Do you feel that your front motor whirring/whine noise is more noticeable at certain speeds vs. others? With the radio off I hear it mostly around 50 - 55mph. Outside of that range or with the radio on I don’t hear it. Just curious if others have experienced similar behavior. Mine is a 75D - around 6 months old. Thank you.
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@Dazureus Thanks. I don't hear any grinding noise during acceleration. I hear the whirring noise mainly when at a constant 51 or 52mph, but don't really notice it at other constant speeds. It may be that I'm just not listening enough. I'll try again today with the radio off and see if I can notice a more consistent pattern. Does the front motor whirring noise have anything to do with the drive unit @davidc18?
I took a longer drive this morning with the radio off. I wouldn't say the front motor noise is isolated to the 50 - 55mph speed range. I also hear it slightly in other ranges. Once the speed is steady/constant, then it suddenly fades away. I also hear it more when the car is doing regen. That's the sound, I would say. This all sounds normal to me now that I think about it. It also disappears the moment I turn on the radio. 
Solarman004
Member
Yes. But mine is in the 35 to 40 mph range both accelerating and decelerating. Been this way since new and the SC test drove it and said it was normal. After 14 months, however, I don't even notice it anymore.
Just went out for a long drive and decided to play around with the Range Mode setting. As reported earlier, I felt like I could hear my front motor more when accelerating around the 50 - 55mph range vs. other ranges. Well, surprisingly, after enabling Range Mode I can no longer hear the front motor whine during that range! I'm guessing this is due to Range Mode forcing the torque to be more evenly distributed between the front and rear motors? I'm going to leave it in Range Mode permanently since, at least to my ears, I never really hear the front motor "whine" now and only hear the normal faint sound from strong regen. The effect on the reduced climate control power doesn't seem too noticeable either when in Range Mode. Thoughts? Does it make sense that Range Mode would cause the front motor sounds to be more reduced / less noticeable?
mal_tsla
Member
I’ve heard range mode prioritizes vehicle range right now over battery longevity. Things like less energy dedicated to maintaining ideal battery temperature.
So I personally wouldn’t drive around in Range Mode all the time unless I’m always barely going to have enough range for my trip.
So I personally wouldn’t drive around in Range Mode all the time unless I’m always barely going to have enough range for my trip.
That's interesting, @mal_tsla. I think that @Bjorn mentioned in one of his recent videos that he prefers to always have Range Mode enabled. It seems like if it were bad for the battery, that the system would automatically revert back to Range Mode OFF after a certain number of days, or at least throw up a warning (as I think it does if you try to max charge the battery to 100% every day).
EV-lutioin
Active Member
Yes! I have a super annoying high pitch whine at 45-55 mph. Generally I don't drive in that speed range for long, but last weekend I spent an hour driving National Park roads at about 45 mph and the whine was wearing me down. When I've driven rear wheel drive MS loaners I marveled at the quiet, which has me considering getting a RWD Model 3 instead of AWD.
mal_tsla
Member
Seems reasonable. Here’s a 250ish message long thread discussing it.
Interesting finding about Range Mode
You decide how far down that rabbit hole to go, but the general impression I got is Range Mode means “Range is most important” and normal mode means “Longevity is most important.”
So we don’t use Range Mode unless we need extra range.
@EV-lutioin What happens if you set Range Mode to ON? Does your front motor whine get significantly reduced like mine?
EV-lutioin
Active Member
Whoa, that totally worked... no more engine whine in Range Mode. Two questions: Why does that work and is it ok to leave it in Range Mode all the time?
EV-lutioin
Active Member
Weird, Bjorn's video totally contradicts the premise behind using Range Mode to reduce front motor whine. According to him Range Mode causes more whine, while my experience is that it reduces whine. Ah, the mysteries continue.
I get a grinding noise in the front under hard acceleration. I wonder if it's an issue.
So glad you posted this question. Although I have a 2015 S P85D I have EXACTLY the same issue, love everything about my car to death except for ringing between 75-85 kph (around 50 mph). Nothing noticeable at 60 mph, nothing below 40 mph, but that zone just around 50 mph!!!!!!!
Following down on this post I am going to turn Range to off and see if getting rear motor doing more work makes any difference. Mine also sings on regen......I was recently given a facelift S75 as a loaner and the silence compared to mine was deafening.
Tesla told me they have improved the sound deadening around the front drive unit in the facelift model, but I am yet to be convinced all 2015 D cars are as noisy as mine from front drive unit. Hopefully since all Ss and Xs are now Ds they have worked out this to eliminate this noise. Bugs me every time I am in an 80 kph speed zone.
EV-lutioin
Active Member
I wonder how loud it will be on the Model 3, once AWD is released? Smaller car, more noise? Induction vs permanent magnet?
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