Clarification: 5.9 ride height setting: "Always"

steve841 said:

With 5.9 we get our lowering back.

Even though it should be straight forward, the option of "Always" means what?

Always lower at speed. (Was it previously 45mph??)
Always (as in stay in LOW height - overriding the settings of normal, etc?)

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Always means ALWAYS stay in low height mode unless you choose another option from the menu.

I wouldn't recommend leaving it set to ALWAYS. That's a great way to smash into a curb or block.

AmpedRealtor said:

I wouldn't recommend leaving it set to ALWAYS. That's a great way to smash into a curb or block.

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Or you could just watch where you're going... I don't see the connection.

AmpedRealtor said:

I wouldn't recommend leaving it set to ALWAYS. That's a great way to smash into a curb or block.

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+1 And a quicker way to further shorten the tire life with camber gain in "low" setting.

I didn't buy a car with 443lb-ft of torque to worry about tire life...

Ha! I hadn't noticed an "Always" button yet. Will look for it now...

"ALWAYS" will most likely only benefit track day. My reason to lower is reduced drag, which, in this vehicle with an already low drag coefficient wont mean much until you're over 45 MPH or possibly higher.

ThosEM said:

Ha! I hadn't noticed an "Always" button yet. Will look for it now...

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mnx said:

Or you could just watch where you're going... I don't see the connection.

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There are always occasions when you might miscalculate the distance to the curb in front of your car, or you simply get distracted. It's not as simple as "watch where you're going", but if that floats your boat then okay!

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Amped Plants said:

I didn't buy a car with 443lb-ft of torque to worry about tire life...

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The two are not inextricably linked. I have the same car you describe, yet have no issues with tire life. After 7,500 miles my tires show very little signs of wear, and wear pattern is even across all four tires.

Hence why Tesla made the low setting a customizable option. I plan to set mine to go to low at 60+

Having grown up driving super low cars with low front air dams I always go sideways over driveways, sideways over speedbumps and park far from curbstops. The Model S in the low setting is nothing compared to the cars I grew up driving. It could go much lower for my. It drives me crazy when I ride with people who crash the front of their cars straight into driveways and curb-stops.

Took me a while, but I finally found the "settings" over on that tab instead of with the "controls" for the suspension height. Go figure...

I suppose that it might be smart to get the new shields installed before "going low" but I'm not that smart. I set it for 90 km/hr, which is the "ideal" consumption speed, above which it needs help to reduce drag.

When did the new update come out?? I haven't got mine yet and I'm still on 5.8.8 ???

I decided to try out the LOW ALWAYS setting. A couple of weeks into it, and I haven't had any problems. I do have to watch for steep entrances into malls and driveways, but then I've always had to watch for that anyways. And parking before the curb stop isn't a big deal. Haven't scraped the bottom yet.

Part of the reason I want it low is that the street I take to get home allows you to drive 40-50 MPH and has a bunch of curves, so lower to ground seems to improve body roll.

I discovered that if you set it to low on the driving tab, the car lowers and stays lowered until it shuts off. I've got mine set for 45, but on a long freeway trip I can just hit low and the car will stay low even if traffic causes me to slow to 10mph.

towman26 said:

When did the new update come out?? I haven't got mine yet and I'm still on 5.8.8 ???

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Towman, I just got it today, so you are not alone!

Does anyone have there suspension set for low always. Thinking of doing this because I do not like the fact that ever time I get out of the car it auto lowers. Just going to keep it in low all the time, no issues with driveways etc.

Are you sure it auto lowers every time you get out of the car? I don't think the car will change height while any door is open.

Merrill said:

Does anyone have there suspension set for low always. Thinking of doing this because I do not like the fact that ever time I get out of the car it auto lowers. Just going to keep it in low all the time, no issues with driveways etc.

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I have mine set to low always. I'm in FL though, which is flat as a pancake.

bradhs said:

Are you sure it auto lowers every time you get out of the car? I don't think the car will change height while any door is open.

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Yes, once you close the doors the handles retract and the car lowers. So just got back from testing the always low mode and the car does the same thing, lowers after you exit. I verified that when we parked it was in low then we exit and it goes lower, so there are 2 lows. One when you are driving and one when parked, so the low when driving is not the lowest low. Wondering if this is normal. It bothers me that the air suspension will be engaged every time you park, seems needless wear and tear.