Does the Model 3 spin out on corners?

[coleAK]

Yes I have no idea why anyone who lives here would not change the winter tires no matter what they drive but people do it. I met him for the first time that day and in talking with him I think he believed the all powerful Tesla Thought “winter tires I don’t need no stinking winter tires.”

In general pick ups and Subaru’s tend to be the vehicles I see most often stuck or off the road, without winter tires.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Really? No ABS with regen? Seems like a mistake on Tesla’s part...

Does this friend also live in Alaska? Driving in true winter conditions without real snow tires is asking for trouble no matter what kind of car you have.

I'm surprised they haven't addressed this yet. Normal ABS works by cutting brake pressure to individual wheels so it wouldn't do anything for regen. They need a special ragen ABS system to reduce regen when a loss of traction is detected.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Yes I have no idea why anyone who lives here would not change the winter tires no matter what they drive but people do it. I met him for the first time that day and in talking with him I think he believed the all powerful Tesla Thought “winter tires I don’t need no stinking winter tires.”

In general pick ups and Subaru’s tend to be the vehicles I see most often stuck or off the road, without winter tires.

In my hometown (Ottawa, Canada), it is just part of the culture to swap your tires twice a year. Most dealerships have large offsite summer and winter tire storage areas since they offer a tire change service.

But yeah, it was probably the thought that Tesla’s traction control is so good, you don’t need winter tires. The problem is that summer tires + snow equals NO traction, so traction control isn’t going to help, no matter how good it is.

 

[roblab]

I remember driving in Missouri (and I'm a California boy) going down the freeway veeeerrrryy cautiously, no abrupt speed changes, road slick, iced over. A semi had left two furrows in the snow, and I was doing maybe 35 or 40 when a Porsche decided to pass me, pulled into the other lane, did two complete turn arounds, and pulled back behind me in the tracks. His face was interesting. He'd learned something that day.

 

[SSedan]

Yeah living near Green Bay owning a Tesla an having spent 4 years on the Keweenaw Peninsula makes me completely unqualified to comment on how regen works in winter, and it is not like I drove in snow to get to Minneapolis tonight either.

I have a P85 since it is rear only regen it might be sketchier than AWD but my experience is the regen hits hard then backs way off and yoyos like that when it is slick. Low regen is safest on slick roads.

Snows are a good idea hit for instance the Green Bay area only gets 48". Winter roads are slick with salt as much as snow. Salt means the snow on roads is gone in a few days. Dedicated snows are overkill for this. On the other hand people on the Keweenaw sometimes just run snows year round. They use sand so salt isn't melting it and snowpack is common a good 4 months. With storms on either side of that. Houghton county airport is 180" average, now that calls for snows. The 1/2" I drove thru today the Primacys handle quite well.

 

[Perry]

From what I have seen, it seems nearly impossible to spin out a Tesla. Even in the snow:

In almost all cases where performance RWD ICE cars spin out it's because the traction control was disabled. I've had a 450hp RWD C63 and it never came close to slipping because the traction would immediately kick in.

In snow and ice, yes it is quite hard to spin out a model 3 because there isn't enough grip to throw the rear around but in the rain is a different story. I have spun out or drifted on purpose up to 90 degrees in wet conditions (no Track Mode, nothing disabled). All you have to do is floor it as your coming out of a sharp turn while having some pre-momentum. For example, take a 90 degree right turn at 30+ mph and accelerate hard while in the apex of the turn.

 

[longshot49]

You "can" spin out the car in "normal" low traction condition with TC on.

I put everything in quotes because it is possible but extremely unlikely situation like the previous poster said : full on throttle mid-curve in a 90o turn carrying some speed in about a foot of snow.

Most other situation TC control takes over to keep the car in control.

RE: ABS

I have not tried to put the car in such situation but doesn't TC apply braking ("torque vectoring") to slipping wheels? So ABS is not deployed, but I might have remembered the front brakes being applied by the TC to keep my car from going sideways.

 

[xilex]

So far I haven't had any issues, though I am not really going full acceleration in turns because then everything in the car slides around. Definitely will be more cautious in rain weather, especially since many people down here drive like dry weather in the rain.

 

[MountainPass]

With the assists disabled it is easy to spin with instant power and open differential

 

[longshot49]

With the assists disabled it is easy to spin with instant power and open differential

"Slip start" on (ie ghetto TC off) : it is easy to spin the wheel like the Price is Right(tm)

 

[xilex]

Cool, but I'm trying to avoid slipping wheels

 

[SemiS3XYR]

I’m no expert but don’t accelerate hard into a turn or from a light turning left/right that is big mistake in ANY vehicle. In general, slow down to the right speed, maintain speed in corner, and accelerate out.

Good condition tires and proper tires for the season(s) or high performing all seasons. Check out any tire rack tested tire. Tires are the most important part of a vehicle.

Drive safe!

 

[Nocturnal]

It is extremely hard. You can make it spin if you cut the wheel hard enough (because physics), but what OP is referring to is spinning out due to the rear wheels spinning. That doesn't happen, not even in snow.

 

[Altes]

Thanks for the video and the information, very helpful. Wonder why these guys turn traction control off Like this one here:

If I speed up (reasonably) while making a turn to keep traffic flowing hopefully it won't spin out.

Ahhh the ever popular curbs and coffee mustang crash

 

[insaneoctane]

Dropped this question to Elon and Ryan McCaffrey on twitter:

@elonmusk @DMC_Ryan I read that Tesla's do NOT use ABS (Anti-locking Brake System) when only regen brakes are applied? Can you confirm this? If true, lifting the 'gas' pedal in snowy weather could be dangerous! If I'm wrong, please set me straight! Love my #tesla !

 

[coleAK]

Another thing I have discovered it the Tesla does not apply ABS independently to one of the front wheels to combat understeer. I messed around on the ice last week (on a frozen lake). I could not get it to oversteer but it would understeer pretty bad. Never had the ABS kick in on the front outside wheel to correct like it does on my MB or LX.

 

[coleAK]

Dropped this question to Elon and Ryan McCaffrey on twitter:

@elonmusk @DMC_Ryan I read that Tesla's do NOT use ABS (Anti-locking Brake System) when only regen brakes are applied? Can you confirm this? If true, lifting the 'gas' pedal in snowy weather could be dangerous! If I'm wrong, please set me straight! Love my #tesla !

I think they know this. That’s why the manual says to switch Regen to low in the winter (snow).

 

[longshot49]

I think they know this. That’s why the manual says to switch Regen to low in the winter (snow).

Did I dream or does some TC kick in tho? (torque vectoring ie applied braking?)

 

[Nocturnal]

I think they know this. That’s why the manual says to switch Regen to low in the winter (snow).

ABS aside that is a good thing to do. Regen is like downshifting. It does risk you losing tracking if you suddenly require more from your tires.

 

[coleAK]

I’ve had Regen set to low since late October when the snow started and the ice followed, up here. I have tested (played around) with Regen normal on very slick roads. I will say with my Nokian Hakka 9’s it is extremely difficult for me to get the car to slide much even on solid clear ice. Regen normal does sort of let up when you start to slide. I think if I had all seasons though it would straight slide, but that is a theory I do not want and test so I put my winters on early October every year.

Per the question about the TC and vector applied breaking. I can’t get my Tesla to do that. I’ve tried and never feel the ABS apply under acceleration to stop understeer like on other cars. It deffinetly cuts power to the motors but I can understeer (plow) if I really try. On the other side I have never been able to get it to oversteer (spin the tail out)

Has anyone experienced the 3 using the ABS under acceleration to vector correct?