Howdy,
"Just a quick recap" on winter driving. Hopefully it'll help CO drivers.
Car: M3, red brakes.
Last night's trip: Home (Eagle, elevation 6700) from Denver (elevation 5280). I was experiencing 50% loss all the way from Denver to Silverthorne (elevation 9035).
Temps leaving Denver were high 20's. By the time I got to Silverthorne temp was 6 (F), probably colder. It was windy, the roads were dry.
Silverthorne to Eagle got better.
Going over Vail Pass (summit elevation 10,662), it was 0 to -6. Windy. Pulled into my garage it was -2. Silverthorne to Eagle was 84 rated miles, 63.5 actual miles.
General trip notes: Eagle to Denver is 135 miles. If the roads are dry and the temps are in above 20 (F) in the mountains, then warmer in Denver, I can get to Denver on a 90% charge going 4 over. Then have a little left, to go where I need to, so long as it's in Denver.
But if not, I top off to 80% in Silverthorne.
Denver to home: As a rule now, I leave Denver with 90%. This covers me if there's problems on I-70, or the conditions are lousy. It's about 70 miles from Denver to the supercharger in Silverthorne, so even in the most extreme situation, it's hard to see where I'd run out of juice. Anything is possible.
Hey Elon: Please put a supercharger in Dumont, @ the Starbucks. It's perfect.
Tires: I put Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4's on. I like the tire. But next year I'll either get Nokian Hakkapelitta's, or the Bizzaks. I love, love the Hakka's. Blizzaks are a close 2nd. Hakka's are far and away, best snow tire I've had.
Shout out to T Sportline: They're making a 18" rim that'll work for our car. Seems like great customer service there, they called me when I had a question. I'll buy their rims for next winter, put Hakka's on. That'll be tight.
Handling: I've not been able to get the car to go sideways in the snow, which is a really good thing. I can get it to slip, but then it corrects itself. So while I'm not ready to say the car is as good in the winter as our old S4 Avant, it's better than our 2012 A7 that we sold to get this car.
Chatting at the supercharger: Yesterday I had a nice chat with two other Teslaians. One was a Conservative, Evangelical from Indiana (2018 X) traveling across country to the Left Coast. The other was a younger trustafarian (2013 S). Neither one of them bought the car because of the environment.
The Indiana dude bought the car because of cost. He's going to drive it 400k miles. The buy in for him was all the savings on gas and what not.
The trustafarian bought the car because of the cool factor.
The Indiana dude was good to talk to. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on politics and religion. My guess is he's about as right as they go and I'm...much left of that. We shook hands and wished each other well. I said I'd pray for him in my own way, he seemed to be surprised by that.
I like talking to people at the supercharger. Most just sit in their car, staring at their phone (like we don't do that enough already??). Not me. I like to get out and walk around.
So watch out for the guy wanting to chat you up at the supercharger. It could be me!
"Just a quick recap" on winter driving. Hopefully it'll help CO drivers.
Car: M3, red brakes.
Last night's trip: Home (Eagle, elevation 6700) from Denver (elevation 5280). I was experiencing 50% loss all the way from Denver to Silverthorne (elevation 9035).
Temps leaving Denver were high 20's. By the time I got to Silverthorne temp was 6 (F), probably colder. It was windy, the roads were dry.
Silverthorne to Eagle got better.
Going over Vail Pass (summit elevation 10,662), it was 0 to -6. Windy. Pulled into my garage it was -2. Silverthorne to Eagle was 84 rated miles, 63.5 actual miles.
General trip notes: Eagle to Denver is 135 miles. If the roads are dry and the temps are in above 20 (F) in the mountains, then warmer in Denver, I can get to Denver on a 90% charge going 4 over. Then have a little left, to go where I need to, so long as it's in Denver.
But if not, I top off to 80% in Silverthorne.
Denver to home: As a rule now, I leave Denver with 90%. This covers me if there's problems on I-70, or the conditions are lousy. It's about 70 miles from Denver to the supercharger in Silverthorne, so even in the most extreme situation, it's hard to see where I'd run out of juice. Anything is possible.
Hey Elon: Please put a supercharger in Dumont, @ the Starbucks. It's perfect.
Tires: I put Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4's on. I like the tire. But next year I'll either get Nokian Hakkapelitta's, or the Bizzaks. I love, love the Hakka's. Blizzaks are a close 2nd. Hakka's are far and away, best snow tire I've had.
Shout out to T Sportline: They're making a 18" rim that'll work for our car. Seems like great customer service there, they called me when I had a question. I'll buy their rims for next winter, put Hakka's on. That'll be tight.
Handling: I've not been able to get the car to go sideways in the snow, which is a really good thing. I can get it to slip, but then it corrects itself. So while I'm not ready to say the car is as good in the winter as our old S4 Avant, it's better than our 2012 A7 that we sold to get this car.
Chatting at the supercharger: Yesterday I had a nice chat with two other Teslaians. One was a Conservative, Evangelical from Indiana (2018 X) traveling across country to the Left Coast. The other was a younger trustafarian (2013 S). Neither one of them bought the car because of the environment.
The Indiana dude bought the car because of cost. He's going to drive it 400k miles. The buy in for him was all the savings on gas and what not.
The trustafarian bought the car because of the cool factor.
The Indiana dude was good to talk to. It was interesting to hear his thoughts on politics and religion. My guess is he's about as right as they go and I'm...much left of that. We shook hands and wished each other well. I said I'd pray for him in my own way, he seemed to be surprised by that.
I like talking to people at the supercharger. Most just sit in their car, staring at their phone (like we don't do that enough already??). Not me. I like to get out and walk around.
So watch out for the guy wanting to chat you up at the supercharger. It could be me!
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