Has anyone suddenly started hydroplaning in rain? [tires were bald]

[Ngpngie]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

 

[Amped412]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

So, would you still not recommend the car? Or would you just not recommend the tires?

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

Hardly a mystery. Perhaps you could edit your original post in case someone stumbles across it and doesn't read all 4 pages...

 

[jackmott]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

Get your alignment checked. The toe is probably off.

 

[Ngpngie]

Not sure I would recommend the car. There are so many little glitchy things I dislike. Why doesn’t the glovebox just have a button on it to open? Why don’t the windows return to fully up atlfter opening the corresponding door? Why isn’t the time on the screen more prominent? I am leasing for three years to wait for more choices to appear before I purchase an electric car.

 

[Ngpngie]

Not sure I would recommend the car. There are so many little glitchy things I dislike. Why doesn’t the glovebox just have a button on it to open? Why don’t the windows return to fully up atlfter opening the corresponding door? Why isn’t the time on the screen more prominent? I am leasing for three years to wait for more choices to appear before I purchase an electric car.

Hardly a mystery. Perhaps you could edit your original post in case someone stumbles across it and doesn't read all 4 pages...

How do I edit ?

 

[Dangerous Fish]

How do I edit ?

I guess it's too long since you posted to edit. Ask a moderator? Anyway, I hope you find your perfect electric car with a button for the glovebox and a big clock on the dash.

 

[qdeathstar]

Today I had the most frightening driving experience of my entire life. It was raining heavily and I was going about 60 mph on the freeway in my model 3 standard, 3 months new. Suddenly I lost all traction and was slipping side to side +/-90 degrees from the direction of traffic. I immediately took my foot off the accelerator and tried to slow down but didn’t brake. I swung 180 degrees each way about 5 times. Luckily no one hit me but I was taking up three lanes as I careened all over the freeway. I can’t believe how easily the model 3 loses traction in the rain. This is unacceptable. I would not recommend this car especially to anyone who lives in a rainy climate.

Uh… no.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

Thanks for the update. So basically it was what I pointed out as a known major factor in hydroplaning: the tires. I made the wrong assumption that in just 3 months you wouldn't have put a lot of miles on it, but 8k is well above average (and your wear is above average also for the amount of miles). Note some models/brands of tires that Tesla uses have a treadlife warranty, you may want to search the forums to see if it applies to your tires. As others mentioned you may also want your alignment checked.

The only factor I really see that plays a big deal in hydroplaning are the tires, but if your car is 3 months old, and presumably not driven a lot of miles, then I don't see tire wear being bad enough for that to play that big a factor. Other factors is varying tire inflation that may affect the size of the contact patch. But not seeing there are other factors inherent in a Model 3 that would affect this.

 

[KenC]

Ok here is followup. IT WAS LACK OF TREADS on both rear tires. We thought we had checked them but in fact they were totally bald at 8k miles. Not sure why the factory tires wore out so quickly but they were smooth as ice. My spouse had checked them but admittedly it was night time and raining out. Mystery solved. FYI I was actually noticing slippage in dry conditions too.

So, numerous responses here were to check your tires. It seems odd to take 6 weeks before figuring out, it was the tires. Oh well.

 

[Ngpngie]

Don’t appreciate the snarky remarks. I just wanted to report the follow up.

 

[Sporty]

Don’t appreciate the snarky remarks. I just wanted to report the follow up.

Thanks for the follow up and letting us know what you found out. I don’t consider myself a “car guy” but since buying a model 3 I’ve spent more time on here and learned a few things. Overall I think it’s a good forum, but there is some trolling that needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[jjrandorin]

(moderator note)

Since this thread has been "fully asked and answered" with the root cause of the issue reported by the OP, I am going to lock this thread so that it doesnt generate more "piling on".

OP. Thank you for coming back and verifying what the root cause was. it is very common for someone to not post what that was, if it turns out to be different what they thought originally. Thanks for closing the loop on this.