Unplugged Performance Lowering Brackets

[DA808EV]

Had some lowering brackets installed last Thursday by Unplugged Performance and it came out lower than expected. I decided to drive it over the weekend to see how I liked it and even though it looks good, it's just too low for everyday driving. Here are some pics below.

Sports Air Suspension Lowering Kit for Tesla Model S - Unplugged Performance

I dealt with Max during this whole process and he's been great. Very responsive and accommodating , overall a very nice guy. So I dropped it off today and they are going to adjust the brackets so that it doesn't sit so low on the standard air suspension setting and we'll see how everything turns out. But I just wanted to give these guys a plug (no pun intended) as Max has been awesome to deal with.

The last pic is the low setting and everything is just tucked which is too much IMO. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything turns out when I pick it up in a couple weeks. (I'll be out of town).

 

[RichardD]

I would tend to agree with you, that looks scary to drive. I had a Saleen that would rip off the front bumper on the slightest bump, atleast you can adjust the suspension up if you know you are on an un-even road. In Houston, that is every road though. It does look sharp though.

 

[AWDtsla]

I would pay $495 for a software hack to set ultra-low on my air-suspension, and let me override the auto-lower speed limits. Very-high often isn't high enough as-is. Tesla will never do it because of CYA with the NHSTA.

 

[T34ME]

Had some lowering brackets installed last Thursday by Unplugged Performance and it came out lower than expected. .

I am a TM3 reservation holder and new to Tesla. Pardon my questions.

What is the difference in height with air suspension between the highest and lowest setting with no brackets?

Do the lowering brackets make the car lower at each of the air suspension settings?

What is the difference in height between the lowest setting with air suspension and with the brackets installed?

I do like the stance of your car in the pictures, but it is probably only practical at show events which works for me. I hope that the TM3 comes with optional air suspension but it is looking more and more doubtful.

 

[DA808EV]

I am a TM3 reservation holder and new to Tesla. Pardon my questions.

What is the difference in height with air suspension between the highest and lowest setting with no brackets?

Do the lowering brackets make the car lower at each of the air suspension settings?

What is the difference in height between the lowest setting with air suspension and with the brackets installed?

I do like the stance of your car in the pictures, but it is probably only practical at show events which works for me. I hope that the TM3 comes with optional air suspension but it is looking more and more doubtful.

I didn't do any measuring before and after. Yes, the brackets make the car lower at each of the settings, Very High to Low.

Thanks, yeah the stance looks great but for my everyday commute it's just too low.

 

[Tech_Guy]

From my understanding unplugged offers a low 1" and a very low 2" kit for the brackets. Do you happen to know which ones were installed?

 

[T34ME]

Thanks, yeah the stance looks great but for my everyday commute it's just too low.

But hey, you'll be stylin' for free on the 91 FasTrak!

 

[artsci]

Had some lowering brackets installed last Thursday by Unplugged Performance and it came out lower than expected. I decided to drive it over the weekend to see how I liked it and even though it looks good, it's just too low for everyday driving. Here are some pics below.

Sports Air Suspension Lowering Kit for Tesla Model S - Unplugged Performance

I dealt with Max during this whole process and he's been great. Very responsive and accommodating , overall a very nice guy. So I dropped it off today and they are going to adjust the brackets so that it doesn't sit so low on the standard air suspension setting and we'll see how everything turns out. But I just wanted to give these guys a plug (no pun intended) as Max has been awesome to deal with.

The last pic is the low setting and everything is just tucked which is too much IMO. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything turns out when I pick it up in a couple weeks. (I'll be out of town).

Why not just get adjustable lowering links? You can install them yourself and set the height wherever you want. And they cost much less. See this thread. And someone 3d printed his own links.

 

[scottm]

What are the benefits of doing a bracket when lowering links are easier and accomplish the same thing?

And adjustable links let you dial in perfectly what you want... not stuck with 1" or 2" or whatever.

Here's how to print your own links for pennies: 3D printed lowering links

 

[DA808EV]

The reason I went with Unplugged is b/c I felt like they made a great product that will last and I like their builds. After dealing with them, I can say nothing but positive things about their customer service and quality of work.

 

[AMPd]

That looks odd
As if you have a suspension issue.

 

[Tech_Guy]

The reason I went with Unplugged is b/c I felt like they made a great product that will last and I like their builds. After dealing with them, I can say nothing but positive things about their customer service and quality of work.

@DA808EV was it a 2 inch or 1 inch drop kit you had installed originally? I'd suspect it was the 2 inch drop but would like confirmation.

 

[DA808EV]

@DA808EV was it a 2 inch or 1 inch drop kit you had installed originally? I'd suspect it was the 2 inch drop but would like confirmation.

Originally it seemed a little more than 2 inches. But they adjusted the brackets so it wouldn't sit so low now. Now it is at the perfect height on standard setting.
Getting some new 21" staggered wheels so it will fill the wheel well better.

 

[DA808EV]

That looks odd
As if you have a suspension issue.

The last pic it does and that was on the lowest setting. Like I mentioned, for some reason it came out lower than expected after they installed the brackets. It was too low and they fixed the issue. So now it sits at a perfect height on standard.

 

[scottm]

So if you need the suspension recalibrated by Tesla, after any kind of axle, drive unit, or suspension parts, or linkage work (they're going to want to / need to recalibrate the height) you'll have to replace these brackets with the OE brackets, prior to that work and recalibration.

Then put the aftermarket brackets back on to get the lowering back again...

Similar story for lowering links.

 

[BOOMER7]

I would pay $495 for a software hack to set ultra-low on my air-suspension, and let me override the auto-lower speed limits. Very-high often isn't high enough as-is. Tesla will never do it because of CYA with the NHSTA.

Details on this?

 

[UnpluggedP]

We just came across this thread and wanted to step in and address some potential confusion.

I am a TM3 reservation holder and new to Tesla. Pardon my questions.

What is the difference in height with air suspension between the highest and lowest setting with no brackets?

Do the lowering brackets make the car lower at each of the air suspension settings?

What is the difference in height between the lowest setting with air suspension and with the brackets installed?

I do like the stance of your car in the pictures, but it is probably only practical at show events which works for me. I hope that the TM3 comes with optional air suspension but it is looking more and more doubtful.

The 4 height settings and capability to change them via the display are retained; overall, each of the heights are roughly 1 3/4" lower than factory. The "Low" brackets feature an additional setting, which allows quick adjustment back to a height similar to OEM.

The height at which DA808EV's car was pictured was non-standard as he had one of a small number of very early production vehicles where Tesla used a completely different attachment method than what became the standard in 2013 and is currently in use on S and X. When he originally came in for the installation, the brackets needed to be slightly modified to accommodate the alternative mounting, and thus yielded the lower height. He wanted to try the lower-than-standard height for a couple days to see if it worked for him, but ultimately, it was a bit too low for daily use. As a result, as he stated, he brought the car back and we performed a quick adjustment at a later date to get it to the optimal height.

From my understanding unplugged offers a low 1" and a very low 2" kit for the brackets. Do you happen to know which ones were installed?

We currently only offer the "Low" setting brackets, but we still intend to release a "Moderate" version if there is enough demand (we've had very few customers seeking this "in-between" Moderate setting).

This actually bring up a good point with regards to why we offer the brackets with fixed settings. Very early in our testing (back in 2014), we toyed around with adjustable, replacement links, but determined that they weren't the right solution for lowering. The reason being is that, when making changes to the armature, the resulting affect on the software happens exponentially. As a result, if one were to make a small adjustment to the links which is incorrect (or if the corners don't properly match), it could have a significant result on the suspension heights, potentially causing damage to the car (we've seen this happen before, where a car maxed out the OEM air spring and shock travel and caused damage to the spring due to over-inflation; we've also seen the opposite, where a car was lowered incorrectly, causing the car to "crash" over every undulation and bump in the road due to minimal-to-no shock travel). With our fixed position brackets, a consistent, virtually error-proof, optimized height is achieved.

@DA808EV was it a 2 inch or 1 inch drop kit you had installed originally? I'd suspect it was the 2 inch drop but would like confirmation.

The original "low" version of our suspension brackets is roughly a 1 3/4" drop across the range. Have a look at the diagram below for reference (you may have to view it full resolution to see the variances):

If anyone has any specific questions on modifying their Tesla, please don't hesitate to PM, call or email us!

Lastly, thanks again to DA808EV for the purchase and the kind words!!

 

[battleroyale]

@UnpluggedP did you ever produce a moderate drop version of the brackets?

 

[mrneef]

We just came across this thread and wanted to step in and address some potential confusion.



The 4 height settings and capability to change them via the display are retained; overall, each of the heights are roughly 1 3/4" lower than factory. The "Low" brackets feature an additional setting, which allows quick adjustment back to a height similar to OEM.

The height at which DA808EV's car was pictured was non-standard as he had one of a small number of very early production vehicles where Tesla used a completely different attachment method than what became the standard in 2013 and is currently in use on S and X. When he originally came in for the installation, the brackets needed to be slightly modified to accommodate the alternative mounting, and thus yielded the lower height. He wanted to try the lower-than-standard height for a couple days to see if it worked for him, but ultimately, it was a bit too low for daily use. As a result, as he stated, he brought the car back and we performed a quick adjustment at a later date to get it to the optimal height.


We currently only offer the "Low" setting brackets, but we still intend to release a "Moderate" version if there is enough demand (we've had very few customers seeking this "in-between" Moderate setting).

This actually bring up a good point with regards to why we offer the brackets with fixed settings. Very early in our testing (back in 2014), we toyed around with adjustable, replacement links, but determined that they weren't the right solution for lowering. The reason being is that, when making changes to the armature, the resulting affect on the software happens exponentially. As a result, if one were to make a small adjustment to the links which is incorrect (or if the corners don't properly match), it could have a significant result on the suspension heights, potentially causing damage to the car (we've seen this happen before, where a car maxed out the OEM air spring and shock travel and caused damage to the spring due to over-inflation; we've also seen the opposite, where a car was lowered incorrectly, causing the car to "crash" over every undulation and bump in the road due to minimal-to-no shock travel). With our fixed position brackets, a consistent, virtually error-proof, optimized height is achieved.


The original "low" version of our suspension brackets is roughly a 1 3/4" drop across the range. Have a look at the diagram below for reference (you may have to view it full resolution to see the variances):

If anyone has any specific questions on modifying their Tesla, please don't hesitate to PM, call or email us!

Lastly, thanks again to DA808EV for the purchase and the kind words!!

Please clarify.

So if I order the “low” kit, which is pictured with the Orange tesla. I can can still utilize my air suspension and raise and lower as needed?? The 4 photos of the Orange tesla, are those the 4 settings? Also does this void any warranty from Tesla? Assuming yes.

 

[logan]

The results look great! Just can’t get over that $500 price tag.