Introductory post and roadster questions

[Roadster]

I was wondering what happened to the Aloha Roadster! Congrats on plucking #660 off the island, @hurd300403! If you have any data you can contribute to the 3.0 Battery Longevity thread, that would be great; particularly since you have a relatively fresh install onboard.

Also hoping you were able to keep that cool HI plate and didn't have to surrender it to the MD DMV. Why on earth we in CA are obligated to affix that ridiculous abomination of a sticker set when a simple EV-specific plate would do is still beyond me.

 

[TigaFF]

Thanks to all of you for the responses (@ecarfan and @Gary1M) ! This has been most helpful. Now that I am back "stateside" I will resume my search. I am most pleased that there are couple of Roadsters close by.

@Curt I would be glad to work on adding the extra sound deadening with you and @dhrivnak if I end up with a 1.5. I have a question for you and anyone else who has to face cold temperatures with you 1.5 roadster. My memory of the Elise Yokohamas is that they don't do well in the cold and in fact the compound may be damaged. As I understand the 1.5 firmware does not allow for "tire learning" and as a consequence I would not be able to fit cold weather tires. I don't intend to drive the Roadster in the snow but would like to drive during the winter if the roads are clear. As you mentioned your car is a daily driver. Do you drive in the cold weather and if so how have you managed it ?

@Rotarypower I am glad to read your assessment the Roadster's comfort and sound level. I test drove the 2.0 orange Roadster in Virginia and was pleased with how much more comfortable it was than my Elise and I enjoyed my Elise as daily driver.

@Hurd, congratulations on the "new" Roadster. I live in Silver Spring and work a couple day a week at the University Hospital in downtown Baltimore. Let me know when the car arrives, I would love to see it.

@DeedWest thank you for the offer to take a look at the car near you. It is quite appealing because of the double DIN conversion and color. I will respond to your PM.

@AnxietyRanger thank you for the welcome!

 

[Curt]

My memory of the Elise Yokohamas is that they don't do well in the cold and in fact the compound may be damaged. As I understand the 1.5 firmware does not allow for "tire learning" and as a consequence I would not be able to fit cold weather tires. I don't intend to drive the Roadster in the snow but would like to drive during the winter if the roads are clear. As you mentioned your car is a daily driver. Do you drive in the cold weather and if so how have you managed it ?

@TigaFF - I do drive though the Winter in my 1.5, except during snow of more than 2 inches, and have never had a problem. I haven't yet bothered with changing tires for the Winter.

Tesla does offer a set of Winter Tires here.

There is also a forum thread about tires for the 1.5 here.

 

[dhrivnak]

The Roadster is not bad in the snow if less than 4" AND you have all weather tires like the Michelin Pilot Super Sports or the Continental DWS tires on the rear. I would not try the Yokohama in the winter, at least for the rears. I have kept them on the front with no observed issues. Another bonus of the sound deadening is it adds noticeable insulation to the car so the heater does a good job of keeping one warm I never had issues with cold feet.

 

[TigaFF]

@dhrivnak , that is an amazing picture! My elise was a handful in the winter as it was an early model without traction control. In bad weather I will be glad for the presence of the electronic assist in the roadster. Do you think that the lack of "tire learning for the 1.5's is a significant functional deficit relative to later roadsters?

@Curt - thanks for the link to winter tires available from Tesla for the 1.5. Do you know what type of tires they supply and is there a proper size/manufacture for the front that the traction control can understand?

 

[dhrivnak]

While tire learning would be nice I have never had a need. Especially the rear tires seem easy to get. And as you see it is not bad in snow but it is not great either. I use the all season tires.

 

[Carl W]

I have a 1.5 (#311) and drive it daily. Love the car. I highly recommend the car. I live in Southern California and haven't driven in in the snow, so can't comment on that. The traction control is really effective, so I'm not surprised that it works reasonably well in the snow (with the all season tires). When I floor it from a standstill, there's not even a small "chirp" of the tires. Just blazing acceleration. My AC works well enough. As for getting a 1.5 compared to a 2.0 or 2.5, in my opinion, I think the gear shifter on the 1.5 is nicer than the buttons on the later cars and very easy to shift between F and R without looking. However, the tachometer on a 1.5 is just plain dumb because it's a one gear car and so synchronized to the speedometer (my guess is that the tach made sense when the original plan was for a 2 speed Roadster). There are several other small cosmetic differences that some people will prefer one or the other. I personally have no issue with car noise and so not tempted to add sound insulation, but then I drive about 90% of the time with the top off.

 

[hcsharp]

The Roadster is not bad in the snow if less than 4" AND you have all weather tires like the Michelin Pilot Super Sports or the Continental DWS tires on the rear. I would not try the Yokohama in the winter, at least for the rears. I have kept them on the front with no observed issues. Another bonus of the sound deadening is it adds noticeable insulation to the car so the heater does a good job of keeping one warm I never had issues with cold feet. View attachment 236890

We really need a thread called "Roadsters in Snow." I've got a lot of pics!

I think you meant Michelin Pilot Sports which are an all-season tire. The Pilot Super Sport is not. It's strictly a summer tire and will get damaged if stored below 14 deg F. Same is true of the Yoko AD07 and 08. Do not leave AD07s on the car in the winter.

Tire learning is very useful if you want a good selection of tires. Otherwise you will sacrifice a degree of performance or range if you use almost any other tires than OEM or Conti DWS. You have to weigh your priorities. Do you want a greater selection of tires to maintain peak performance or pay less for the car? Having said that, most people like the OEM tires the best on all versions of Roadsters. So is no tire learning really a big sacrifice? Hard to say.

 

[dhrivnak]

We really need a thread called "Roadsters in Snow." I've got a lot of pics!

I think you meant Michelin Pilot Sports which are an all-season tire. The Pilot Super Sport is not. It's strictly a summer tire and will get damaged if stored below 14 deg F. Same is true of the Yoko AD07 and 08. Do not leave AD07s on the car in the winter.

Tire learning is very useful if you want a good selection of tires. Otherwise you will sacrifice a degree of performance or range if you use almost any other tires than OEM or Conti DWS. You have to weigh your priorities. Do you want a greater selection of tires to maintain peak performance or pay less for the car? Having said that, most people like the OEM tires the best on all versions of Roadsters. So is no tire learning really a big sacrifice? Hard to say.

OOPS you are right, the Pilot Super Sport is a summer tire. That picture was taken when I had the Continental DWS tires. I am about to need new rears so will take this into account.

 

[TigaFF]

thanks for the "tire discussion", even after reading through multiple threads this is helpful. If I lived in a more temperate climate like @Carl W it would be less problematic but Maryland has four seasons and the I would like to use the car when the weather gets cold. (BTW @Carl W your thunder grey car with black wheels looks particularly nice!

@dhrivnak its sounds like you add sound/thermal insulation beyond what was provided on the 2.5 cars. Is that true and if so do you think it is worthwhile even for the last of the Roadsters? I think the @hcsharp mentioned that you helped him add further insulation to his 2.5.

 

[dhrivnak]

thanks for the "tire discussion", even after reading through multiple threads this is helpful. If I lived in a more temperate climate like @Carl W it would be less problematic but Maryland has four seasons and the I would like to use the car when the weather gets cold. (BTW @Carl W your thunder grey car with black wheels looks particularly nice!

@dhrivnak its sounds like you add sound/thermal insulation beyond what was provided on the 2.5 cars. Is that true and if so do you think it is worthwhile even for the last of the Roadsters? I think the @hcsharp mentioned that you helped him add further insulation to his 2.5.

Yes we added more sound deadening than is found in the later vehicles. But because the 1.5 had none I would say the results are significant, on the order of 9 DB. But with the 2.5 I would say the improvement is closer to 3 DB. So not as noticeable. Henry could probably add more color. So unless you have cash to burn it is not likely to be worth it in a 2.5.

 

[gregd]

OOPS you are right, the Pilot Super Sport is a summer tire. That picture was taken when I had the Continental DWS tires. I am about to need new rears so will take this into account.

My 2.0 has the Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires on the rears, and the Advan AD07 tires on the fronts. This is a bad combination, since it's mixing tire types, but that's what the prior owner did... I like the Michelin A/S tires, but have not been able to find them in the fronts' size. How do the Continentals compare?

 

[ViperDoc]

Thanks to all of you for the responses (@ecarfan and @Gary1M) I don't intend to drive the Roadster in the snow but would like to drive during the winter if the roads are clear. As you mentioned your car is a daily driver. Do you drive in the cold weather and if so how have you managed it?

Like Henry, I drive mine in the snow, and I live off a dirt road, so it deals with a lot (and with aplomb!) I drive my Roadster as my daily driver, all year 'round in northern Vermont. In the past I have used the snow tires recommended by Tesla, this past winter I went with Blizzaks. It does fine in the snow. The only issue is that the car gets cold on your feet in the winter unless you keep the heat running. So when I have had to make a long drive that pushed my battery to its limits on a really, really cold day, I would wear long johns under my pants, keep the seat warmers on (not a drag on the battery) and then turn the HVAC heat on and off as necessary to keep me from freezing!

Good luck with your search!

 

[dhrivnak]

My 2.0 has the Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires on the rears, and the Advan AD07 tires on the fronts. This is a bad combination, since it's mixing tire types, but that's what the prior owner did... I like the Michelin A/S tires, but have not been able to find them in the fronts' size. How do the Continentals compare?

The Continentals are rated for snow at least when new. We are still mixing tire types as it seems Yokohama are the only option for the 1.5's at least. Mixing tires does not seem to be an issue as the Yokohama's are the stickiest from my understanding and the back is quite sticky. If something goes out of control it is the front and not the rears.

 

[gregd]

The Continentals are rated for snow at least when new. We are still mixing tire types as it seems Yokohama are the only option for the 1.5's at least. Mixing tires does not seem to be an issue as the Yokohama's are the stickiest from my understanding and the back is quite sticky. If something goes out of control it is the front and not the rears.

My understanding from one of the other threads was that the back end could break loose first, causing the car to spin, especially when braking. You really want the same kind of tires on all four wheels. It was designed for that.

When mine eventually wear out (those Pilot Sports are holding up really well after 2 1/2 years), I want to get something similar but fix the mismatch problem... No snow here, and I tend not to take the car out when it's nasty (my wife's SUV gets that duty), but I like the idea of long-wearing multi-purpose tires. I also tend not to replace tires that don't need it, so I might switch to Advans on the back (to match the front), until the fronts wear enough to need replacing. {sigh} Such problems...

 

[Carl W]

thanks for the "tire discussion", even after reading through multiple threads this is helpful. If I lived in a more temperate climate like @Carl W it would be less problematic but Maryland has four seasons and the I would like to use the car when the weather gets cold. (BTW @Carl W your thunder grey car with black wheels looks particularly nice!

@dhrivnak its sounds like you add sound/thermal insulation beyond what was provided on the 2.5 cars. Is that true and if so do you think it is worthwhile even for the last of the Roadsters? I think the @hcsharp mentioned that you helped him add further insulation to his 2.5.

Thanks for the kind comment on my car. I like the color combo, too, and the paint somehow hides dirt between washings. Yes, 4 seasons is a different situation!

 

[bart513]

I have a set of OEM snow tires/wheels for my 2.5 that I might be willing to sell. If interested pm me.

 

[TigaFF]

...Despite substantial concern about Tesla's future support I have put earnest money down on Roadster #1038

 

[bart513]

SWEET RIDE!

 

[DeedWest]

@TigaFF - Congratulations! You now own one of an estimated 19 remaining 2.5's produced in Lightning Green. A few more days of staring at that and I would've grabbed it myself.

Please post copious amounts of photos when you take delivery. Also, let me know if you back out. I have secondary dibs.