Model 3's Ride Quality

[gilscales]

The springs are $335 Unplugged Performance | Dual Rate Lowering Springs for Tesla Model 3

Here's a chart to illustrate how our different spring options compare to factory

View attachment 280855

Went to Unplugged Performance today to test out the moderate springs, they improved the ride quite a bit and I am looking forward to getting the mild version installed as the first 3 is my wife's and she wants it a smooth as we can get.

Ben from Unplugged Performance has informed me about the difference in spring rates, looking at the chart compared to stock springs the mild springs are going to be 30% softer in the initial spring rate to soften up the crappy roads we are stuck driving on daily while the second stage of the springs are the same as stock. for comparison the moderate version I test drove is 15% softer and 15% stiffer than stock in the first and second stages.

 

[Andrew]

@[email protected] - Just got back from the SC. They hadn't actually ordered the parts yet (doh!) so they placed the order and sent me home with my car. When the parts come in next week they'll send a valet to pick up the car and drop off a loaner. They said it's a one-day (possibly same day) job to do the suspension fix. Looking forward to having the improved suspension next week!

Got our Model 3 back yesterday, with the updated suspension. The improvement is MASSIVE!

I still notice every bump, but it's almost more that I hear it rather than feel it. Previously, every little pothole, bump, etc., was physically jarring and jostling. Haven't taken it on the freeways yet but I expect that it will be significantly improved there as well. Very happy with this fix.

(And of course now I'm seriously thinking about @UnpluggedP's "mild" spring upgrades...)

Concern: per service bulletin perform upgraded suspension
Pay Type: Warranty
Corrections: Front Suspension (including Hubs) General Diagnosis
Upgraded front suspension components per bulletin
Corrections: Links - Front Suspension - Lower - Aft - LH/RH
Upgraded front suspension components per bulletin
Part - Quantity
DAMPER ASSY FR LH RWD, COIL E3 (1044364-01-E) - 1
DAMPER ASSY FR RH RWD, COIL E3 (1044369-01-E) - 1
RR SPRING, COIL 74.7-7250 E3 RWD, E3 DM (1044472-01-D) - 2
RR DAMPER ASSY - COIL RWD (1044461-02-C) - 2
RR LWR FORE LINK ASSY (1044444-00-A) - 2

 

[shrspeedblade]

It's interesting to note that the "stiff" ride seems to be more connected to the spring rates and not the shock dampening, which can also produce a very stiff/jarring ride. However, I see they did both for you, so maybe it is both.

I got to drive my first Model 3 just over a week ago (early Jan. build, so probably the 2nd edition of the springs) and didn't find it to be jarring at all. My benchmarks would be my 2003 Miata equipped with Tein coilovers (pretty stiff), my Boss 302 Laguna Seca (stock), and the E36 M3 (w/Eibach springs) I used to have. I would say the ride was fairly close to the M3, except with somewhat milder dampening (E36 Bilsteins are notorious for their stiffness). The hilarious thing is the Boss with the dampeners turned all the way down probably rides a little less harshly- expect for the back end with the live rear axle!

For me, I thought the ride was wonderful, just about perfect for our twisty but-not-always-smooth roads where I live. However, I'm not you're average bear I will acknowledge and can see why in that first review the R&T guys were a little surprised by the aggressiveness of the suspension on what is to be a mass market vehicle. It's no surprise they are being dialed back a bit.

I wish Tesla would keep those initial springs they change out, and sell them to us sports car nuts as a "sport upgrade" to those of us who would undoubtedly be delighted with them!

 

[gilscales]

It's interesting to note that the "stiff" ride seems to be more connected to the spring rates and not the shock dampening, which can also produce a very stiff/jarring ride. However, I see they did both for you, so maybe it is both.

I got to drive my first Model 3 just over a week ago (early Jan. build, so probably the 2nd edition of the springs) and didn't find it to be jarring at all. My benchmarks would be my 2003 Miata equipped with Tein coilovers (pretty stiff), my Boss 302 Laguna Seca (stock), and the E36 M3 (w/Eibach springs) I used to have. I would say the ride was fairly close to the M3, except with somewhat milder dampening (E36 Bilsteins are notorious for their stiffness). The hilarious thing is the Boss with the dampeners turned all the way down probably rides a little less harshly- expect for the back end with the live rear axle!

For me, I thought the ride was wonderful, just about perfect for our twisty but-not-always-smooth roads where I live. However, I'm not you're average bear I will acknowledge and can see why in that first review the R&T guys were a little surprised by the aggressiveness of the suspension on what is to be a mass market vehicle. It's no surprise they are being dialed back a bit.

I wish Tesla would keep those initial springs they change out, and sell them to us sports car nuts as a "sport upgrade" to those of us who would undoubtedly be delighted with them!

You could always get the low version from Unplugged

 

[xav-]

I found my late January M3 to have a harder ride than I liked. Lowered the air pressure from 49 lbs as delivered to the 45 lbs on the door label and am now happy. Not as silky and creamy as the S with air suspension but a little stiffer suspension seems appropriate for this car.

Tire noise is definitely louder than the S.

Which tires? Performance 19?

 

[tsw4life]

Thanks David. Now we just need an existing owner to poke their head and cell phone into a wheel well and snap some pics. If I see one in the wild maybe I'll try to snap some!

Here are photos I snapped of my 2017 Model 3.



I took the car in because the power steering totally gave out (2nd trip into the service center in the first few weeks of ownership).

I escalated this to Tesla, and also said I've got really rough ride and I'd read that Tesla is doing something about it for December cars. He says he'll look into it. I told the same thing to the tech working on the car and he said he was having his foreman look into it. This is at Buena Park in CA.

After the car was there for over a week (waiting on some part for the steering fix), they say it's ready to go. I asked about the suspension issues, and the tech said he drove it and was operating normally. No mention of talking to Tesla engineering to see what they had to say.

I then emailed the executive back at Tesla to ask why I'm seeing all these December cars getting replacements and no one at Buena Park knows anything about this? He responds to tell me my car was built January 3, and the tech's answer was right.

I asked why my car was a 2017 Model 3 and not a 2018 if it was built Jan 3? Why does the door jamb have "12/17" stamped on it? Why does my window sticker show December 2017 as the build date?

Still waiting to hear back, so I went ahead and got photos of the currently installed parts. They're all one revision older than the new parts being put on David's car mentioned above. I also forwarded this info to the Tesla executive... we'll see what happens now.

This seems like an easy issue to resolve, is Buena Park a below-average service center?

 

[K-MTG]

Here are photos I snapped of my 2017 Model 3.

View attachment 283289View attachment 283284View attachment 283285View attachment 283286

I took the car in because the power steering totally gave out (2nd trip into the service center in the first few weeks of ownership).

I escalated this to Tesla, and also said I've got really rough ride and I'd read that Tesla is doing something about it for December cars. He says he'll look into it. I told the same thing to the tech working on the car and he said he was having his foreman look into it. This is at Buena Park in CA.

After the car was there for over a week (waiting on some part for the steering fix), they say it's ready to go. I asked about the suspension issues, and the tech said he drove it and was operating normally. No mention of talking to Tesla engineering to see what they had to say.

I then emailed the executive back at Tesla to ask why I'm seeing all these December cars getting replacements and no one at Buena Park knows anything about this? He responds to tell me my car was built January 3, and the tech's answer was right.

I asked why my car was a 2017 Model 3 and not a 2018 if it was built Jan 3? Why does the door jamb have "12/17" stamped on it? Why does my window sticker show December 2017 as the build date?

Still waiting to hear back, so I went ahead and got photos of the currently installed parts. They're all one revision older than the new parts being put on David's car mentioned above. I also forwarded this info to the Tesla executive... we'll see what happens now.

This seems like an easy issue to resolve, is Buena Park a below-average service center?

Mine is currently at the Costa Mesa SC to soften the ride...hopefully all will go well. Had some trouble with the parts (because they sent it under my X VIN) but it all seems good now.

 

[tsw4life]

Mine is currently at the Costa Mesa SC to soften the ride...hopefully all will go well. Had some trouble with the parts (because they sent it under my X VIN) but it all seems good now.

Is there some magical incantation required to get the service center to tap into this resolution? Anyone know the bulletin identifier they'd need to look up to get approval to do this?

 

[alloverx]

1) Ask if you can return it for a full refund.
2) Ask for a test drive of a newer M3 with the new parts so you can compare the ride.

 

[cab]

Here are photos I snapped of my 2017 Model 3.

View attachment 283289View attachment 283284View attachment 283285View attachment 283286

I took the car in because the power steering totally gave out (2nd trip into the service center in the first few weeks of ownership).

I escalated this to Tesla, and also said I've got really rough ride and I'd read that Tesla is doing something about it for December cars. He says he'll look into it. I told the same thing to the tech working on the car and he said he was having his foreman look into it. This is at Buena Park in CA.

After the car was there for over a week (waiting on some part for the steering fix), they say it's ready to go. I asked about the suspension issues, and the tech said he drove it and was operating normally. No mention of talking to Tesla engineering to see what they had to say.

I then emailed the executive back at Tesla to ask why I'm seeing all these December cars getting replacements and no one at Buena Park knows anything about this? He responds to tell me my car was built January 3, and the tech's answer was right.

I asked why my car was a 2017 Model 3 and not a 2018 if it was built Jan 3? Why does the door jamb have "12/17" stamped on it? Why does my window sticker show December 2017 as the build date?

Still waiting to hear back, so I went ahead and got photos of the currently installed parts. They're all one revision older than the new parts being put on David's car mentioned above. I also forwarded this info to the Tesla executive... we'll see what happens now.

This seems like an easy issue to resolve, is Buena Park a below-average service center?

Sounds like you have ALL the evidence lined up perfectly to justify the suspension swap - will be interesting to see what they come back with.

 

[Az_Rael]

All these accounts of mixed results at service centers make me hesitant to book an appointment. Nothing else is wrong right now, but I would like the newer suspension if they are doing it. I have poor luck with YMMV type situations.

Ah well, I guess I will book a slot and hope it isn't a waste of time.

 

[K-MTG]

Is there some magical incantation required to get the service center to tap into this resolution? Anyone know the bulletin identifier they'd need to look up to get approval to do this?

Contact HQ...they have more insight about this

 

[Zarwin]

I asked why my car was a 2017 Model 3 and not a 2018 if it was built Jan 3? Why does the door jamb have "12/17" stamped on it? Why does my window sticker show December 2017 as the build date?

Unrelated to suspension, just wanted to note that my car has Jan 2018 in the door plate but the "Production Date" in the system when looked up by Tesla at the service center was Feb 2, 2018. At least for my car, the door sticker manufacture month and the actual production date can be a few days different, putting them in different months.

Also unrelated, a friend ordered on the same day that I did, got his VIN on the same day, got the call from Tesla on the same day, was told his car completed production on the same day, was delivered on the same truck and day as mine. His VIN was over 1000 lower and his door plate said Feb 2018. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[ForeverFree]

All these accounts of mixed results at service centers make me hesitant to book an appointment. Nothing else is wrong right now, but I would like the newer suspension if they are doing it. I have poor luck with YMMV type situations.

Ah well, I guess I will book a slot and hope it isn't a waste of time.

Call Van Nuys to pre-discuss. They have been very supportive over the years and gave me zero pushback on this.

They should be extra supportive given all that you went through with your crash.

 

[tsw4life]

UPDATE: Tesla executive escalation responded to me indicating he's not sure why the system doesn't reflect the reality of my car, but they are going to proceed with the suspension swap. A few hours later, I received a call from the tech at Buena Park that has been working on the car, and it sounds like after the original work order was completed with "tech drove / everything's fine," they received additional info about how the swap is supposed to work, and they already ordered the parts.

I think I'll do a few test drives with one of those iOS apps that measures vibrations, just to see if I'm crazy or not when the new suspension is put in.

 

[fmcotton]

UPDATE: Tesla executive escalation responded to me indicating he's not sure why the system doesn't reflect the reality of my car, but they are going to proceed with the suspension swap. A few hours later, I received a call from the tech at Buena Park that has been working on the car, and it sounds like after the original work order was completed with "tech drove / everything's fine," they received additional info about how the swap is supposed to work, and they already ordered the parts.

I think I'll do a few test drives with one of those iOS apps that measures vibrations, just to see if I'm crazy or not when the new suspension is put in.

Glad to hear it is finally going to be fixed for you. Shame it took you having to climb under your car to take pictures and email them as proof.

 

[UnpluggedP]

We've recently tested spring rates of the Model 3's version 1 and version 2 factory springs (we own a 1xxx VIN car and 4xxx VIN car that have been used for these spring tests).

As part of our engineering we've paid for independent 3rd party professional testing to analyze the factory springs. We've been using this data for quite some time with our engineering of our dual rate springs which utilize two isolated independent linear spring rates.

The new Tesla spring however is a new data point. If you are curious about spring rate firmness on the Model 3 please feel free to have a look at the chart. The chart uses a sub 4000 VIN factory spring rate as a middle baseline. All others are percentage points up or down in spring rate lb/in.

 

[israndy]

So how do you compare to the newer springs I will be getting soon?

-Randy

 

[gilscales]

We've recently tested spring rates of the Model 3's version 1 and version 2 factory springs (we own a 1xxx VIN car and 4xxx VIN car that have been used for these spring tests).

As part of our engineering we've paid for independent 3rd party professional testing to analyze the factory springs. We've been using this data for quite some time with our engineering of our dual rate springs which utilize two isolated independent linear spring rates.

The new Tesla spring however is a new data point. If you are curious about spring rate firmness on the Model 3 please feel free to have a look at the chart. The chart uses a sub 4000 VIN factory spring rate as a middle baseline. All others are percentage points up or down in spring rate lb/in.

View attachment 283998

The chart is great but would you be willing to share the spring rates for those of us that like to crunch the numbers?

 

[asus389]

It took BMW nearly a decade to get their suspensions tuned correctly once they started switching to runflat tires. And at the time they were considered some of the most balanced cars out there. I’m not surprised Tesla with a new platform is having issues balancing ride quality with handling. Also people are coming to this car from both ends of the spectrum. If you are coming from sports cars you probably expect some harshness in exchange for handling. If you are coming to it from a Camry or Accord it will be different. The should probably offer a “regular” and a “sport package”. That way you know what you are getting.