Smart Air Suspension - how long does it take to raise?

[brico84]

Question for those that have a Model S with Smart Air Suspension, the original one, not the Raven Dynamic system. When I approach a location that I have saved to raise, I get he message in IC that says something like "Raising Suspension Based on Location". The message shows for a few seconds then disappears. Does anybody know, if the message disappears once the suspension has been fully raised? Or does the message having not disappeared yet have nothing to do with the status of completing the suspension raise?

The reason I ask is that I am always trying to wait for the message to completely disappear before turning in to a driveway that has an incline, thinking that if I don't wait, it won't be fully raised, and I might scrape something.

I'd love to know if anyone has a definitive answer on this.

 

[CMTwinDad]

I don’t know about the message length versus suspension height changing time. But you could simply bring up the suspension adjustment menu screen a bit before arriving at the “raise suspension” location. That screen shows a live status of the suspension height. By watching it as you approach, you’ll get a feel for how long it takes. On my 2017 S, it usually takes about 4-5 seconds to move between adjacent levels.

 

[URBAN LEGEND]

You can also raise a bit sooner. Maybe 5 meters before the real needed raise. Or have someone outside record as you drive in and compare.

 

[Midnightsun]

I have only played with it in my garage but was really surprised to see it raised rather quickly, a couple of seconds at most. Could very well be the 2021+ refresh compressor/system is faster than the older one. Mine was defective upon delivery and the SC referred to it changing the Gen2 compressor when the work was complete.

 

[brico84]

You can also raise a bit sooner. Maybe 5 meters before the real needed raise. Or have someone outside record as you drive in and compare.

It won't raise until you drop to a certain speed. I can't slow down to 15mph and stay like that for 5 seconds on a busy street. That's the problem....

 

[airborne spoon]

It won't raise until you drop to a certain speed. I can't slow down to 15mph and stay like that for 5 seconds on a busy street. That's the problem....

it takes a few seconds to raise, for high you can go up to 35mph, and for very high you can go up to 21mph.
if you go over those speeds it will auto start lowering.
Also auto raise wont engage if you're going over those speeds. Say you have it set to auto raise in a spot to very high and you come driving by at 27mph it'll auto raise to high but not very high. in the same situation if you're driving by at 38mph or something faster it wont do anything.

 

[brico84]

it takes a few seconds to raise, for high you can go up to 35mph, and for very high you can go up to 21mph.
if you go over those speeds it will auto start lowering.
Also auto raise wont engage if you're going over those speeds. Say you have it set to auto raise in a spot to very high and you come driving by at 27mph it'll auto raise to high but not very high. in the same situation if you're driving by at 38mph or something faster it wont do anything.

That's incorrect, on my car it won't raise to "very high" until you are 15 mph.

I am aware of all that other stuff, and I have things set to auto-raise, I appreciate the information, but so far nobody has been able to answer my original question. Is the message in the IC and when it goes away, indicative of when the raise is complete, OR is the message going to show for a specific number of seconds but has nothing to do with the raise completing or not.

It's likely nobody can answer the question definitively.

 

[airborne spoon]

That's incorrect, on my car it won't raise to "very high" until you are 15 mph.

I am aware of all that other stuff, and I have things set to auto-raise, I appreciate the information, but so far nobody has been able to answer my original question. Is the message in the IC and when it goes away, indicative of when the raise is complete, OR is the message going to show for a specific number of seconds but has nothing to do with the raise completing or not.

It's likely nobody can answer the question definitively.

well since you never said what year car you have I'm basing my information off of my car. and I know for a fact those speeds are correct because I literally had the damn thing drop from very high to high this morning when I hit 22 mph in a spot where I normally cruise at 21 mph.

The easiest way to solve this is simple, go to a large empty lot (like Walmart or a mall) and set the car to auto rise to very high at a random spot. then drive away and set the car to standard or low (whatever you normally have it at) and have the radio off then drive towards the spot you set to auto raise and you can hear the air suspension as it raises listen to it and keep an eye on the message on the screen.
If you cant hear it then go like 5 mph with the driver side window down and listen for it while watching the screen.

 

[rducharme]

That's incorrect, on my car it won't raise to "very high" until you are 15 mph.

I am aware of all that other stuff, and I have things set to auto-raise, I appreciate the information, but so far nobody has been able to answer my original question. Is the message in the IC and when it goes away, indicative of when the raise is complete, OR is the message going to show for a specific number of seconds but has nothing to do with the raise completing or not.

It's likely nobody can answer the question definitively.

I have a 2022 Model S Plaid and it shows 15 mph. Looking for where we can change that value to something reasonable

 

[jhoughton1]

When our 2019 Model S is put into park in our home garage, it raises all the way up and the small distance makes it much easier for my old bones to exit the car. What I would like is if every time the car is put into park, anywhere, it rises up so my old bones can get out with similar ease. Is this possible? I don't see any such setting, but why should the car be easy to exit for old guys who can afford a Model S only when they're at home?

 

[tm1v2]

The maximum speeds for Very High and High have varied over the years. On original Model S like mine Very High is 15mph max. I've had newer loaners where it's higher.

Interesting that Very High is back to 15mph max on the Palladium (per rducharme). I wonder why the regression.