Ways to improve comfort without voiding warranty

[Marius A]

My fiance finds the ride in the TM3P (and non-p) a bit too hard and gets back pain whenever she drives it for more than 20-30 minutes.
I'm wondering what kind of modifications is possible without voiding warranty.
I've heard the MPP comfort (adjustable) are a big help, but AFAIK Tesla isn't gonna be happy about that mod.
So which options are supported/don't affect warranty, and which of those would be most helpful?

 

[jaydiculous]

Is the seat adjusted properly for her? When I first got the car it took some time to find the correct posture.

 

[Marius A]

Is the seat adjusted properly for her? When I first got the car it took some time to find the correct posture.

Yes, the lumbar support is adjusted for her, I never touch it since it doesn't get saved to the profile. She tried changing seat positions a bunch of times, but no luck.

 

[glide]

Tesla does not get to dictate what mods you make to your vehicle. If you want to add 3rd party springs you are free to do so.

The only warranty claims Tesla can deny are ones that are caused specifically by the modification you made.

 

[KenC]

I would continue to try adjusting the seat, because it has a wide range of adjustment. And, I would look into MPP comfort coilovers. I haven't read anything about not honoring warranties because of a suspension change.

 

[jaydiculous]

Yes, the lumbar support is adjusted for her, I never touch it since it doesn't get saved to the profile. She tried changing seat positions a bunch of times, but no luck.

I still think it's posture. Does she get back pain when she's a passenger and you drive longer than 30+ minutes?

When I first got the car and was getting lower back pain, I adjusted the lumbar support a lot thinking that was the fix. I figured out the lumbar support was what was really causing my lower back pain because of the pressure. I dialed it all the way down, and adjusted the other portions like lowering the seat all the way to the ground, minimal front lift for knee contact, pedal distance, a little back lean.

This Jaguar video about seat position may help provide some guidance:

To answer your question about comfort without worrying about warranty, there probably isn't anything outside of a seat cushion. I have MPP comfort coil overs (non-adj), lowered, and you're going to feel more of the road, but gain better driving performance. I haven't tested to see if Tesla won't warranty anything after getting them installed, but I don't think that's ever the case unless it's suspension related. I modified my BMW back in the day and they provided service all the time.

 

[dfwatt]

My fiance finds the ride in the TM3P (and non-p) a bit too hard and gets back pain whenever she drives it for more than 20-30 minutes.
I'm wondering what kind of modifications is possible without voiding warranty.
I've heard the MPP comfort (adjustable) are a big help, but AFAIK Tesla isn't gonna be happy about that mod.
So which options are supported/don't affect warranty, and which of those would be most helpful?

Aftermarket modifications do not affect your warranty unless Tesla can prove that your modification induced the problem that you are claiming warranty repair on. In other words, if you've got suspension noises after you install an aftermarket coilover kit, chances are Tesla is not going to fix those and is simply going to pass and tell you it's on you to fix it. If on the other hand you have something completely unrelated to the suspension they cannot deny warranty claims because you have a coilover set.

And IMHO, the most Improvement for the money, the most bang for the buck so to speak on the market is MPP's adjustable coilover kits, whether Comfort or Sport. We have one of each on our two performance Model 3s. They are fantastic. And because you can lower your car and get significant reductions in drag at highway speeds, we've actually improved our efficiency and range.

 

[Marius A]

Aftermarket modifications do not affect your warranty unless Tesla can prove that your modification induced the problem that you are claiming warranty repair on. In other words, if you've got suspension noises after you install an aftermarket coilover kit, chances are Tesla is not going to fix those and is simply going to pass and tell you it's on you to fix it. If on the other hand you have something completely unrelated to the suspension they cannot deny warranty claims because you have a coilover set.

And IMHO, the most Improvement for the money, the most bang for the buck so to speak on the market is MPP's adjustable coilover kits, whether Comfort or Sport. We have one of each on our two performance Model 3s. They are fantastic. And because you can lower your car and get significant reductions in drag at highway speeds, we've actually improved our efficiency and range.

Nice. Did you test optimal comfort level? I was thinking of the adjustable comfort, as I've seen on the forums they work better than stock on the track as well as being more comfortable.

 

[dfwatt]

Nice. Did you test optimal comfort level? I was thinking of the adjustable comfort, as I've seen on the forums they work better than stock on the track as well as being more comfortable.

Well of course it's hard to objectify things like Comfort levels. I'm not sure how meaningful a description like that is I can only tell you that I used to prefer the ride of my rather firm sport coilover model 3 to the stock suspension but after installing the Comfort coilovers on my wife's car I now think it rides better than mine. Truth in advertising disclosure - I'm coming from a track tuned Lexus IS 350 F where you needed a kidney belt. Shocks were just really hard as all get-out. So I experience the ride on the Sport coilover car as pretty comfortable even though I have it set to 10/8 on compression and rebound firmness. A lot of people would probably think it's just too firm, and we set the Comfort coilover for my wife's car at 12 / 10. Rides really nicely and handles better. Looks way better too.

 

[Onshore]

Assuming you're on the 20's, a change to 18" wheels will soften up the ride quite a bit, and don't affect your warranty.

Is this an option you could look at?

 

[Marius A]

Assuming you're on the 20's, a change to 18" wheels will soften up the ride quite a bit, and don't affect your warranty.

Is this an option you could look at?

She has the same issue with the LR, though, but can't remember if it was as bad.
Maybe in combination with the MPP comfort

 

[KenC]

She has the same issue with the LR, though, but can't remember if it was as bad.
Maybe in combination with the MPP comfort

Maybe I missed it, but sometimes it's good to know from what vehicle she is coming from. Look carefully at how the seat is setup there, and try to replicate it.

 

[Marius A]

Maybe I missed it, but sometimes it's good to know from what vehicle she is coming from. Look carefully at how the seat is setup there, and try to replicate it.

She has chronic back pain so it's not as easy for her.
The cars she's driven for prolonged periods of time is i3, TM3, TM3P, Ioniq, Zoe, v40 and T-Rock. Out of these the only ones she hasn't had problems with is the Ioniq, and the i3 was a close second.

 

[KenC]

She has chronic back pain so it's not as easy for her.
The cars she's driven for prolonged periods of time is i3, TM3, TM3P, Ioniq, Zoe, v40 and T-Rock. Out of these the only ones she hasn't had problems with is the Ioniq, and the i3 was a close second.

Interesting, my recollection of the i3 and Ioniq is that the seats are nothing at all alike. The i3 is semi-modern looking with flattish sections; while the Ioniq seems alot like the Tesla's. If you own either, I'd measure them to see if there are any differences to the Tesla. If you can, have her sit in the seat she likes and take some measurements including joint angles. Prior folks who've had trouble with the seats, seemed to be coming from more upright vehicles, where the knee joint angle is greater. The i3 is bit more upright, but the Ioniq is a typical sedan.

For me, I found the seat cushion length to be shorter than what I'm used to, coming from a BMW sport seat, so I had to adjust the bottom seat cushion to be a little more angled, in order to provide enough thigh support. Without adjusting that, I had a little cramp in the buttocks after 30mins of driving.

 

[Marius A]

Interesting, my recollection of the i3 and Ioniq is that the seats are nothing at all alike. The i3 is semi-modern looking with flattish sections; while the Ioniq seems alot like the Tesla's. If you own either, I'd measure them to see if there are any differences to the Tesla. If you can, have her sit in the seat she likes and take some measurements including joint angles. Prior folks who've had trouble with the seats, seemed to be coming from more upright vehicles, where the knee joint angle is greater. The i3 is bit more upright, but the Ioniq is a typical sedan.

For me, I found the seat cushion length to be shorter than what I'm used to, coming from a BMW sport seat, so I had to adjust the bottom seat cushion to be a little more angled, in order to provide enough thigh support. Without adjusting that, I had a little cramp in the buttocks after 30mins of driving.

Yes, they are very different. Which makes me think it's got a lot to do with ride comfort, not just the seats and sitting position.
As a passenger she gets to move about/wiggle more, so that's less of a problem.

 

[KenC]

Yes, they are very different. Which makes me think it's got a lot to do with ride comfort, not just the seats and sitting position.
As a passenger she gets to move about/wiggle more, so that's less of a problem.

Maybe a gel seat cushion or something similar would help?

 

[dfwatt]

She has chronic back pain so it's not as easy for her.
The cars she's driven for prolonged periods of time is i3, TM3, TM3P, Ioniq, Zoe, v40 and T-Rock. Out of these the only ones she hasn't had problems with is the Ioniq, and the i3 was a close second.

I've got a couple of herniated discs in my back from playing competitive Sports. I found that the front seats in the model 3 (these are the version 2 seats) are the best front seats I've ever experienced. My wife has lesser back issues but she thinks they're great seats as well. Obviously this is all anecdotal but I've heard from a lot of other people that they really love the front seats in the model 3.

 

[gearbox]

If she didn’t notice a difference between 18’ wheels and 20’ wheels then different springs even softer are not going to do anything for her. Unless you want them ans need a reason to buy them haha

 

[Marius A]

If she didn’t notice a difference between 18’ wheels and 20’ wheels then different springs even softer are not going to do anything for her. Unless you want them ans need a reason to buy them haha

I dont know if there was a difference, we had some overlap with an i3 between 18" and 20".
She had issues with both though, so switching to 18" is not enough in itself.

 

[MasterC17]

I think the simplest solution to try is the MPP Comfort Coilovers. I have them in my wife's car and every time I drive it I'm impressed at how much softer/smoother it is than mine. Then again, I have a quite stiff suspension in my car! Either way, I think the MPP's would be better than the stock suspension.