV, our cars experience a lot of tough miles on really bad pavement.

Your original dampers may still be working okay, but Model 3 OEM dampers are all kinda mediocre in my experience, so I do agree with upgrading them. (No I haven't driven a Highland yet.)

MPP Comfort are probably almost ideal for what you want - except my understanding is they really aren't meant for stock height. A forum member who tried running his MPP coilovers at stock height, against MPP's recommendation, found it really messed up the ride and handling. That person ended up switching to different coilovers that were designed for stock height. I haven't used MPP coilovers myself, but they're a very well known and thoroughly reviewed item on these forums.

The few Koni Red reports I've come across so far seem to be from people who are mainly concerned about ride quality. I've not seen anyone really dive into how they feel for corner carving, or seem especially concerned about it. Even if majority of your driving is highway it sounds like this still matters to you. Maybe you could be the first to review this aspect? I suspect other sportier options would be more to your liking though - including maybe Koni Yellows!

I have Redwood Motorsports Performance Sport Ohlins DFV on my M3P. They're awesome, they ride better than stock Model 3 overall despite being clearly firmer, and the car handles like a dream on them. The balance and composure are spot on for really tearing up a back road, no matter how good or nasty the pavement. They are designed to support stock height and I have mine at approximately my M3P's stock height (which is probably a little lower than your LR). The Redwood Ohlins DFV are expensive though! And probably a little firmer than ideal for you, though if you're fine with BMW sport suspensions I'm sure you'd be totally fine with these too, especially adjusted to a middle or softer setting. Adjusting these is a piece of cake if you have typical dexterity, no tools or lifting the car needed.

Redwood also has a softer GT version which I think you would also like, the ride quality is seriously good for a Model 3 (from a quick ride in a car with them once), but the GT version is quite a bit softer...I suspect MPP Comfort falls between the two Redwood kits in overall firmness. Hence why I say MPP Comfort might be ideal level of sportiness for you except for the height issue. I get wanting to stay at stock height though, that was important for me too. Even stock M3P height is awkwardly low at times (dirt roads, Whole Foods garage ramp... )

We do a lot of canyon-esq miles in our regular driving. A good set of dampers/coilovers and freshened bushings really brings out the best of this car. I got the MPP front lower control arm bearings and I recommend them, even if you stay with OEM for all other bushings.

 

[thefrog1394]

My 2c, which is all this post is worth, if that.

At 100k you should take a very close look at all your suspension bushings and bearings. I would guess some could use replacing. I wouldn't bother putting nice coilovers with worn out control arms / bushings. I just replaced every control arm on my 150+k mile Model S and it was a huge improvement. All the old car suspension noises are gone, and it rides and handles better than it has in years, even with the original air suspension dampers. The bushings were busted in every way possible - torn, flaking, leaking (sealed bearings), permanently compressed and offset, etc. Everything needed replacing, so I replaced all of it. YMMV, our cars experience a lot of tough miles on really bad pavement.

Your original dampers may still be working okay, but Model 3 OEM dampers are all kinda mediocre in my experience, so I do agree with upgrading them. (No I haven't driven a Highland yet.)

MPP Comfort are probably almost ideal for what you want - except my understanding is they really aren't meant for stock height. A forum member who tried running his MPP coilovers at stock height, against MPP's recommendation, found it really messed up the ride and handling. That person ended up switching to different coilovers that were designed for stock height. I haven't used MPP coilovers myself, but they're a very well known and thoroughly reviewed item on these forums.

The few Koni Red reports I've come across so far seem to be from people who are mainly concerned about ride quality. I've not seen anyone really dive into how they feel for corner carving, or seem especially concerned about it. Even if majority of your driving is highway it sounds like this still matters to you. Maybe you could be the first to review this aspect? I suspect other sportier options would be more to your liking though - including maybe Koni Yellows!

I have Redwood Motorsports Performance Sport Ohlins DFV on my M3P. They're awesome, they ride better than stock Model 3 overall despite being clearly firmer, and the car handles like a dream on them. The balance and composure are spot on for really tearing up a back road, no matter how good or nasty the pavement. They are designed to support stock height and I have mine at approximately my M3P's stock height (which is probably a little lower than your LR). The Redwood Ohlins DFV are expensive though! And probably a little firmer than ideal for you, though if you're fine with BMW sport suspensions I'm sure you'd be totally fine with these too, especially adjusted to a middle or softer setting. Adjusting these is a piece of cake if you have typical dexterity, no tools or lifting the car needed.

Redwood also has a softer GT version which I think you would also like, the ride quality is seriously good for a Model 3 (from a quick ride in a car with them once), but the GT version is quite a bit softer...I suspect MPP Comfort falls between the two Redwood kits in overall firmness. Hence why I say MPP Comfort might be ideal level of sportiness for you except for the height issue. I get wanting to stay at stock height though, that was important for me too. Even stock M3P height is awkwardly low at times (dirt roads, Whole Foods garage ramp... )

We do a lot of canyon-esq miles in our regular driving. A good set of dampers/coilovers and freshened bushings really brings out the best of this car. I got the MPP front lower control arm bearings and I recommend them, even if you stay with OEM for all other bushings.

Thanks for the input! Yea, I haven't seen much in the way of recommendations on what bushings really need to be replaced at higher mileage, so I figured I'd poke around with the car up one of these days. Upper control arms were replaced at 70k by Tesla when they started squeaking (only paid for parts, labor was goodwilled, thanks Tesla!). Any issues with ride quality on the MPP lower control arms? I've talked myself into stiffer bushings on past cars and am trying to avoid going too aggressive this time around.

Interesting on the issues with MPP Comforts at stock ride height. That's exactly what I'm worried about, although I haven't seen specifically that complaint -- I'll search here on that. My past cars have been lower, so ride height isn't a complete deal breaker, but a battery is a lot more expensive to replace than an exhaust, so I'm more sensitive to bottoming out. I've also got a Stealth Hitch that I use for bike rack, etc that already scrapes if you look at it wrong.

The Redwood Ohlins are probably out of my price range for this car unfortunately, but do look interesting.

 

[thefrog1394]

MPP lift kit + MPP Comfort non-adjustable set in the middle seems like an interesting option too. Not sure how active MPP is on here, but @MountainPass if you see this, for trying to maintain ground clearance similar to stock without sacrificing handling, would you recommend MPP Comfort Coilovers (non-adjustable) set at max height or MPP Comforts + the lift kit set lower?

 

[tm1v2]

Thanks for the input! Yea, I haven't seen much in the way of recommendations on what bushings really need to be replaced at higher mileage, so I figured I'd poke around with the car up one of these days. Upper control arms were replaced at 70k by Tesla when they started squeaking (only paid for parts, labor was goodwilled, thanks Tesla!). Any issues with ride quality on the MPP lower control arms? I've talked myself into stiffer bushings on past cars and am trying to avoid going too aggressive this time around.

Interesting on the issues with MPP Comforts at stock ride height. That's exactly what I'm worried about, although I haven't seen specifically that complaint -- I'll search here on that. My past cars have been lower, so ride height isn't a complete deal breaker, but a battery is a lot more expensive to replace than an exhaust, so I'm more sensitive to bottoming out. I've also got a Stealth Hitch that I use for bike rack, etc that already scrapes if you look at it wrong.

The Redwood Ohlins are probably out of my price range for this car unfortunately, but do look interesting.

No ride quality or NVH downside from the MPP front lower control arm bearings that I could ever tell. I know some bushing upgrades can add obvious NVH, I've gone down that road too on past cars, but these particular ones are very street-friendly. Note they're a press-in bushing replacement, not a full control arm replacement. I installed them at the same time as my Redwood coilovers, so I can't say 100% for sure what difference those bearings alone make, but I can say confidently I've not felt or heard any downsides. I credit the bearings for helping with mid-corner steering response near the limit of grip (which was seriously bad stock on my 2021) - alongside the coilovers of course!

I've got about 24k miles on my suspension mods now. Hard miles ranging from potholed city roads to rural country back roads. No issues with any of it so far, besides replacing one torn dust boot, and putting some light grease on my damper shafts once.

My understanding is that if you follow the recommended coilover setup instructions from MPP, Redwood, or anyone else who knows what they're doing with these cars, they all have you maintain close to stock battery-to-ground clearance under full compression. So safety is maintained that way but any lowering comes out of your compression travel. With the Redwood Ohlins coilovers I have, the damper body length is adjustable so one could maintain travel while lowering, but it would increase risk of battery contact with the ground. Redwood's instructions explain that risk and how to avoid it.

MPP sells a lift kit that is basically suspension spacers. I think you could combine that with their coilovers to achieve stock-like height. However, I think you'd still lose the same amount of compression travel as if you had lowered without the spacers. So probably not ideal, but I'm sure it would still be overall quite good and a big upgrade from the stock suspension.

Koni Yellows seem promising for stock height if you're okay with stock spring rates. Only problem there is if you do want firmer springs while staying stock height, I'm not sure if anyone sells springs for that.

Redwood now has cheaper non-Ohlins "FPX" coilovers for this car which also support stock height. That's a promising option for a lot less money than the Ohlins version I have. I haven't driven the FPX though so I can't say what you give up vs the Ohlins version, but I'm sure the FPX is also a big upgrade over stock.

I think there are multiple good options for you, just need to pick somehow. Good luck!

 

[MountainPass]

MPP lift kit + MPP Comfort non-adjustable set in the middle seems like an interesting option too. Not sure how active MPP is on here, but @MountainPass if you see this, for trying to maintain ground clearance similar to stock without sacrificing handling, would you recommend MPP Comfort Coilovers (non-adjustable) set at max height or MPP Comforts + the lift kit set lower?

I would personally suggest going with the coilovers alone and accepting a 10mm reduction in ride height. If you were to install the coilovers, lower them by 34mm, and then raise the car by 44mm, you've essentially removed that much suspension travel without gaining ride height. I would suggest that if you are going to combine the coilovers with the lift kit, you end up with a ride height of at least 20mm above stock so that everything works well.

 

[bobesser]

When my car needs new shocks, I will 100% go with the frequency selective damping option.

I had a 2009 Mini Cooper JCW that I autocrossed extensively. I switched from the factory S springs to JCW springs (a bit stiffer) and I added Koni FSD at the same time. I was very concerned about what I had done because the initial ride was so much better than the original 'S' suspension, even though the springs were lower and stiffer. When I got to the autocross, it was a revelation - so much better. It probably took a second off my time, and that is huge. When walking the course, I noted an area that had multiple surface bumps/defects on a long sweeper. I expected it to upset the car, so, I was ready to catch it on the first run. The Koni FSDs *erased* the surface imperfections. The car just rolled over it and stuck like glue.

I will always buy FSD or similar if it is available because I care about handling and I like the ride as a benefit.

 

[Kimmi]

“I will always buy FSD or similar if it is available because I care about handling and I like the ride as a benefit.”

How would you describe the ride compared to OEM? I have tried searching, but only find offers to sell. Links to reviews appreciated.

 

[tgrobbo]

No one has mentioned the Teins? Seem to get the best reviews out of all the available aftermarket shocks. (In terms of ride comfort anyway)

 

[bobesser]

“I will always buy FSD or similar if it is available because I care about handling and I like the ride as a benefit.”

How would you describe the ride compared to OEM? I have tried searching, but only find offers to sell. Links to reviews appreciated.

I can only comment on my experience on a MINI Cooper which has a hard ride from the factory. The ride with FSD dampers was much more comfortable. No jarring, softer over all bumps and potholes. There are tons of user reviews and a few 'professional' magazine reviews online.

Koni Special Active: Get a comfortable ride and great handling

Does Koni's Special Active dampers mean you no longer have to choose between comfort or handling?

classicmotorsports.com

 

[Kimmi]

Thank you. Only one person has experience with the new Konis?

 

[LuckyMY]

Thank you. Only one person has experience with the new Konis?

I posted something in a different thread, see link: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/8043614/