I finally dragged my sick, useless ass out of the house for the first time since Tuesday (omg there's an outside world!) and got to test out 2023.44.30.5.1 (needs more decimal places), and I have some thoughts, after a half hour drive between 20mph and 60mph, with focus on 35-55mph, to cover and then some - the usual vibration speeds.
My thoughts?
1.) I really like that the volume bar got shrunk and no longer occludes navigation completely like it used to. That said, it got made reaaaaaaally small. I feel like there's surely something in between?
Come on, William.
Focus.
Alright, alright...
2.) The bit you've been waiting for: The Vibration.
El Vibrato.
Well,
@jebinc sure isn't going to feel any better when I say any of this (sorry, buddy). What's interesting about cars, and especially ICE engine feel (historically, at least) is that an enthusiast gets used to the way the vehicle drives and
feels, so much so that when something changes you have a bit of an
when it happens. With electric cars, their motors don't really have a
feel, but... the Model S Plaid
does.
For a recap:
When I got the car, from day 1, in
Low suspension the vibration was
bad between 37mph and 50-ish, but
Medium was "okay" - not too bad. Bizarrely, over time (next 1000 miles or so, as a guess), this
reversed itself, -
Medium became
awful, and
Low became better that it used to be. Over a bit more time, it became
Low is awful, and
Medium more awful. Not great. This led me to, with
@jebinc's help (well, he did 99% of the work), install some N2itive lowering links on the
front of the car, - just a tiny drop, which did help a little initially with the vibration, but over time it's kinda gotten more meh - worse for sure. I left the links on the front, but it was questionable as to how much they're doing for my car till this point in time.
Now, for those that
know, this vibration can actually be
heard if you know what you're listening for. It's a sort-of resonance in the cabin. You won't notice it with windows down or with music blasting, but on those quieter asphalt roads, at ~37-50mph or thereabouts, you can
feel it, especially if going up a hill and maintaining that speed, - more load on those motors. No ignorant-of-vibration passenger has ever pointed this resonance out (or the vibration at all), but I can notice it, from the driver's or passenger's seat. At times I can feel the resonance through the center console, too. It's just... not right.
Enter 2023.44.30.5.1.
Please bear in mind these thoughts are based on a single half hour drive, but boy was this half hour drive unlike anything I've experienced with my car since day 1, July, 2023. Not only is the vibration 97% (more on this later) gone, but the car actually drives a little smoother in terms of motor resonance even in the mid-to-high 20s. Maybe someone can pop some numbers up for what the motors are doing differently at those speeds pre/post software upgrade, but the difference is
obvious. It's hugely smoother. Then as we head toward those trouble numbers in the high 30s and throughout the 40s, the car sounds different in the cabin. Gone is that resonance, - and it's a world of difference. It is possible to induce the tiniest bit of vibration if
trying to, by bouncing through those ranges in unnatural ways (more testing needed), but for regular driving? Wow. What a difference. As others have said here, if you didn't know there
had been a vibration, you wouldn't think anything was awry.
So, I realized I was in
Low suspension when doing most of my testing, so I gingerly switched it to
Medium, which was pretty much unusable before. And no problems! I could not tell any difference between
Low and
Medium suspension settings, so I can finally put the car back into the
Medium setting for daily driving and worry less about speed bumps or potholes.
So overall, is this a 100% fix for the issue? No, - I think Tesla is fudging motor load to fix the issue (as Track Mode/Rear bias already proved). Do I think this should satisfy most people? Well, I trust
@jebinc and his findings with his car were not positive with this update, so I need to check out his car and see, - and I
know if he believes he still has issues, he
does. He's about as picky as I am (not an endearing trait, let me tell you!
). But for the rest of us?
More than likely this will make you very happy.
For me, based on that half hour drive, I'm in heaven. It's such a night/day difference in the regular trouble spot of 37-50, while also smoothing out the drivetrain at even lower speeds, - it becomes much more reminiscent of my old Model 3 Performance which was so smooth. I'll update if anything should change on subsequent drives, but right now I'm pleased as punch.
Alright, back to bed and being sick. Enough excitement for one night.
