Show of hands… Adaptive Suspension

[SteveSchweer]

How many new Model S owners out there can actually FEEL the difference between “Sport” and “Comfort “? I know I can’t.… even though Tesla Service says it is functioning normally. No matter what I do with the suspension controls, my ride is the same… punishingly harsh. Yet, from these forums and YouTube, I see that many of you think the suspension is great. As this is probably one of the most sophisticated suspensions ever put in a car, I have trouble believing that mine is “functioning normally “. I think the key objective question here is “can you actually FEEL a difference in ride quality when you change suspension modes?” (By ”feel” I mean you KNOW it changed, if you just THINK it changed then it didn’t). It would really help me and, I know, a number of others out there to find out if our suspensions are screwed up or if that’s just the way they are. Thanks for any input you can provide.

 

[calleserra]

How many new Model S owners out there can actually FEEL the difference between “Sport” and “Comfort “? I know I can’t.… even though Tesla Service says it is functioning normally. No matter what I do with the suspension controls, my ride is the same… punishingly harsh. Yet, from these forums and YouTube, I see that many of you think the suspension is great. As this is probably one of the most sophisticated suspensions ever put in a car, I have trouble believing that mine is “functioning normally “. I think the key objective question here is “can you actually FEEL a difference in ride quality when you change suspension modes?” (By ”feel” I mean you KNOW it changed, if you just THINK it changed then it didn’t). It would really help me and, I know, a number of others out there to find out if our suspensions are screwed up or if that’s just the way they are. Thanks for any input you can provide.

Black and white difference for me. I have a ‘21 Plaid with stock Pirelli 19s. I can’t stand the bouncing and floatiness of the Comfort setting when driving 70mph on the not-so-perfect 5 fwy in OC. Switching to Sport firms the ride up like a whole new world. Not stiff, just taut and compliant. I can go back and forth between the two modes and the difference is plain obvious. I’m a comfort kind of guy and had the Plaid setup to Comfort from day 1 and loved it — especially when driving on bumpy repaired asphalted side streets at 40mph. I kept it at Comfort all these time thinking that it’s giving the best comfort setting on all speeds.

With the Plaid on 19s and set at Comfort at 70mph, with its uncomfortable bounciness and all, it is still offering more comfort and smoothness as compared to my P85D with 21s and Perfornace plus air suspension. I still drive the P85D which makes the comparison pretty accurate. I like the Plaid at Comfort setting when driving under 50mph and in Sport mode at freeway speeds. So I have it set permanently in Auto now. Although Auto is preferred by a big margin over Comfort, I can still sense a difference between Comfort and Auto driving at 70mph. I get my best sense of “comfort’ at 70mph when set to Sport mode, giving that setting a slight edge over Auto. But I just leave it on Auto because I don’t want to bother switching the suspension setting every time I drive (even though the left steering thumbwheel can do it quickly).

Just curious, are you on 21-inch tires? Wondering if 21s could present less delta than 19s.

Btw, I’ve also observed that while I have the Plaid set to Medium ride height, it would automatically go to Low setting at 55-60 + mph. Is it doing that in your car?

Interestingly, the P85D (no adaptive system) has a speed setting that you can change the speed setting the air suspension would switch to Low but can’t find that option in the Plaid.

 

[mcirish]

Adaptive Suspension Dampinglink​

Each air spring contains a fixed primary oil flow path that is internal to the damper. In addition, the dampers have a secondary, external oil flow path, which can be controlled in real time by electric solenoids. Rebound damping (wheel moving down from vehicle body) and compression damping (wheel moving up toward vehicle body) are controlled independently. As damping only resists motion – it cannot create force without motion. Adjusting damping does not move the vehicle up or down, it just affects how much resistive force the damper applies as the wheels move up and down relative to the body.

Cross section of adaptive damper and solenoids

Note
The valve shown here has slightly different construction from ours, namely with respect to the spring and solenoid plunger.
The adaptive air suspension system can be set to 4 different settings:

• COMFORT: provides a gentler ride for a relaxed driving experience
• AUTO: adjusts to a wide range of roads and driving styles, providing a fluid yet well controlled ride.
• SPORT: provides a firmer, more controlled ride that increases driver engagement and connection to the road.
• ADVANCED: Fine tune the suspension by dragging individual sliders to adjust Ride Comfort and Handling.

Note
Air suspension checks air spring pressure to estimate vehicle mass and adjust damping control accordingly.

Solenoid Valve Controllink​

Each solenoid valve is pulse width modulation (PWM) controlled. By controlling the PWM voltage, the current through the solenoids is controlled. Current through the solenoid is inversely proportional to the oil flow through the solenoid. The higher the PWM voltage, the smaller the oil flow. This means that 100% PWM signal corresponds to a completely closed solenoid and therefore to a very stiff damping behavior. Also 0% PWM signal corresponds to a completely open solenoid and therefore to a very soft damping behavior.

Note
This means that when a solenoid valve connector is loose, or the wiring is compromised the damping behavior will be very soft, but even in this condition the vehicle is safe to drive and is completely controllable.

Continuous Controllink​

Continuous control refers to “full state” damping. When continuous control is active, the system is functioning normally. Continuous control relies on multiple inputs to be fully functional (for example, height sensors, required CAN signal inputs, etc.).

End Stop Protectionlink​

Tesla Air Suspension ECU uses ride height sensors to learn the distance to end of travel as the vehicle drives and encounters bumps and dips. Learned end stops are reset when Ride height calibration is performed. As the damper approaches the end of travel, damper current is increased to make the damper stiffer and to soften the impact of bottoming or topping out.

Thanks, that was very informative and aligns with my understanding. It sounds like many of us could benefit by having a Ride Height Calibration performed. Now how do I convince Tesla to do this under warranty???

 

[mcirish]

Adaptive Suspension Dampinglink​

Each air spring contains a fixed primary oil flow path that is internal to the damper. In addition, the dampers have a secondary, external oil flow path, which can be controlled in real time by electric solenoids. Rebound damping (wheel moving down from vehicle body) and compression damping (wheel moving up toward vehicle body) are controlled independently. As damping only resists motion – it cannot create force without motion. Adjusting damping does not move the vehicle up or down, it just affects how much resistive force the damper applies as the wheels move up and down relative to the body.

Cross section of adaptive damper and solenoids

Note
The valve shown here has slightly different construction from ours, namely with respect to the spring and solenoid plunger.
The adaptive air suspension system can be set to 4 different settings:

• COMFORT: provides a gentler ride for a relaxed driving experience
• AUTO: adjusts to a wide range of roads and driving styles, providing a fluid yet well controlled ride.
• SPORT: provides a firmer, more controlled ride that increases driver engagement and connection to the road.
• ADVANCED: Fine tune the suspension by dragging individual sliders to adjust Ride Comfort and Handling.

Note
Air suspension checks air spring pressure to estimate vehicle mass and adjust damping control accordingly.

Solenoid Valve Controllink​

Each solenoid valve is pulse width modulation (PWM) controlled. By controlling the PWM voltage, the current through the solenoids is controlled. Current through the solenoid is inversely proportional to the oil flow through the solenoid. The higher the PWM voltage, the smaller the oil flow. This means that 100% PWM signal corresponds to a completely closed solenoid and therefore to a very stiff damping behavior. Also 0% PWM signal corresponds to a completely open solenoid and therefore to a very soft damping behavior.

Note
This means that when a solenoid valve connector is loose, or the wiring is compromised the damping behavior will be very soft, but even in this condition the vehicle is safe to drive and is completely controllable.

Continuous Controllink​

Continuous control refers to “full state” damping. When continuous control is active, the system is functioning normally. Continuous control relies on multiple inputs to be fully functional (for example, height sensors, required CAN signal inputs, etc.).

End Stop Protectionlink​

Tesla Air Suspension ECU uses ride height sensors to learn the distance to end of travel as the vehicle drives and encounters bumps and dips. Learned end stops are reset when Ride height calibration is performed. As the damper approaches the end of travel, damper current is increased to make the damper stiffer and to soften the impact of bottoming or topping out.

It looks like we need a subscription in order to view the images. Can you post the .jpg images directly?

 

[mcirish]

It looks like we need a subscription in order to view the images. Can you post the .jpg images directly?

Tesla sure does charge a lot of money for access to online service documents. I remember when they only charged $50 per day, then it was free for a while, now it is priced too high for the DIY crowd.

 

[MobileClimate]

It looks like we need a subscription in order to view the images. Can you post the .jpg images directly?

 

[Long1929]

When I inititally recieved my Model S in December 2022, I couldn't tell the difference between sport and comfort. After a bit I could, it seems to take a bit of time to become accustomed to the ride.
I haven't ever been happy with the ride feel. Comfort seemed completely undamped, yet still not comfortable. Sport is a stiff spring that is overdamped and seemd to lose independence (probably good for canyons and such in California). Auto was just a mix of the two, not something in between, rather choose the mode of the moment. In all three on smooth roads, the car would randomly drop just enough to make it uncomfortable. Last week, I decdied to try using the advanced settings. For absolutely no reason I put Ride Comfort all the way left to Comfort and Handling all the way to the right to Sport. Amazing difference. Now the ride is what I expect out of a luxury sports car. It is compliant now, but still firm. For those that are unhappy with the ride feel, you might try this.

 

[RichardL]

Just tried the above and my first impression is that it does improve things overall.

Going to keep it like that for a while, thanks for the suggestion

 

[pvdoug]

When I inititally recieved my Model S in December 2022, I couldn't tell the difference between sport and comfort. After a bit I could, it seems to take a bit of time to become accustomed to the ride.
I haven't ever been happy with the ride feel. Comfort seemed completely undamped, yet still not comfortable. Sport is a stiff spring that is overdamped and seemd to lose independence (probably good for canyons and such in California). Auto was just a mix of the two, not something in between, rather choose the mode of the moment. In all three on smooth roads, the car would randomly drop just enough to make it uncomfortable. Last week, I decdied to try using the advanced settings. For absolutely no reason I put Ride Comfort all the way left to Comfort and Handling all the way to the right to Sport. Amazing difference. Now the ride is what I expect out of a luxury sports car. It is compliant now, but still firm. For those that are unhappy with the ride feel, you might try this.

Thank you for your input. Sadly for me, I followed the same steps on my 2022 mid December 2021 build and did not feel any difference.

 

[popgodazipa]

Works on my MS Raven 2020 build. Noticeable

 

[MFrunkerOG]

When I inititally recieved my Model S in December 2022, I couldn't tell the difference between sport and comfort. After a bit I could, it seems to take a bit of time to become accustomed to the ride.
I haven't ever been happy with the ride feel. Comfort seemed completely undamped, yet still not comfortable. Sport is a stiff spring that is overdamped and seemd to lose independence (probably good for canyons and such in California). Auto was just a mix of the two, not something in between, rather choose the mode of the moment. In all three on smooth roads, the car would randomly drop just enough to make it uncomfortable. Last week, I decdied to try using the advanced settings. For absolutely no reason I put Ride Comfort all the way left to Comfort and Handling all the way to the right to Sport. Amazing difference. Now the ride is what I expect out of a luxury sports car. It is compliant now, but still firm. For those that are unhappy with the ride feel, you might try this.

I tried this advanced setting too! Such a massive difference to the ride! Thanks!

 

[mcirish]

Thank you for your input. Sadly for me, I followed the same steps on my 2022 mid December 2021 build and did not feel any difference.

If you aren't noticing any difference between any of the different mode choices then there is a good chance you have something wrong that can be fixed. It should be a different level of unpleasantness at every setting. With any luck you find find the least worst intolerable setting like the rest of us.

What does compliance mean anyway.

If only there was a way to individually dial in each damping value and turn off the dynamic adjustments.

 

[RichardL]

Just tried the above and my first impression is that it does improve things overall.

Going to keep it like that for a while, thanks for the suggestion

I’ve done several longer drives in the last days and this setup really feels better (note I am not really ‘pushing’ like in my long ago rallying days) so I intend to keep this way. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Zarwin]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried the custom settings of "Ride Comfort all the way left to Comfort and Handling all the way to the right to Sport" and on the interstate I would say it improved the ride noticeably for me. On surface streets with a surface that was not rough but ... I guess lumpy/bumpy (not sure exactly how to describe it) it was worse than setting it to Comfort, so the perfect setting doesn't seem to exist for me. Thankfully the custom setting stays set the way you had it last so I can just flip between Comfort and Custom depending on road. I still have my first generation Model S with coil suspension and it still has a significantly better ride overall.

 

[mcirish]

Interesting that all of a sudden the Ride Height is being displayed in Inches rather than millimeters. Not sure if this came with yesterdays beta software update (2023.27.6) or not. I do have a pending service appointment scheduled for them to look at the height leveling discrepencies so there is a chance they may have tried a back door firmware update ahead of time. What does your show?

 

[85percent]

How many new Model S owners out there can actually FEEL the difference between “Sport” and “Comfort “? I know I can’t.… even though Tesla Service says it is functioning normally. No matter what I do with the suspension controls, my ride is the same… punishingly harsh. Yet, from these forums and YouTube, I see that many of you think the suspension is great. As this is probably one of the most sophisticated suspensions ever put in a car, I have trouble believing that mine is “functioning normally “. I think the key objective question here is “can you actually FEEL a difference in ride quality when you change suspension modes?” (By ”feel” I mean you KNOW it changed, if you just THINK it changed then it didn’t). It would really help me and, I know, a number of others out there to find out if our suspensions are screwed up or if that’s just the way they are. Thanks for any input you can provide.

You notice the difference when the Model S is lowered. Mine is on lowering brackets and comfort mode feels like it slowly surge up and down for a quarter mile after a bump, where as sport mode it’s a harsher bump feel and then it’s over quickly. Much stiffer.

 

[mcirish]

Adaptive Suspension Dampinglink​

Each air spring contains a fixed primary oil flow path that is internal to the damper. In addition, the dampers have a secondary, external oil flow path, which can be controlled in real time by electric solenoids. Rebound damping (wheel moving down from vehicle body) and compression damping (wheel moving up toward vehicle body) are controlled independently. As damping only resists motion – it cannot create force without motion. Adjusting damping does not move the vehicle up or down, it just affects how much resistive force the damper applies as the wheels move up and down relative to the body.

Cross section of adaptive damper and solenoids

Note
The valve shown here has slightly different construction from ours, namely with respect to the spring and solenoid plunger.
The adaptive air suspension system can be set to 4 different settings:

• COMFORT: provides a gentler ride for a relaxed driving experience
• AUTO: adjusts to a wide range of roads and driving styles, providing a fluid yet well controlled ride.
• SPORT: provides a firmer, more controlled ride that increases driver engagement and connection to the road.
• ADVANCED: Fine tune the suspension by dragging individual sliders to adjust Ride Comfort and Handling.

Note
Air suspension checks air spring pressure to estimate vehicle mass and adjust damping control accordingly.

Solenoid Valve Controllink​

Each solenoid valve is pulse width modulation (PWM) controlled. By controlling the PWM voltage, the current through the solenoids is controlled. Current through the solenoid is inversely proportional to the oil flow through the solenoid. The higher the PWM voltage, the smaller the oil flow. This means that 100% PWM signal corresponds to a completely closed solenoid and therefore to a very stiff damping behavior. Also 0% PWM signal corresponds to a completely open solenoid and therefore to a very soft damping behavior.

Note
This means that when a solenoid valve connector is loose, or the wiring is compromised the damping behavior will be very soft, but even in this condition the vehicle is safe to drive and is completely controllable.

Continuous Controllink​

Continuous control refers to “full state” damping. When continuous control is active, the system is functioning normally. Continuous control relies on multiple inputs to be fully functional (for example, height sensors, required CAN signal inputs, etc.).

End Stop Protectionlink​

Tesla Air Suspension ECU uses ride height sensors to learn the distance to end of travel as the vehicle drives and encounters bumps and dips. Learned end stops are reset when Ride height calibration is performed. As the damper approaches the end of travel, damper current is increased to make the damper stiffer and to soften the impact of bottoming or topping out.

MobileClimate: I can see some "service.tesla.com" information (electrical and repair procedures) on my cars via my Tesla Service account but some things are blocked, like interactive schematic tool. Can you tell me what I need to do to get expanded access and maybe see the TheoryOperation pages?

https://service.tesla.com/docs/TheoryOperation/palladium_x/tesla_air_suspension/index.html#end-stop-protection

 

[MobileClimate]

Sign up for a day or a month subscription and the theory of operation will show up….one thing is for sure the legacy model x s and refresh xs are completely different cars when it comes to the wiring of the ecus etc

 

[MobileClimate]

You notice the difference when the Model S is lowered. Mine is on lowering brackets and comfort mode feels like it slowly surge up and down for a quarter mile after a bump, where as sport mode it’s a harsher bump feel and then it’s over quickly. Much stiffer.

Interesting that all of a sudden the Ride Height is being displayed in Inches rather than millimeters. Not sure if this came with yesterdays beta software update (2023.27.6) or not. I do have a pending service appointment scheduled for them to look at the height leveling discrepencies so there is a chance they may have tried a back door firmware update ahead of time. What does your show?

View attachment 979839

they changed the alerts also to give more info on what’s causing the air suspension alert..I noticed that it allows the compressor to run much longer before throwing the disable compressor message ..run the car on service mode and watch the service display of air suspension you can use that screen for diagnostics for air leaks you’ll see it in that screen remember that it only has one pressure sensor ..and they way it reads pressure is by taking a measurement for a split second while other valves are closed. When your driving you should see the compressor get to 18 bar to top off the tank ..if you see that pressure stalling you have a leak on the purple line , a leak at the tank or the black line to the tank or a weak compressor

 

[mcirish]

So I managed to capture some CAN bus traffic while driving over a rather annoying speed bump. I believe I've captured all 4 height/position sensors, vertical z-axis acceleration, and damping currents(%?) for compression and rebound. Front springs take a compression force, the damping signals kick in and try their best to soften the blow (failing miserably). A second later the rear springs take the same hit. Repeated using two different Advance mode settings, Full soft and Full stiff. Still trying to make sense of it by comparing A to B.

 

[Zarwin]

Thought I'd throw my update in after a lot more miles in the seat and a new (sorta) observation.

I've been playing with advanced settings for a while trying to zero in on the best "all purpose" setting to set and forget and currently have the following setting as my favorite. Similar to what others have posted but thought I'd throw in my specific as well.

In all the settings, the Handling set to sport is the most appealing to me and the Ride Comfort seems best "all purpose" in the middle though may be slightly better in different positions on different road conditions. But I've been happy with it overall in this position the most.

(unnecessary side story begins)
I got tired of the thousands of paint chips I was getting on the rear fenders from grit kicked up from the front so I bought the new Model S mud flaps in an attempt to close the barn door after the horse got out. While they did help in that sense, they introduced a new issue when in comfort mode. With the Tesla mud flaps installed, they would scrape the ground constantly in comfort mode. Not just over speed bumps or big dips as some report, but a completely flat surface making a slow turn they would scrape all the way around the turn. On the interstate, very light dips they would scrape, and if it was a moderate dip, they would scrape on the second oscillation as well. Now this doesn't have anything specific to do with ride comfort but thought I would add it as interesting. Anyway. the mud flap scraping goes from constant to occasional when changing between comfort and the advanced setting above.
(unnecessary side story ends)