Back end slipping/strange for some owners

[Lord Farquad]

Over the last week I driven a VW Touareg V6, Skoda Superb 280, Volvo XC60 D5 (polestar), V60 B6 and BMW 330d. All 4wd and on summer tyres. With a bit of aggressive driving they all lost traction and got sideways. In fact the only car that hasn’t lost traction is my M3 SR+ rwd

 

[Tigermad]

Over the last week I driven a VW Touareg V6, Skoda Superb 280, Volvo XC60 D5 (polestar), V60 B6 and BMW 330d. All 4wd and on summer tyres. With a bit of aggressive driving they all lost traction and got sideways. In fact the only car that hasn’t lost traction is my M3 SR+ rwd

Aggressive driving is the key there. Some reporting this are not driving aggressively though, in fact more slowly.

 

[Peter 224]

The M3 dual motor is a powerful car with a rear drive bias and summer tyres.
It shouldn't be a surprise that the back end can step out when grip is low.
As has been said, drive to the conditions.

I drive a Morgan Plus 8 with a 4.8L BMW V8 all year round. RWD and no traction control, just a LSD and winter tyres. As a retired biker I'm acutely aware of road conditions and adjust my right foot to suite conditions.

 

[spdpsba]

I've just downloaded a Firmware Update from Tesla to improve Winter Traction...

Maybe try this one...

View attachment 760830

Hope he is not going to say they are expensive updates and Tesla has to give them free!

 

[Tigermad]

I’m feeling a bit like it’s Groundhog Day here.
1) some cars with winter tyres on are doing it.
2) people are not driving aggressively for the conditions, in fact the opposite.

 

[yessuz]

I’m feeling a bit like it’s Groundhog Day here.
1) some cars with winter tyres on are doing it.
2) people are not driving aggressively for the conditions, in fact the opposite.

you might be surprised, but greasy roads are almost like icy roads, and even winter tyres (oh , winter tyres are not all made equal!!!) can lose grip.

 

[Aye_Watt]

I've had similar driving dynamics when accelerating out of familiar junctions/roundabouts in the last few weeks, and hadn't really thought anything of it. It's not something I can say happens that often so I put it down to the road surface at the time. Interesting thread though.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

I’m feeling a bit like it’s Groundhog Day here.
1) some cars with winter tyres on are doing it.
2) people are not driving aggressively for the conditions, in fact the opposite.

Yes, that's the whole point. If winter tyres are losing grip and traction the conditions are very slippery.
Traction control works when there's a loss of grip. It can't cause a loss of grip as some people are making out.
Even with a M3P in drift mode, the driver has to provoke the car to get it to drift. The car doesn't magically cause the tyres to lose traction by itself.

It's Groundhog Day because some people still can't accept it's the road conditions, not the car.

 

[paulobrien]

Absolutely no way what I experienced was related to road conditions, I've been driving long enough, in enough different cars and had this car long enough to spot that it was abnormal behaviour!

 

[Sparkeur]

Yes. I have a LHD and on a roundabout I have used for two years since I purchased the car, you have to floor the throttle to get onto it because of the volume of relentless (French) traffic. About two months ago ( don't know how many releases that is) I noticed for the first time that I'm sometimes getting what feels like half a second of rear wheel spin. It's not ice, slippery or loose gravel..it just started happening sometimes. I don't experience it anywhere else. As with most things Tesla, I've just ignored it.

 

[DM206433]

Absolutely no way what I experienced was related to road conditions, I've been driving long enough, in enough different cars and had this car long enough to spot that it was abnormal behaviour!

Interesting thread this one, some strong opinions either way.

What exactly were the conditions when you experienced the problem? Just so that we've got a clear picture.

 

[MrBadger]

I had a issue a couple of days ago. Following another car slowly (~20mph max) and gently down a hill that I use every day. Car slid, never done that before. Definitely something changed recently. In over 5 years my car has never behaved like that.

But unless Tesla are now pushing OTA updates to Fiats, its not a Tesla software release My money is the long dry spell, cold greasy roads, a bit of unevenness over a manhole cover or a painted set of white lines.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Absolutely no way what I experienced was related to road conditions, I've been driving long enough, in enough different cars and had this car long enough to spot that it was abnormal behaviour!

So what in your opinion has changed with the car/TC/software? Can you reproduce it at will?

 

[Js1977]

"The roads near me have been the same condition for months..."

Says it all really... some people will never learn.

What’s that supposed to me?

Complacency

Just like many a times when driving the same stretch of road day in day out, you will have blanks/voids at certain points that you can’t recall passing Y between X and Z. Happens to all of us.

Just saying…

 

[Cardo]

The M3 dual motor is a powerful car with a rear drive bias and summer tyres.
It shouldn't be a surprise that the back end can step out when grip is low.
As has been said, drive to the conditions.

I drive a Morgan Plus 8 with a 4.8L BMW V8 all year round. RWD and no traction control, just a LSD and winter tyres. As a retired biker I'm acutely aware of road conditions and adjust my right foot to suite conditions.

If you’re driving on LSD, I’m surprised your back end isn’t stepping out more often!

 

[browellm]

Although the plural of anecdote is not data, I'm not sure this warrants the condescension and pile-on @Tigermad appears to be on the end of here. It seems to me the spirit and intention of the thread was to collate a few experiences from owners and ask the question as to whether something in software could be causing the extra slippage or over-enthusiastic application of traction control.

One small thing comes to mind - could any of this be related to the stealth introduction of "Snow Mode" that was highlighted by Bjorn and others recently?

 

[PITA]

Hope he is not going to say they are expensive updates and Tesla has to give them free!

Wish they were free... just cost me £3500

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Although the plural of anecdote is not data, I'm not sure this warrants the condescension and pile-on @Tigermad appears to be on the end of here. It seems to me the spirit and intention of the thread was to collate a few experiences from owners and ask the question as to whether something in software could be causing the extra slippage or over-enthusiastic application of traction control.

One small thing comes to mind - could any of this be related to the stealth introduction of "Snow Mode" that was highlighted by Bjorn and others recently?

How can it be? That's described as limiting power MORE than previously, not allowing extra slippage.

What people seem to be describing is a greater loss of traction and grip than previously, which is going to happen before TC kicks in anyway.
They also often can't distinguish between grip and traction, which are different things, but if you know the difference you'll understand what's going on with the tyre/tarmac interface.
The Model 3 has always allowed some slip and yaw before TC and SC saves it. For drivers used to RWD this is actually a nice touch as most modern RWD and AWD cars come with very aggressive TC systems.
Drivers coming from FWD or cars which don't allow any yawing might not like that feeling but it's been there all along, it's just the current road conditions in the UK are highlighting it.

 

[paulobrien]

So what in your opinion has changed with the car/TC/software? Can you reproduce it at will?

That's the problem, I can't reproduce it at will and to be honest, I hadn't really considered it was TC.

I've had it slowing for a junction (almost at a crawl), pulling out of my drive and one other time I can't remember what I was doing. I wouldn't class either of those as situations where I would expect traction problems based on the conditions.

It felt like something 'skipped' and IIRC it was the back nearside wheel every time, so I was concerned something mechanical was starting to give way!

 

[Gaz_]

Just another thought, I got my car washed this weekend and because of the line I spent a lot of time parked in the soapy water waiting to get clean. The tires seem to have absorbed or at least been coated in the soap and it has made for some interesting pulling away around a corner. I think I have finally worn it all off now. My own personal skid pan