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Plaid Suspension Accelerometer Test Readings in Comfort and Sport Modes

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Physically, I can tell no difference between Comfort and Sport Suspension modes. The GUI displays changes to the suspension when selecting various different modes. I can feel no difference. Two Tesla Service Techs rode with me and said they felt very subtle changes. I don't feel a thing, and the ride is harsh as hell in full Comfort mode. One forum member found that, on his Plaid, the solenoids on each suspension dampener were not being energized, though the GUI would still show a change in settings. So the MCU is commanding a different suspension setting when selected, the screen shows it in the line graph, but his car isn't actually changing a thing mechanically.

I wondered if my car had the same issue. I used an accelerometer and took several readings driving over a speedbump at 10 MPH. I compared going over in full Comfort Mode (Advanced/Ride Comfort=Soft/Handling=Comfort) and full Firm Mode (Advanced/Ride Comfort=Firm/Handling=Sport).

X-Axis is lateral motion
Y-Axis is forward motion (This is the most inaccurate to measure as I can't keep the car at an exact constant speed)
Z-Axis is vertical motion

Findings: Differences in acceleration measured in g's is almost non-existent around the X and Y axis, and the Z axis shows about .5 g more acceleration in the Softest mode. So now I am more perplexed. This wasn't a very scientific study....I placed my bare iPhone on the flat surface inside the center console in the same position for each run. It would appear something is changing to affect the up-and-down motion (Z-Axis), but that's it.

The datapoints for each Hard and Soft measurement are not coincidence. That is, they were sampled at different times on the plot, as I pressed START on the app not precisely the exact time before going over the speedbump. So reference 220 for Hard is not the same spot on the speedbump as reference 220 for Soft. You have to look at each chart holistically and see the overall change in acceleration difference between Hard and Soft.

I know most of you are far brighter than me, so feel free to chime in...

X.png


Y.png



Z.png
 
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Physically, I can tell no difference between Comfort and Sport Suspension modes. The GUI displays changes to the suspension when selecting various different modes. I can feel no difference. Two Tesla Service Techs rode with me and said they felt very subtle changes. I don't feel a thing, and the ride is harsh as hell in full Comfort mode. One forum member found that, on his Plaid, the solenoids on each suspension dampener were not being energized, though the GUI would still show a change in settings. So the MCU is commanding a different suspension setting when selected, the screen shows it in the line graph, but his car isn't actually changing a thing mechanically.

I wondered if my car had the same issue. I used an accelerometer and took several readings driving over a speedbump at 10 MPH. I compared going over in full Comfort Mode (Advanced/Ride Comfort=Soft/Handling=Comfort) and full Firm Mode (Advanced/Ride Comfort=Firm/Handling=Sport).

X-Axis is lateral motion
Y-Axis is forward motion (This is the most inaccurate to measure as I can't keep the car at an exact constant speed)
Z-Axis is vertical motion

Findings: Differences in acceleration measured in g's is almost non-existent around the X and Y axis, and the Z axis shows about .5 g more acceleration in the Softest mode. So now I am more perplexed. This wasn't a very scientific study....I placed my bare iPhone on the flat surface inside the center console in the same position for each run. It would appear something is changing to affect the up-and-down motion (Z-Axis), but that's it.

The datapoints for each Hard and Soft measurement are not coincidence. That is, they were sampled at different times on the plot, as I pressed START on the app not precisely the exact time before going over the speedbump. So reference 220 for Hard is not the same spot on the speedbump as reference 220 for Soft. You have to look at each chart holistically and see the overall change in acceleration difference between Hard and Soft.

I know most of you are far brighter than me, so feel free to chime in...

View attachment 790389

View attachment 790390


View attachment 790391
0.5 G in Z is significant. But you’d think it would be the opposite.
 
I'd guess your sampling rate isn't fast enough. So on the hard settings you're missing the peaks that are much higher in magnitude, but over a short duration so you end up missing them in your data.

Still it very clearly is different between the two modes so it is doing something.
 
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