earl pottinger

If done at the factory while the car is made, how much of a difference in price would the up-graded shocks affect the price to the customers?

Earl Colby Pottinger (BEV Fan)

Zcd1

The Model 3P’s ride/handling balance is really very good overall. It may be missing that last 10% of polish provided by the best Euro competitors but for 90% of drivers most of the time it’s more than good enough.

Anyone complaining about its ride must not have driven a recent competitive BMW M-Car or AMG, because they ride worse.

Needsdecaf

Eh, not really.

I drove an F80 M3, M4, C63, and 991.1 and 991.2 prior to buying my 991.1 Carrera in 2016, so I have a very good idea of how they ride. Yes, they are pretty stiffly sprung, however they still have a much more sophisticated damper than the Model 3.

I've had two model 3's, and now have over 60k miles combined. The Model 3 does not have a good ride on undulating pavement, and particularly on segmented concrete. I can see if you drive primarily on asphalt roads you might think it's a decent ride, but really it's not. The problem is that the springs are soft, and the dampers don't have much control, so the car is into the bumpstops on anything over a moderate bump. You then get a very "springy" ride. It's very bouncy and pogo-y. See the video below, and pay attention to the fixed horizontal elements such as the sign standards and overpasses. It's especially bad in the back seat. I can literally get places where my kids will pop off the back seat.

The M Cars, etc. are stiff, but they're not out of control like the Model 3 is. For reference, neither of my 911's have ridden this poorly, on the same roads, even in their stiffest suspension.

Zcd1

We can agree to disagree on that point, then.

Needsdecaf

So when you drive your car, does your car bounce like mine is doing in the video?

Zcd1

I don't really see the point in debating this. I feel the ride is fine overall. You don't. I'm not going to change your mind nor you mine, so again, we'll just agree to disagree, and that's cool IMHO.

Needsdecaf

I was looking for a data point, but ok, whatever.

XLR82XS

Agreed. I daily a Model 3 and it's perfect for that duty + Costco trips, my coast-to-coast FL trips. I do see a Taycan on the horizon when I'm done with the Tesla and that time will be determined as 6-digit mileage is accumulated and I evaluate any excessive service costs.

Schn3ll

Tesla people are just like asking a Chinese citizen what they think of their government. They answer “I can’t complain”.

Zcd1

Hmmm, which “data point” did you provide?

Needsdecaf

I do complain, and often. I get a lot of "dislikes" on the Tesla forums, which I wear with pride, lol.

A video showing the behavior I described.

diver110

I lost track of this thread. Thanks for the feedback. I test drove a 3 a while back and found the seats too uncomfortable. Even my 5'2" girlfriend did not like the seats. From what I have been able to see, the Plaid won't be that much less expensive than the Taycan, at least the 4S, which is plenty fast enough for me. I will probably take a hard look at the Taycan when (1) they improve the range and (2) improve the charging network.

Zcd1

Your video and opinion are no more a "data point" than are the comments from me and 2 others in this thread saying the ride/handling is good the way it is for its intended purpose. They're all just opinions.

XLR82XS

Me as well. Odd bunch of tree huggers and idiots in general over there. My 3 is super fun to drive and it makes sense for me now in current situation. As mentioned before - there's a Taycan on the horizon.

Needsdecaf

Oh, the cult of Elon is strong.

My issue with the Taycan is while I can afford it, I really don't want to think about putting 25k to 30k miles a year on it and thinking what that will look like for warranty or depreciation. I'm not quite baller enough to afford that, lol. Now, if nice pre-owned one suffering a ton of depreciation comes up with some good warranty left....well then things might change.