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Why does Tesla suspension suck so bad?

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I am not sure the question does Tesla's Model Y suspension suck or not, will lead to an agreement. The past experience of everyone is different, as is the gender and age. To expect everyone to agree is akin to saying the best color is red. That said, my other vehicle is a 2020 Lexus 450 Rxh (hybrid). I find the Model Y suspension lacking. I am going to test drive a Model X and see if it is worth upgrading. I saw a video on YouTube by Ryan Shaw, who owns 5 Tesla's and has them on Turo. He likes the Model YLR the best. But he too finds the suspension stiff and lacking compared to other cars. Here is his video:

That’s actually a really accurate review of the Model Y. I pretty much agree with everything he had to say
 
That's comparing apples and oranges. The model X (and S) uses Air Suspension.
Yes and no - in the end I don’t care if I’m riding on apples or oranges, I just care about the ride.

Part of designing and building a car is designing the suspension. As I and others have pointed out, plenty other cars (including EVs) are able to make it work.
 
Yes and no - in the end I don’t care if I’m riding on apples or oranges, I just care about the ride.

Part of designing and building a car is designing the suspension. As I and others have pointed out, plenty other cars (including EVs) are able to make it work.
Not tired yet? You got what you got. Either sell it or pay for upgrade
 
Nissan Leaf ride way more comfortable than Y/3...
Heck almost all Nissan suspensions are more comfortable than Y/3...

Not having air suspension is not a good excuse for ride quality.
@tiberia.sun@gm Nissan Leaf handling is really bad though. At least the 1st gen ones I've driven. I remember their ride quality being perfectly fine, but nothing to write home about.

My MiL's Altima rides squishy smooth but also handles horribly compared to any Tesla I've driven. It's soft and squishy from the tires to the suspension, and it really shows should you ever attempt to take a corner quickly.

A 350Z I once drove felt ridiculously stiff even for a sports car. Rode like crap, yeah it's a sports car, but even most sports cars don't ride that stiff from the factory. Felt too stiff for many real-world roads. Quick reactions though...maybe it felt better on fast, smooth racetracks. I only got to drive it casually in suburbia.

Nissan rental cars I've had generally drive like any other basic 4 door transportation appliance cars. Fine, but meh, of course they're rental car trims so I shouldn't expect much.

I think what I'm saying is - I've yet to experience any particularly good suspension tuning from Nissan. I'm sure they've done better on some cars, but they're not who I would look to for suspension inspiration, that's for sure. Yeah the Y I drove rode like crap for a family car, and was obviously no sports car in terms of handling either, but it certainly handled way better than a Leaf. Neither has good suspension tuning from the factory, they've just made different tradeoffs, though I guess the Leaf's tuning is probably more suited to its typical customers.
 
Isn't that what we are doing? Comparing the apple ride of a Y to the orange ride of [insert car here]?

Neither my 22 Leaf or my previous cars (Chrysler PHEV Pacifica, QX60) has air suspension and it's still like apples and oranges. :)
@BigNerd While I certainly don't expect (or even want) the Y to feel like a sports car, if the Y handled like a Leaf or Pacifica I'd be sorely disappointed. (I can't comment on the QX60.) I think there's cars with much better suspension tuning to take inspiration from!
 
Coming from non air suspension bmws, I do think the overall ride quality is really lacking regarding compliance. Just because my MYP is stiff doesn't mean it handles well, quite the opposite. I'm actually scared go around a corner with too much speed because there might be a road imperfection that might just bounce me into an under-steer mess. I have very little confidence in either MYP or M3P. They need to hire some BMW suspension engineers or someone that can redo their whole spring rates and dampening ratios. Still fun in a straight line tho 🥲
 
Coming from non air suspension bmws, I do think the overall ride quality is really lacking regarding compliance. Just because my MYP is stiff doesn't mean it handles well, quite the opposite. I'm actually scared go around a corner with too much speed because there might be a road imperfection that might just bounce me into an under-steer mess. I have very little confidence in either MYP or M3P. They need to hire some BMW suspension engineers or someone that can redo their whole spring rates and dampening ratios. Still fun in a straight line tho 🥲
That’s an interesting comparison, Tesla Y/3 to BMW suspension. Never been a big fan of BMW suspension but I find them it be similar to Y. Am I way off? Both are a bit stiff, certainly cornering is better in BMW…but the bumps you feel from the daily grind about what and what. My comparison; BMW 3, 5 and first run of X series.
 
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That’s an interesting comparison, Tesla Y/3 to BMW suspension. Never been a big fan of BMW suspension but I find them it be similar to Y. Am I way off? Both are a bit stiff, certainly cornering is better in BMW…but the bumps you feel from the daily grind about what and what. My comparison; BMW 3, 5 and first run of X series.
I think which BMW matters a lot. An X3 I drove years ago had a horrible suspension, felt like a mini truck. Most 3 series and M3 I've driven had very good suspension tuning though. Some softer, some firmer, but pretty much always a good balance of ride and handling. 5 series and M5 good too as bigger cars go (I've less experience with them). Z3 was just fun, didn't get to push it hard but it felt appropriate for the street.

Newest 3 series I've driven was an F30 and it was super numb & boring compared to older ones, but the suspension was still pretty well tuned I think...as long as you didn't care about feeling what the car was doing.
 
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That’s an interesting comparison, Tesla Y/3 to BMW suspension. Never been a big fan of BMW suspension but I find them it be similar to Y. Am I way off? Both are a bit stiff, certainly cornering is better in BMW…but the bumps you feel from the daily grind about what and what. My comparison; BMW 3, 5 and first run of X series.
I would say the m spec BMW cars are definitely tuned to drive better vs the normal 3 series. My last bmw a 08 v8 m3 which I just sold to help finance my new MYP. Again it comes to compliance teslas do not take road imperfections and just feels unsettled under most road conditions that's not perfectly flat. I've owned most generations of m3s and driven most of the x5/6 M cars...the tuning is just better but those vehicles do have adjustable dampening where the harshest setting is still better than my MYP suspension. Again this is just my opinion..I'm sure some ppl like Tesla current setup...I think it could be alot better if they tried. I would bet a electric macan would handle alot better than any Tesla.
 
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I would say the m spec BMW cars are definitely tuned to drive better vs the normal 3 series. My last bmw a 08 v8 m3 which I just sold to help finance my new MYP. Again it comes to compliance teslas do not take road imperfections and just feels unsettled under most road conditions that's not perfectly flat. I've owned most generations of m3s and driven most of the x5/6 M cars...the tuning is just better but those vehicles do have adjustable dampening where the harshest setting is still better than my MYP suspension. Again this is just my opinion..I'm sure some ppl like Tesla current setup...I think it could be alot better if they tried. I would bet a electric macan would handle alot better than any Tesla.
@ED_SFO Have you driven many Model S?

The S P85+ suspension (note the Plus - very important) was surprisingly good for such a large car. Sporty, firm, but not harsh at all, still had that nice air suspension ride. Legit good ride/handling balance and by far the best stock Tesla suspension tuning I've experienced. It felt like Tesla gave the entire Model S suspension a sporty makeover, down to the bushings. I never attempted any real back road shredding in one so don't know if the Plus suspension could keep up under hard driving though. Early dual motor Model S (or at least early P85D) had Plus-like suspension tuning too, but then Tesla went back to soft suspension tuning again. By P100D era they were full on soft heavy boats, heavier feeling and even less sporty than my old P85 (non-plus). Real nice cruisers though (P100DL).

Note I've not driven a 2021+ yoke Model S yet, I understand the suspension is very different from prior ones, and many of them seem to have issues with the adjustable dampers that Tesla isn't even owning up to yet.

Coil spring Model S suspensions were junk btw. They rode and handled worse than the air spring cars. With coil springs the car felt like an economy sedan going down the road, whereas with air suspension it felt like twice the price. Basically Tesla has never produced a good coil spring suspension from the factory that I've experienced (Model 3 is okay if you don't drive too hard), but Tesla has shipped some good air suspensions in the Model S, depending on your priorities. My P85 has a real nice quality to its ride with the air suspension, even though it's not the smoothest car ever. (Smoother than a Model 3 easily of course, and in a different world from a Model Y.) And while the P85 (non-plus) isn't overtly sporty, and is overall soft, it can actually get around turns pretty quick on the right tires...it's not bad handling, it's just big and not super involving. The really good weight distribution and light frontend (rear motor only) surely helps.
 
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Some people like stiff suspension, some people hate that and want cushy, sometimes a car ends up in the middle and some people hate it because it isn't sporty enough and other people hate it because it is too stiff. The Model 3 and Y are lower end Teslas and they shave a lot of costs on them. You can do a better job of making everyone happy with really fancy dampers and I think that just wasn't a place where they spent money. They spent it on having 500 horsepower and big range instead. Such is life.