Might be contentious, but I think I prefer the coils to air...

[cantanko]

So I've had a Model X P90DL to play with over the past couple of days whilst the Digbeth SC have fitted my winter boots and "correctly fitted the headliner" (!) to eliminate the final and most irritating rattle in my S, and have to say that the air suspension feels much better in the X, but it is still unsettled by that one corner where the unloaded wheels go over a bump on the inside of the turn. Impulse-bounce-bounce every time, and I even had the suspension on "very low" as suggested. Had the opportunity to do the same corner at the same speed in a Range Rover with air springs and barely noticed it. It did however cost me approximately £38 in fuel to do that three mile test in the Rangey

 

[3mp_kwh]

Did you get the air cars down to low ride height before comparing?

To be fair, the same should be asked of the coil cars. Did you drive a lowered coil car? It's not unheard of. Mine is like a number of others, down 1.25" in back and 1" in front. A lower gravity center makes a difference to any car. Search "lowered" on TMC, to surf what others have done (shorter springs, moving down the spring perch). Coil cars get delivered near the equivalent 'High' setting.

Lately, stewing over Chris Harris P100D review and always noting Tesla's propensity to oscillate fore and aft when stopped, I'm wondering if the jiggling in both air and coil is actually an issue that needs damping while in motion. All P100Ds are air. That's what I noticed after driving a (non-Tesla) loaner for about a week, and going back to Model S: the feeling the strut towers sit atop insufficiently buttressed pogo sticks.

 

[The Duke]

Could you explain "oscillate fore and aft when stopped"? This is new to me.

I assume posts here about coil springs are stock. I frequent TMC and the number of people that have modified coil spring ride height is proportionately small.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Air suspension used to be super expensive to repair, however currently there are tons of these available on the used market.

Take off broken one and bolt on working used one. Not that big a deal anymore. (still not as cheap and reliable as coils though)

 

[Sharpgt]

I drove a bunch of cars before ordering mine. I felt with the 19" wheels the air suspension added nothing other than some assistance with steep driveways and a theoretical slight increase in range at speed due to less air resistance. However on the 21" wheels the ride was noticeably better with the Air suspension. Before I placed my order Tesla made Smart Air standard so I had no ability to choose but I would have opted for the air. Just my opinion and Tesla has done an excellent job with both suspensions especially when you factor in this was their first real passenger car.

 

[3mp_kwh]

Could you explain "oscillate fore and aft when stopped"? This is new to me.

I assume posts here about coil springs are stock. I frequent TMC and the number of people that have modified coil spring ride height is proportionately small.

When you bring any car to a stop abruptly, the wheels will stop and the car will keep going forward until it rebounds back. Some cars are more noticeable than others, coming further back and forth a couple times. The more ginger you are with your stopping, the less of an issue this becomes. That said, I find this easy to induce in the Model S, and wonder if it effected Chris Harris' comment about "brutal on one's tummy". I don't think this comes down to air, or coil, and would be surprised if Tesla didn't take the opportunity to address it in Model 3. Anyone S, to 3, owner comments?

In sum, I don't think Harris gave a fair review. I respect his sports car judgement, and once owned a GT3 myself, but I don't think he'd go on about it being "REALLY heavy" if it were a Panamera Hybrid (whose weight is right there, near ~5k pounds). He's also more of a stunt driver/journalist, than a fast driver. Not being able to power-slide, "toss", or throttle-steer cars into ridiculous slip-angles is something that leaves guys like this pre-disposed. A different "cup of tea".

 

[The Duke]

I have never seen "oscillate fore and aft when stopped" on Nicki. She has air shocks and I keep her on low suspension setting. But then again I frequently ride in a Lexus SUV that exhibits this oscillation markedly so my standard of comparison may be skewed. Proper braking technique can totally mask this characteristic as well as I learned from my Peugeot.

I would imagine low profile tires have less of this motion.

 

[FlatSix911]

All Tesla's have an adjustable air suspension ... they are called tires