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No P85D with Coil Suspension this year ...

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I have a P85D ordered (late December delivery promised) with Coils springs (and 19" wheels). My rationale for that decision, despite the fact that several
Tesla folks have tried to talk me out of it, can be found here:

P85D Wheel and Suspension Options - Seeking Advice

Tonight I got a call from a Tesla rep in Palo Alto with the unfortunate news that coil configured P85Ds won't be delivered until February next year....:frown:

Either the final design/configuration/testing for this option isn't complete, or hasn't been complete long enough for their suppliers to provide parts.
(Or for the cynics out there, Tesla is simply optimizing current quarter profitability by producing vehicles ordered with a high margin option).

So now the question for me is re-opened ... convert to Smart Air Suspension, or wait to February. Opinions welcome (see the link above if you want to understand my view).

yak-55
 
I have air and 21's. You may have a higher probability of getting a slightly better "build" AND a car with your well thought/read/reasoned option selection if you wait until February. Patience........(it's
V E R Y hard to find around here)

Good-Luck!
 
I thought the uniform opinion was that the p85+ was the best combination of road-holding feel yet reasonable comfort for the pre p85d models; all p85+ had air suspension. p85d is the successor of p85+, and initially could only be configured with air suspension. The only review outside of quick impression at launch event is from Motor Trend, and is very favorable - with air suspension. Cannot quite understand why you would go back to coils....
 
I pulled the air springs and put Tesla coils on my P+. The answer to why is simple; it feels and responds better. However, "better" is a matter of personal taste. Drive an E63 and C63 back to back and you will have a stark example of air v. coil.

Yak, do be cautious with the Feb. delivery. Given that sans air appeared after the D was available for configuration tells me it was a marketing driven change that was placed on engineering's desk. If I am correct, engineering must re-valve dampers to suit the PD then review and release that spec to the vendor that assembles the spring damper units. Once released, the vendor must then produce the new dampers. February may be optimistic which is why I ordered my PD with air. I was told by engineering that I will not be disappointed with PD on air springs. Having moved the car to springs once already, I am keenly aware of how easy it is to do if I am disappointed.
 
I pulled the air springs and put Tesla coils on my P+. The answer to why is simple; it feels and responds better. However, "better" is a matter of personal taste. Drive an E63 and C63 back to back and you will have a stark example of air v. coil.

Yak, do be cautious with the Feb. delivery. Given that sans air appeared after the D was available for configuration tells me it was a marketing driven change that was placed on engineering's desk. If I am correct, engineering must re-valve dampers to suit the PD then review and release that spec to the vendor that assembles the spring damper units. Once released, the vendor must then produce the new dampers. February may be optimistic which is why I ordered my PD with air. I was told by engineering that I will not be disappointed with PD on air springs. Having moved the car to springs once already, I am keenly aware of how easy it is to do if I am disappointed.

Even more reason to wait for the coil suspension. I've always like the stiff, responsive steering so this was a no-brainer to me. I'd wait the extra 2 months
 
I pulled the air springs and put Tesla coils on my P+. The answer to why is simple; it feels and responds better. However, "better" is a matter of personal taste. Drive an E63 and C63 back to back and you will have a stark example of air v. coil.

Yak, do be cautious with the Feb. delivery. Given that sans air appeared after the D was available for configuration tells me it was a marketing driven change that was placed on engineering's desk. If I am correct, engineering must re-valve dampers to suit the PD then review and release that spec to the vendor that assembles the spring damper units. Once released, the vendor must then produce the new dampers. February may be optimistic which is why I ordered my PD with air. I was told by engineering that I will not be disappointed with PD on air springs. Having moved the car to springs once already, I am keenly aware of how easy it is to do if I am disappointed.

Most likely it's not "engineering" (I guess you mean Teslas R&D department) that does any kind of internal changes (such as re-valving) with the shock absorbers.

It's more likely Tesla request a certain characteristic for the shock absorber and supplier tries to meet this. The performance of a high end shock absorber with a steel spring is in almost all cases better than a high end shock absorber with an air spring. This is due to the characteristics of air springs. However I doubt Tesla use anything close to high end when it comes to shock absorbers so it's hard to say which is the best around a track. I chose coils but haven't received my S85 yet.
 
Yak,

I also have a p85d on order with coils and received the same call. I have cars with both air and coil suspension. I am fine waiting until feb for a better handling car. Also you are removing a point of failure from a car with few moving parts. The air pumps will break. It's just a matter of when.
 
Tesla has custom Bilstein dampers that can be re-valved and, yes, I believe they do get shock oil on their hands. We are talking first class nerds here :)

Well technically any shock absorbers that uses a valve can be revalved. If they do any changes themselves it would most probably be changing from different internal setups recommended by the supplier. However I do not believe they do any custom re-valving themselves. Being a nerd doesn't make you a competent enough to do anything without proper experience :) I've worked for one of best suspension manufacturers (and probably most highly regarded) in the world and I doubt that it would be beneficial for Tesla to re-engineer the suspension themselves.
 
Really, we are going to discuss weather Tesla engineers are changing shim stacks with our without adhering to Bilstien's production stack guidelines? If we are, you win; I'm sure they are using "internal setups recommended by the supplier". Point1 taken.

And yes, technically you can change shims in any stacked damper. It's just that the ones used on MS production (not development) are crimped closed so you would need to machine off the crimp, come up with another method to seal the dampers when you have made your changes and then weld on a schrader valve to pressurize them again. I was advised by Bilstein USA that I really did not want to head down that path.