Took delivery of my 85D yesterday. One of the first things I noticed is the suspension seems really stiff. Before I ordered, I test drove a P90D with 21" and air, and I was surprised how smooth it felt. I went with the 19" and air hoping for an even smoother ride, but it feels much stiffer than the P90D I test drove. Does it take some time for the suspension components to mellow out?
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New 85D, air suspension on 19" seems stiff
- Thread starter jmsurpri
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
llavalle
Member
I can attest that my 85D, on air and on 19in is pretty stiff. I know that the tires on 21in equipped car are usually inflated to 45psi. On my 85D, the recommended pressure is 50psi. 5psi makes a huge difference...
SabrToothSqrl
Active Member
50 psi for 19s. 45 psi for 21s.
That said I run 45 in my 19's and it makes no difference. My P85D air on 19s is the stiffest MS I've ever driven. The P85D on 21s I test drove in last year in February was far more compliant as was the P85+ loaner I had.
I'm about to put factory 21's on today with the OEM Continental tires to see if it makes a difference because the service center told me the all season rubber was the real cause of it being harsher and stiffer and that if I'd gotten 21s with summer tires that it would be like what I experienced on the test drive. I think that's complete BS but I called their bluff and I'm about to find out.
Also my sway bars are larger in diameter than any P85D produced before March 2015 or after. They still have yet to tell me if the part actually changed in part number or measure an in stock replacement to see if it's the same as mine.
Drucifer
Active Member
I run 45 PSI on my 19s and 21s as well. 45 is plenty firm for efficiency, but leaves some room for sidewall flex and improved ride.
llavalle
Member
Yeah, my invoice said the same multiple time. Check the pressure, pretty sure they are at 50. This is an invoicing issue.
I remember back in April or so, Tesla changed the placards in some 85D's with 19" from 45 to 50PSI, confusing everyone. By May they had gone back to listing 45PSI - there were a few threads about this, but the short of it is that Tesla confirmed several times that the correct pressure for the 85D with 19's was 45PSI. The consensus opinion was that 45 or 50 were both OK, with the higher pressure recommended for fully loaded high speed driving and the lower pressure recommended for regular driving.
P85D 19 tire pressure recommendation is now 50psi - Page 5
P85D 19 tire pressure recommendation is now 50psi - Page 5
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chriSharek
Member
You took delivery yesterday and your only comment here was about the suspension being stiff!? No pictures, no excitement, no WOWs?
You took delivery yesterday and your only comment here was about the suspension being stiff!? No pictures, no excitement, no WOWs?
Haha pics and wows will follow soon! Too busy driving!! :smile:
Just took first good long drive with new 21s. It's just a little bit stiffer and harsher than the 19s were which is to say it's like riding a go cart without any suspension at all. I'd love it to be as soft and compliant as the P85+ loaner I had. That car had awesome street suspension. My P85D would be great if I tracking it....that is until it pulled back power after the first lap.
mobe
Member
Not sure I understand the question. The only setting that has the word comfort in it is the power steering assist setting and this would have no effect on suspension.
Just to clarify for anyone else wondering, there is nothing adjustable on the air suspension except for the inflation pressure. The higher the pressure, the higher the car rides and the faster the spring rate. The slowest spring rate i.e. the softest ride, occurs at the lowest ride height which has the lowest amount of pressure in the air springs.
The damping rate is fixed and not adjustable unlike every other sport sedan on the planet in this price category.
Last Saturday, I test drove a 90D with air suspension and 19" wheels and was also surprised by the stiff ride quality.
Compared to our Volt and E-Class, you definitely notice more road imperfections at low speeds. On the upside, body control is excellent and you feel much more connected to the road compared to those two cars. I just didn't expect that, as I assumed Model S had a bias towards comfort, particularly with air suspension and 19" wheels.
On another note, it was cool how in test drive mode you can select 70, 70D, 90, or 90D performance. I assumed 90D used smaller, less powerful rear motors than a 70, but apparently not.
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Compared to our Volt and E-Class, you definitely notice more road imperfections at low speeds. On the upside, body control is excellent and you feel much more connected to the road compared to those two cars. I just didn't expect that, as I assumed Model S had a bias towards comfort, particularly with air suspension and 19" wheels.
On another note, it was cool how in test drive mode you can select 70, 70D, 90, or 90D performance. I assumed 90D used smaller, less powerful rear motors than a 70, but apparently not.
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Perhaps the stiffness I experienced was attributable to how high the suspension was set. The person at the store set it to "high" on a few instances. But it lowers to "normal" ride height at speed?
llavalle
Member
The non-P Dual motor all have the new, small unit. The RWD 70 and 90(not sure if this is still available) use the older, bigger motor. What you tried is a simulation of the power of the car.
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