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Model Y ride comfort?
- Thread starter DarrenHD
- Start date
My Y's ride is much harsher than my wife's X3. I've ordered the Mountain Pass Performance Comfort coilovers. I hope to get them soon.
MPP Model Y Comfort Adjustable Coilovers | Mountain Pass Performance
MPP Model Y Comfort Adjustable Coilovers | Mountain Pass Performance
TL;DR: First Tesla. Favorite Car. Great Ride
First post. I’ve been watching the forums awhile but I just took delivery in the 11th so I wanted to share my experience.
I wouldn’t consider myself a car enthusiast, I generally just like what I like. I traded in a 2019 Lexus NX300 for VIN: 793xx MY LR, 19s, Tow, FSD, black on black.
From reading everyone’s posts... I was afraid that I would have huge panel gaps, seats that rattle, cabin noise that would be very loud, a super harsh ride compared to my Lexus or any vehicle, and I even worried about getting a continental tire and its tire thread for awhile.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Upon first drive, it was very quiet with a light electric hum. It’s almost relaxing.
I live in New Jersey and we have potholes galore. I hit some on purpose and it wasn’t any worse than my Lexus. I was driving down the NJ Turnpike or RT 78, no music on and it was very nice. I asked all my immediate family members did they notice a difference in ride or degradation of noise on the highway and we all felt it as an improvement.
Then I remembered, we are the outliers. We are on a forum talking about our cars. Most people drive gas powered cars.
We nitpick because we want the best and will do what we need to make our experience the best it can be and we help our community to have a great experience as well.
My advice: do it. Get it if you can. It’s an amazing vehicle, if you appreciate tech at all, you will love it, and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. I think Tesla heard a lot of MY complaints when they first were released and fixed them. Now they are churning them out. They have a number to hit by the end of the year but they are pushing out better quality with the quantity.
First post. I’ve been watching the forums awhile but I just took delivery in the 11th so I wanted to share my experience.
I wouldn’t consider myself a car enthusiast, I generally just like what I like. I traded in a 2019 Lexus NX300 for VIN: 793xx MY LR, 19s, Tow, FSD, black on black.
From reading everyone’s posts... I was afraid that I would have huge panel gaps, seats that rattle, cabin noise that would be very loud, a super harsh ride compared to my Lexus or any vehicle, and I even worried about getting a continental tire and its tire thread for awhile.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Upon first drive, it was very quiet with a light electric hum. It’s almost relaxing.
I live in New Jersey and we have potholes galore. I hit some on purpose and it wasn’t any worse than my Lexus. I was driving down the NJ Turnpike or RT 78, no music on and it was very nice. I asked all my immediate family members did they notice a difference in ride or degradation of noise on the highway and we all felt it as an improvement.
Then I remembered, we are the outliers. We are on a forum talking about our cars. Most people drive gas powered cars.
We nitpick because we want the best and will do what we need to make our experience the best it can be and we help our community to have a great experience as well.
My advice: do it. Get it if you can. It’s an amazing vehicle, if you appreciate tech at all, you will love it, and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. I think Tesla heard a lot of MY complaints when they first were released and fixed them. Now they are churning them out. They have a number to hit by the end of the year but they are pushing out better quality with the quantity.
I think the model Y(19" gemini wheels )rides very well and not harsh at all. Obviously it is not a true SUV if that's what you are looking for but it rides very well for a type of car it is. I did have a BMW 335ix N55 with coilovers and currently also have a model 3 stealth alongside the Y. 3 def rides a little more like a sportier car compared to the Y. The Y is def more comfortable and we had no problem when we did a road trip to Maine from NJ back in Sept.
Yeah, Mini's ride quality is punishing in comparison. I had a F55 JCW for a short while and with the run-flat tires hitting a pothole felt like you just got into an accident.
Test drove Model Y 19" Gemini; car rocked a lot comparing to Benz GLA 350
most definitely. MY is a stiff ride, no doubt. I test drove pretty much every car in this class (Size and price equivalent, not EV). X3, XC60, GLC, Q5, even RDX. MY has the most harsh ride among them all but it is also the best handling and driving dynamics. It doesn’t even feel like a SUV... I guess this is the price you pay for having sports dynamics.
Just updating, picked up my 2021 model y performance today and traded in my 2020 MYP. Initial ride home, my wife and I both agreed the ride definitely felt a little smoother than the 2020. Will update once I get to drive a little more.
curious..why the trade in? Is there that much difference between 2020 and 2021 performance model Y's? And did you get a good trade in price from Tesla on the 2020?
Yeah this is what I suspect. I recently drove a MY w 20” induction wheels thru a bad part of the city w lots of pot holes and didn’t think it was bad at all. A lot of folks who complained about the ride may have had the car for 6 months or longer.
+1 - would love to know the rationale behind your decision, and what your trade-in offer.
My last car before the MY was an RX350. The Lexus is a much softer ride but the handling suffers as a result. The MY is stiffer but not uncomfortable. Handling is way better than the Lexus. I have the 19" wheels. I have no regrets, the MY is the best car I've ever owned. I really cannot understand spending thousands on suspension upgrades. Not necessary in my view.
I am about to put a lot of money into the car with ppf, ceramic coating, tint, and UPP luxury coilovers. My 2020 was white with mismatched bumpers colors and it drove me crazy. If I was going to put that much money in I wanted the car to be near perfect. Trade in was 56k after I put 4k miles on it. I had California CVAP 5k approved for 2021 car so the loss wasn’t so bad.
The double laminated glass makes a difference with road noise. 2021 isn’t as harsh on little bumps on the road. My head doesn’t feel like it’s bouncing up and down a lot. 2021 model definitely should’ve been how the model y was released.
Snow Drift
[Off-Road Assist] Activated
I recently took delivery of a new 2021 MY LR DM w/19' Geminis. My previous vehicle was/is a 2016 MS w/air suspension, before that I had a 2017 Porsche Macan (base model, standard suspension). The Macan is certainly the best amongst the three as far as steering/suspension goes - mine also had 18" base model wheels with fairly tall sidewalls. The MS w/air suspension is the smoothest of the three, but the steering feels very loose, vague on-center, and has a tendency towards understeer. The lack of tight on-center feel tended to result in making many micro-adjustments during highway driving, and the Autopilot system itself seemed to struggle with the failure to hold directly to the center of the lane (lots of small taps right and left). I test drove a Model 3 several times, which I liked much more as far as driving dynamics go, but ultimately knew I needed the space of the Model Y (2 kids, dog, sometimes carry large things) and the entry/exit positions were better.
So, after ~500ish miles in my 2021 MY, here are my thoughts:
1. Steering: Worlds better than the Model S, closer but not quite as accurate as the Macan. Very strong on-center feel, very strong return-to-center (I believe this has to do with the factory alignment specs more than anything else), very fast ratio (almost too fast). The settings menu produces little difference in weight (I honestly can't tell if I'm in comfort, standard, or sport) - much different from the Model S where the difference was significant. In this aspect, it's very close to the Model 3, just a bit less accurate. I have noticed a *slight* understeer tendency, but I think that may iron itself out after a few hundred more miles on the tires/bushings.
2. Suspension: The vehicle needs two things; smaller wheels with taller sidewalls, and probably different spring rates. The first is very, very obvious. Another inch of sidewall all around would make a world of difference to take the edge off the common forms of harsh pavement - that's what the Macan has in the 18-inch wheel guise. Right now, even though the suspension tries to filter out some of the harshness of worse roads, it's not getting any help from the tire aspect of things. I suspect that a softer compound tire would also make a lot of difference - I actually think the 21" Uberturbines get away with a better ride because they are equipped with softer tires out of the gate. The second is less obvious, but it seems like the factory springs just aren't *quite* up to the task. I suspect that in order to achieve the higher ride height, but maintain the sporty nature of the vehicle, the spring rates are very...stiff...? I don't know the technical term for it, but I can tell the damper is trying (and doing a relatively decent job) but it seems to be fighting what's getting transmitted directly to the vehicle (particularly in the rear) by the springs.
IMHO, the first step to smooth out the ride, without sacrificing sportiness/driveability (but perhaps some range) is to go to an 18 inch wheel, with a 255/55/18 size, softer compound tire. Ideally, you would also cut some unsprung weight on the corners by getting a much lighter wheel (such as the Martian Wheels forged wheels). The second step would be to move to something like UPP mild/moderate springs. The final step would be coilovers.
Once I have the vehicle firmly broken in, I think I'm going to start with Step 1. If I'm happy then, I'll stop. If not, I'll keep going!
So, after ~500ish miles in my 2021 MY, here are my thoughts:
1. Steering: Worlds better than the Model S, closer but not quite as accurate as the Macan. Very strong on-center feel, very strong return-to-center (I believe this has to do with the factory alignment specs more than anything else), very fast ratio (almost too fast). The settings menu produces little difference in weight (I honestly can't tell if I'm in comfort, standard, or sport) - much different from the Model S where the difference was significant. In this aspect, it's very close to the Model 3, just a bit less accurate. I have noticed a *slight* understeer tendency, but I think that may iron itself out after a few hundred more miles on the tires/bushings.
2. Suspension: The vehicle needs two things; smaller wheels with taller sidewalls, and probably different spring rates. The first is very, very obvious. Another inch of sidewall all around would make a world of difference to take the edge off the common forms of harsh pavement - that's what the Macan has in the 18-inch wheel guise. Right now, even though the suspension tries to filter out some of the harshness of worse roads, it's not getting any help from the tire aspect of things. I suspect that a softer compound tire would also make a lot of difference - I actually think the 21" Uberturbines get away with a better ride because they are equipped with softer tires out of the gate. The second is less obvious, but it seems like the factory springs just aren't *quite* up to the task. I suspect that in order to achieve the higher ride height, but maintain the sporty nature of the vehicle, the spring rates are very...stiff...? I don't know the technical term for it, but I can tell the damper is trying (and doing a relatively decent job) but it seems to be fighting what's getting transmitted directly to the vehicle (particularly in the rear) by the springs.
IMHO, the first step to smooth out the ride, without sacrificing sportiness/driveability (but perhaps some range) is to go to an 18 inch wheel, with a 255/55/18 size, softer compound tire. Ideally, you would also cut some unsprung weight on the corners by getting a much lighter wheel (such as the Martian Wheels forged wheels). The second step would be to move to something like UPP mild/moderate springs. The final step would be coilovers.
Once I have the vehicle firmly broken in, I think I'm going to start with Step 1. If I'm happy then, I'll stop. If not, I'll keep going!
Jpeterferrell: Great analysis. I'll be watching closely, as you're doing exactly what I'd like to do. If I can get a buyer for my 19" ProContact 255/45R19 tires, I'd sell them in a heartbeat and get the pricey Bridgestone Quiettrack.
Keep us posted as you move forward. Hope it doesn't need to get too expensive!
Keep us posted as you move forward. Hope it doesn't need to get too expensive!
I have 20 inch induction wheels and have been thinking of the same scenario. Which tires are you thinking about? I
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