This is what Steve emailed us when he got back home from visiting us all the way from Oregon, 550 miles one way!!!!!

 

"TL/DR:  Take your Tesla to Rishie."

 

"I’m smart enough to know I’m not very smart so I rely on really smart people…….

 

This has never let me down. 

 

I made the decision to lower my ’22 M3P the day I took delivery.  The ride height was ridiculous and the handling was soft, squishy, and slow to respond.  My last 3 cars were Mercedes, 2 of them had been professionally lowered.  The ride height and handling on my Tesla left me disappointed in comparison. 

 

I dove into the research process to find someone in the PacNW to install aftermarket suspension to meet my needs.  Experience has shown that the wrong shop is a terrible decision particularly with a brand-new car and, in addition, a Tesla.  A lot of the shops I found were diffused in their product offering.  They would specialize in tinting, PPF, wraps, and as a side note, suspension.  No one I found made me feel comfortable about the ability to work on a Tesla.

 

I did, however, keep seeing the name Rishie Garg in the groups I follow.  I started researching his business, AutoRnD / ZEVcentric in Fremont, California.  I followed his posts about his current work with clients’ cars as well as correcting other shops terrible work.  The only problem was his shop is 550 miles away from my home.  I thought he might be willing to sell me parts and help find a shop in my area to perform the work on a consultant basis.

 

We started communicating about my wants and needs…. It took me about 30 seconds to realize I was communicating with a true professional with expansive Tesla knowledge.  I asked him every question I could think of, I hit him with every concern I had.   The choice was simple, take a drive to Fremont!

 

We made arrangements for me to drive down on a Tuesday, the suspension work being performed on Wednesday morning.  I would drive the car for the rest of the day leaving Thursday morning with time to make any corrections. 

 

I arrived in the Bay Area at ~2:30pm on Tuesday and sent him a text that I was in town.  He immediately called and asked me to lunch with his crew.  This turned out to be a great opportunity to sit with his crew, get to know them, and ask questions.  I left the restaurant thinking:  “Yup….I made the right choice”.

 

Wednesday morning came.  The crew was ready and waiting.  On the menu was Mountain Pass Performance coil overs, H&R wheel spacers, rear camber arm, lower front control arm bearings and brake master cylinder brace.  Now, here’s the part I really appreciated.  Rishie insisted on the rear camber arm saying he wouldn’t install the suspension without it.  The reason:  Proper alignment can’t be achieved without it.  (Long term money savings and better performance!)   He also strongly suggested the front lower control arm bearings as the stock ones tend to start failing at 25k miles based on their experiences.  (More long-term money savings and better performance!). I also wanted to car lower, showing him examples of photos of Tesla’s I liked.  Again, he strongly suggested not lowering the car too much in the beginning as it may settle and should give myself time to figure out what height would be most appropriate.

 

When the work was completed with an in-house alignment, I was off to drive.  My plan was to drive to Half Moon Bay to get a feel for the new components.  From a Starbucks, I sent Rishie a pic of the car with a note that I was super pleased but I thought the dampers needed a tiny bit of adjustment.  He asked me to come back to the shop immediately.  His rationale was to make that adjustment to ensure I had the opportunity to take a serious drive. 

 

Holy Crap!  That small adjustment made everything perfect!  My observation was that it drove just like the stock suspension on surface streets, comfortable and smooth.

 

Rather than drive to Half Moon Bay, I changed my plans and took a drive to Lick Observatory.  A 14-mile trip that should take over an hour to travel, it had a lot of corners!  That road is a perfect litmus test for any suspension.  The car came alive on the twisties.  It felt nimble, responsive, and with the power of the car, exiting a corner was unreal.  

 

As per Rishie, he wanted to know how the car felt, later that night we de-briefed on the phone.  His primary goal was making sure I was pleased. 

 

I couldn’t be happier, the car is perfect.  The stance looks amazing and aggressive.  It handles corners with predictability and stability. 

 

Rishie, I’ll be back in the spring for wheels and tires. 

 

Thanks to you, Steven, and Tim for a job well done!"