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Vendor MPP Model 3 Build Thread
- Thread starter MountainPass
- Start date
We're coming down to California for a few days next week and we're going to host a meetup on Thursday the 30th in Palo Alto!
For those of you that have been following what we're doing we'd love to meet with you and hear your thoughts about how we're doing, how we can improve and what products you'd like to see!
We had a great time at our last meetup at Alice's, so I'm really looking forward to this one. We're only in town for three days but we'll be damned if we don't make time to meet up with you guys!
Here's the link to the thread with the event details: Vendor - NorCal - MPP Is Back In Cali! Thursday Aug 30 @ 8pm
For those of you that have been following what we're doing we'd love to meet with you and hear your thoughts about how we're doing, how we can improve and what products you'd like to see!
We had a great time at our last meetup at Alice's, so I'm really looking forward to this one. We're only in town for three days but we'll be damned if we don't make time to meet up with you guys!
Here's the link to the thread with the event details: Vendor - NorCal - MPP Is Back In Cali! Thursday Aug 30 @ 8pm
I've been meaning to update this thread for a while - can't believe it's already been a month since the last post!
Our meetup in California was really great, It was awesome to meet with everyone that came out, and take people for rides in a Model 3 equipped with our sports suspension.
In the last month we went to a couple of cool events, The Battery Show in Novi, MI, and the Kitchener, ON chapter of the Drive Electric week gathering.
The Battery Show was really incredible. It opened our eyes even more (not sure they can open any wider?) to how much we have to learn about this industry and how little we know. So many ideas. Hopefully, we can make some compelling products out of some of these ideas so that we can play with very cool power electronics
In other news, we got to take the Model 3 on a ferry on the drive down across the Detroit River. That was fun!
It was also really nice to be part of the Kitchener Drive Electric meet. It's always fun to explain to pedestrians the benefits of electric cars. They are so skeptical it makes me laugh. I guess change is hard. We also had Blue Lightning on display, but I don't think anyone knew what it was!
On the development side, we've tested our stainless braided brake lines and they really make a nice difference to the pedal feel. It's solid and very "Porsche-esque" for lack of a better comparison. I don't like brakes that are overly grabby, but brakes that have very little sponge that translate linear pedal motion to deceleration. The lines seem to make a noticeable improvement to that goal. So we're quite happy about that!
We also finally have our sports suspension kits shipping. They are certainly worth the wait, but we are very sorry for telling people a delivery date we weren't able to meet. We really didn't want to be those guys!
We've been spending more time on the VSC/Traction control defeat device, but it's still a bit of a challenge. We're trying to integrate it very nicely into the car and that takes some work. If anyone can't stand to wait and wants to buy a Motec M150 and a custom wiring harness I'd be happy to do that for you, but it's about 10x the cost! Haha.
Next up is a tire efficiency comparison test. Our goal is to do that this week if the weather cooperates, we will do the 18's at a few different tire pressures and with and without the aero caps, and then our RE71s with the Advans at a few different tire pressures - all at various speeds and plot it out.
If anyone has some 19" wheels we can borrow in the Toronto area tomorrow for this test we could get some data on those as well!
Our meetup in California was really great, It was awesome to meet with everyone that came out, and take people for rides in a Model 3 equipped with our sports suspension.
In the last month we went to a couple of cool events, The Battery Show in Novi, MI, and the Kitchener, ON chapter of the Drive Electric week gathering.
The Battery Show was really incredible. It opened our eyes even more (not sure they can open any wider?) to how much we have to learn about this industry and how little we know. So many ideas. Hopefully, we can make some compelling products out of some of these ideas so that we can play with very cool power electronics
In other news, we got to take the Model 3 on a ferry on the drive down across the Detroit River. That was fun!
It was also really nice to be part of the Kitchener Drive Electric meet. It's always fun to explain to pedestrians the benefits of electric cars. They are so skeptical it makes me laugh. I guess change is hard. We also had Blue Lightning on display, but I don't think anyone knew what it was!
On the development side, we've tested our stainless braided brake lines and they really make a nice difference to the pedal feel. It's solid and very "Porsche-esque" for lack of a better comparison. I don't like brakes that are overly grabby, but brakes that have very little sponge that translate linear pedal motion to deceleration. The lines seem to make a noticeable improvement to that goal. So we're quite happy about that!
We also finally have our sports suspension kits shipping. They are certainly worth the wait, but we are very sorry for telling people a delivery date we weren't able to meet. We really didn't want to be those guys!
We've been spending more time on the VSC/Traction control defeat device, but it's still a bit of a challenge. We're trying to integrate it very nicely into the car and that takes some work. If anyone can't stand to wait and wants to buy a Motec M150 and a custom wiring harness I'd be happy to do that for you, but it's about 10x the cost! Haha.
Next up is a tire efficiency comparison test. Our goal is to do that this week if the weather cooperates, we will do the 18's at a few different tire pressures and with and without the aero caps, and then our RE71s with the Advans at a few different tire pressures - all at various speeds and plot it out.
If anyone has some 19" wheels we can borrow in the Toronto area tomorrow for this test we could get some data on those as well!
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I received my coilovers and arms last friday and they are going in the car today. Picking up car tomorrow. Will update afterwardsI've been meaning to update this thread for a while - can't believe it's already been a month since the last post!
Our meetup in California was really great, It was awesome to meet with everyone that came out, and take people for rides in a Model 3 equipped with our sports suspension.
In the last month we went to a couple of cool events, The Battery Show in Novi, MI, and the Kitchener, ON chapter of the Drive Electric week gathering.
The Battery Show was really incredible. It opened our eyes even more (not sure they can open any wider?) to how much we have to learn about this industry and how little we know. So many ideas. Hopefully, we can make some compelling products out of some of these ideas so that we can play with very cool power electronics
In other news, we got to take the Model 3 on a fairy on the drive down across the Detroit River. That was fun!
It was also really nice to be part of the Kitchener Drive Electric meet. It's always fun to explain to pedestrians the benefits of electric cars. They are so skeptical it makes me laugh. I guess change is hard. We also had Blue Lightning on display, but I don't think anyone knew what it was!
On the development side, we've tested our stainless braided brake lines and they really make a nice difference to the pedal feel. It's solid and very "Porsche-esque" for lack of a better comparison. I don't like brakes that are overly grabby, but brakes that have very little sponge that translate linear pedal motion to deceleration. The lines seem to make a noticeable improvement to that goal. So we're quite happy about that!
View attachment 338156
View attachment 338157
We also finally have our sports suspension kits shipping. They are certainly worth the wait, but we are very sorry for telling people a delivery date we weren't able to meet. We really didn't want to be those guys!
View attachment 338158
We've been spending more time on the VSC/Traction control defeat device, but it's still a bit of a challenge. We're trying to integrate it very nicely into the car and that takes some work. If anyone can't stand to wait and wants to buy a Motec M150 and a custom wiring harness I'd be happy to do that for you, but it's about 10x the cost! Haha.
Next up is a tire efficiency comparison test. Our goal is to do that this week if the weather cooperates, we will do the 18's at a few different tire pressures and with and without the aero caps, and then our RE71s with the Advans at a few different tire pressures - all at various speeds and plot it out.
If anyone has some 19" wheels we can borrow in the Toronto area tomorrow for this test we could get some data on those as well!
Ooh exciting... I guess mine is still getting packaged? Should I be expecting a tracking number?
Tired of my Model3 looking like a ModelX on its highest suspension setting.
KW is underway with production, we had to design a fork for the front damper for compatibility with the front axles. We are expecting them to be ready in a few months.
Blu Angel
Member
@MountainPass,
Sasha, does this also mean the comfort coilovers will also be shipping?
Want to coordinate installation with Touge Tuning and winter tire changeover
Just got my car back. Will post more as I get more time to drive it.
Couple notes on installation. My shop, who is very competent, said it took about 4 hours on coilovers, 2 hours for the toe and camber arms, and almost 3 hours for alignment to get it in a good place. I had them put everything to recommended settings from Mountain Pass.
Quick notes on the changes to my car thus far:
1) OEM springs + 19in OEM continental tires (rough ride and jarring over any potholes/bumps)
2) Unplugged springs (moderate) + 19 in OEM continental tires (still rough ride, but handled great given lower center of gravity). Had some scrapping issues since rear was too low (Unplugged sent me the incorrect springs which lowered the ride by 2 in in the rear).
3) Unplugged springs (moderate) + 20 in OEM Michelin tires (ride was smoother (the tires made a big diff), handled great, but when presented with larger bump/pothole, it would hit the bump stops and it would be jarring still)
4) MP coilovers+ 20 in OEM michelin tires (see below)
The ride:
Definitely a better--wanted the coilovers to handle city streets. There has been a ton of street work done around my neighborhood to re do some pipelines, so the roads are all messed up. With the springs the ride manageable, but whenever a seemingly larger than normal pothole or bump was coming, I was cringing. With the coilovers, the drive just felt planted--not soft, but planted. Any hard bumps were handled beautifully. So it accomplished my main mission.
The handling:
Will be commuting to work tomorrow, so will know more how it handles. But within the few miles I drove it today, it felt more planted than it ever did.
Will have a more complete review as the week progresses.
Just got my coilovers delivered to my office and promptly installed them....
Into the trunk of my car... probably lowered the rear end 1/20th of an inch haha.
I’ve got my camber arms, just waiting for the toe arms. Then either I’ll install them if I have a weekend off or I’ll have one if my local trusted tuner shops install them so I can get them on even sooner.
Into the trunk of my car... probably lowered the rear end 1/20th of an inch haha.
I’ve got my camber arms, just waiting for the toe arms. Then either I’ll install them if I have a weekend off or I’ll have one if my local trusted tuner shops install them so I can get them on even sooner.
I've had a few people reach out and ask a bunch of questions, so instead of answering one by one, I figured I would give a full run down of my M3 experience thus far. Some info will seem extraneous, but may be relevant for those that have asked many other questions offline:
January 2018: I picked up my MSM with 19" wheels/continental tires. From the very beginning I felt that the ride was pretty rough. I live near Berkeley CA where the winter rains uncovered a lot of potholes. I confirmed though, that my production was not the early production springs, so mine was the second generation springs. I liked the car, but felt that too many times the potholes could be jarring.
March 2018: My wife picked up her White with 18" wheels. The ride was much smoother. Still had jarring effects every so often from deeper potholes. I attributed the smoother ride to larger sidewalls compared to the 19" tires.
June 2018: I installed the UP moderate springs. The handling was great and at first, I felt the ride was comparable to stock. But when I hit the potholes or bumps. The jarring I felt was worse given the limited travel combined with the car was lowered by 1.5" in the front /2.0" in the rear. This was unintentional since UP sent me the incorrect rear springs. The lowered rear caused for some bottoming out. So now, I not only had to worry about potholes, but scraping or bottoming out. To UP's credit, they did send me a replacement springs.
September 2018: I swapped out my 19" wheels/continentals with 20" OEM Michelin performance rims/tires (from another Performance M3 owner). There was an immediate improvement to the ride. The smaller potholes were definitely smoother and the handling was great with the stickier tires. My efficiency did take a 10wh/mi hit, but I was willing to live with that given the ride and better handling. However this did not change the bottoming out or jarring impact (it did lessen it).
September 2018: I removed my UP moderate springs and installed the MPP sport coilovers. All of the modification work was done through GriffinWerke in Berkeley. This installed the MPP to the recommended specs on the rebound/compression. For lowering, I kept everything at 1.5" lowered than stock. The leveled out the front and rear (note: even in stock, the rear is about 0.5" lower than front).
Ride impressions: Absolutely awesome. I love that I can ride around town without worrying as much about the potholes. I do hit them, but they are definitely not jarring. There is a lot more travel, so I am not hitting the bump stops. So it feels great.
Handling: The handling has been great. That feeling is a marginal improvement since the M3 handling was great to begin with plus my car already was on lowered springs, so the car rolled less. Having said the above, I will say I took a corner pretty hard this weekend and there was no extra roll--it just felt like it was on rails. I attribute that to the coilovers and the tires. Definitely handles better than my wife's stock 18" M3. I have not done any spirited driving yet. Also, the the arms definitely gives a more connected feel to the car.
All in all, this was the setup I was hoping for when I initially purchased the car. I previously owned BMW M3/5 and I currently own a MX so I had high expectations in terms the ride for the Model 3. I am REALLY happy I pulled the trigger on the coilovers. Although, I will unlikely ever make too many adjustments to the coilovers or will take it to the track (this is my main commute car), it has given me the ride and optionality I wanted in a car that I spend so much time in.
Hopefully I answered many of the questions that have been posted to me. I am also including a picture of the car.
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