Purpose of High and Very High Suspension

[luginewo]

So I read the manual and I still have no idea what the purpose of the default behavior of the high and very high suspension settings is. So you set it on high and then it goes back to medium after a short while? What’s the point of that? In what situation is that useful?

It also says that you can set a certain location where the vehicle will automatically go to the high setting. Again what’s the point? Let’s say you set your home as a saved location for the high setting. So you get home from work and the suspension goes from say medium to high. How does that help anything? I feel like I have to be missing something. Please help me understand!

 

[jmaddr]

Think of a steep driveway, where you couldn’t get over or up with without bottoming the lower front fascia in entering or high centering the car on cresting over. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the suspension automatically raise so you can clear these obstacles every time you get home?

 

[DerbyDave]

I've set the Very High according to GPS location for a place I park that has a high parking block that the front would scrape without this setting. Also, a restaurant I frequent has an entrance that has a steep approach where you can see all the car scrapes in the blacktop. I set it to very high, and it automatically adjusts when I go to this restaurant. The slider bar is for temporary adjustments. I think if you go into custom and set the suspension on high it remain there a long as you don't go over 40 MPH, for instance when going out on the farm to check the cattle and for crossing small creeks on the farm. I personally don't see any use for low or very low. You are asking for trouble with objects in the road hitting the battery. The car lowers at speed if you leave it in auto. Sometimes you may want to raise it if straddling an object in the road, because the Tesla will hit object other cars don't because it is so low at speed. A great feature.

 

[KalJoMoS]

First thing that comes to my mind is boarding a ferry which is exactly the situation what @jmaddr describes. Even though I have coil suspension on mine...

 

[Ostrichsak]

Personally, after owning coil suspension cars I won't go back. Not only is it nice to be able to raise for bumps or weird dips (Colorado has some pretty crazy drainage mitigation elements) but being able to raise the ride height when there's snow and ruts in the roads for a car this low is worth the price of admission. So, snow accumulation and ride height in the winter time is the primary reason for me. That couple of inches can make all the difference.

 

[luginewo]

Thanks everybody. It now makes complete sense.

 

[wornout]

I use high suspension A LOT. The Model is a pretty low car. It's super easy to scrape the front bumper. When I see a steep driveway, I usually angle and hit raise suspension.

 

[bananaheim]

If you or your passenger have weak knees, the high suspension helps when you step out of the vehicle.

 

[DerbyDave]

If you or your passenger have weak knees, the high suspension helps when you step out of the vehicle.

It would be nice if Tesla added that to the Easy Entry Profile options

 

[DayTrippin]

The lower the car to the tarmac, the better the aerodynamics typically. I am glad they have the option of higher modes for the reasons others have mentioned. I wish my Y had this option. There is a huge dip on a road that the only way I can avoid scraping the nose is to try and hit it at pretty significant angle.

 

[Ostrichsak]

The lower the car to the tarmac, the better the aerodynamics typically. I am glad they have the option of higher modes for the reasons others have mentioned. I wish my Y had this option. There is a huge dip on a road that the only way I can avoid scraping the nose is to try and hit it at pretty significant angle.

It's too bad that isn't at least an option on the Model Y. I think it would be the perfect transitional EV for our in-laws (largely due to ride height being easier to get in and out of) but they're in Nebraska and have similar winters to us. The ground clearance isn't quite enough but with the ability to raise a couple of inches it would likely be just fine. In their case they would likely leave it above the lowest setting to further aid in getting in/out.

 

[wornout]

The positive side of not having air suspension is it'll be way cheaper to service later, lol.

Generally, regular shocks last 10 years, 100K miles. Google says air suspension last 50K miles. *shrugs*

 

[airborne spoon]

The positive side of not having air suspension is it'll be way cheaper to service later, lol.

Generally, regular shocks last 10 years, 100K miles. Google says air suspension last 50K miles. *shrugs*

128k miles on factory air everything and haven't had an issue with any air parts yet **knock on wood

I have to drive over one of those poorly designed curbs where its steep on both sides and causes most cars to scrape even when going over it at an angle. So i raise the car to very high when I'm coming up on the area.

Also the car doesn't auto lower after x time it lowers based on speed. very high is good till 25mph but you cant put it in very height till you drop to 20mph, high is good till like 35 or so i never paid close enough attention to see when exactly it lowered back to standard height and it'll stay on standard at all speeds unless you set the car to lower to low after you hit X speed which I don't recommend as it causes excess inner tire wear unless you've installed something like the N2itive camber and toe arms. And even then you need to get the alignment done on either low or standard depending on what you want to drive at. I installed their lowering links as well so when I'm on standard its a bit below at the stock low height

 

[wornout]

128k miles on factory air everything and haven't had an issue with any air parts yet **knock on wood

I have to drive over one of those poorly designed curbs where its steep on both sides and causes most cars to scrape even when going over it at an angle. So i raise the car to very high when I'm coming up on the area.

Also the car doesn't auto lower after x time it lowers based on speed. very high is good till 25mph but you cant put it in very height till you drop to 20mph, high is good till like 35 or so i never paid close enough attention to see when exactly it lowered back to standard height and it'll stay on standard at all speeds unless you set the car to lower to low after you hit X speed which I don't recommend as it causes excess inner tire wear unless you've installed something like the N2itive camber and toe arms. And even then you need to get the alignment done on either low or standard depending on what you want to drive at. I installed their lowering links as well so when I'm on standard its a bit below at the stock low height

Excessive inner tire wear should be pretty minimal. It's not like we're driving long distances with it. It's usually me driving around a steep/bumpy parking lot. Once I exit the parking lot, I'm going 35MPH+.

It's my first time with air suspension so I guess we'll know in a few years or so if my inner tire wear is abnormal, lol.

 

[ninefiveone]

The positive side of not having air suspension is it'll be way cheaper to service later, lol.

Generally, regular shocks last 10 years, 100K miles. Google says air suspension last 50K miles. *shrugs*

Alas. Google is wrong on both counts.

Also, shocks are not springs, and vice versa.

 

[tm1v2]

Excessive inner tire wear should be pretty minimal. It's not like we're driving long distances with it. It's usually me driving around a steep/bumpy parking lot. Once I exit the parking lot, I'm going 35MPH+.

It's my first time with air suspension so I guess we'll know in a few years or so if my inner tire wear is abnormal, lol.

@airborne spoon was talking about auto-lowering for high speed efficiency. That feature absolutely does cause excessive inner tire wear, assuming your camber is setup for the Standard ride height. Don't use auto-lowering, it's not worthwhile at all, you'll be replacing tires all the time. Been there and done that with my S. I was still on the 21" wheels then too, that was another lesson learned the painful way.

Yes the minimal low-speed miles most of us use Very High and High for are not a problem for tire wear. Btw if they were, it would be to the outer tread, I think.

(I guess if you really really want auto-lowering you could aim for an alignment that balances wear at Standard and Low heights based on your usual mix of driving. That seems problematic to get right though, and might compromise handling at normal height, I really wouldn't suggest it.)