Saw a Performance Dual Motor Model 3 today at the track!

[PhantomX]

I autocross so I consider that real performance I would say that the for Model 3 the BMW 3 series is the benchmark. Therefore the performance version should be compared to the M3 or maybe the M-performance package depending on price. Competing with ICE vehicles for 100mph+ performance is probably not worth the compromises.
Olle is right that the Model 3 has a more sophisticated suspension than the 3 series, front multilink vs. strut. The bones are good it's just a matter of proper tuning. And of course beefing up the tires, brakes, and cooling.

Is multi link better though? I would think it is based on the geometry of the arms and how it is setup to change camber, toe angles, caster angles, and etc.

I do agree if Tesla throws enough resource at it, they can probably do it. But I think it'll be difficult for them to get it right the first time though, since suspension tuning is a bit of black art and it'll be hard to do it without racing experience. I do hope they can tackle the damping right now though, because I always felt our Model X and the loaner S I have driven to be under damped on rebound, especially when the suspension is loaded in a corner with bumpy surface.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Is multi link better though? I would think it is based on the geometry of the arms and how it is setup to change camber, toe angles, caster angles, and etc.

Multilink suspension allows you to tune all those parameters more independently. It's also more expensive, heavier, and less compact. The 3 series is the only high end car I know of that uses strut suspension through I guess it now uses a variation with two lower arms.
I'm curious about what happened with the first revision of the Model 3 suspension. From peoples descriptions it sounds like it was horribly mistuned. They only changed the shock absorbers to fix it, right?

 

[MP3Mike]

They only changed the shock absorbers to fix it, right?

No, they changed the springs as well.

 

[PhantomX]

Multilink suspension allows you to tune all those parameters more independently. It's also more expensive, heavier, and less compact. The 3 series is the only high end car I know of that uses strut suspension through I guess it now uses a variation with two lower arms.
I'm curious about what happened with the first revision of the Model 3 suspension. From peoples descriptions it sounds like it was horribly mistuned. They only changed the shock absorbers to fix it, right?

Good point on tunability of a multilink suspension. However, more variables can also result in design and analysis missteps that a simpler solution may not encounter, as I have experienced running optimizations with large set of independent variables. It turns out that BMW's strut setup is more complicated than it seems, as explained by the link below.

Close Look at F30 328i Suspension by Insideline!

Not sure what they did to correct the Model 3 suspension issues, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's just shock or shock plus spring, since the complaints appear to be center around ride quality rather than handling characteristics.

 

[PhantomX]

No, they changed the springs as well.

Thanks, I took too long to reply and didn't see this

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I am curious whether the 3 uses regular struts/shocks or if they use something fancier like Koni's Frequency Selective Dampening struts/shocks. When my OEM suspension started to go out on my 2008 Mazda 3, I replaced them with Koni FSD struts/shocks and really love the result, but my wife doesn't like it as much - I could easily see something like this not being tuned to the preference of many drivers. The FSD struts/shocks basically have a variable damping rate depending on the frequency of the vibration so that it smooths over normal driving but firms up nicely in the corners. A side effect is that bigger thumps in the roadway feel stiffer too... which is the part the wife doesn't enjoy.

 

[Mgallo]

Just found this thread. Where is everybody three months later now that the P is announced?

 

[mongo]

Just found this thread. Where is everybody three months later now that the P is announced?

Debating the performance option pack and brakes in other threads...