Sean Mitchell
Member
Hello sir. I drive the same Colorado mountains you do in a RWD Model S with Michellin X-Ice winter tires. I have never had any issues on I-70 or any roads with snow for that matter. You shouldn't have any issues with your AWD Model 3. I run the Denver Tesla Club and have club members say even the RWD 3 with snow tires works incredibly well. I'd start with your tires first. Please send me a message if I can help further.
Howdy,
I live in the mountains of CO. We have big time Winter.
Yesterday I drove from the house to Denver. My car, M3 red brakes, didn't feel safe.
I have snow tires -- Michelin Alpin Pilot PA4.
I travel over two passes to get to Denver; Vail Pass, and the West approach to The Eisenhower Tunnel.
On the way up Vail Pass the car was slipping. Luckily, there wasn't much traffic and I could keep momentum going. Otherwise, I might have got stuck.
On the approach to the tunnel it was worse.
Now before I go on, the conditions yesterday were just about as bad as they get. Semis were getting towed going up to the tunnel. Cars without snow tires were having trouble. Vail Pass was bad, but the plows had come through once.
On the approach up to the tunnel, I didn't feel safe. Because, if I had to stop I don't believe I could have started again without going sideways. If I go sideways, I slide into the next lane - crash.
Worse, the wipers failed. Well, not fail. But when I switched to Auto, they went fast back and forth. So I couldn't use Auto. Auto doesn't work anyway, so no biggie. The point is, I couldn't turn off the wipers. I think the reason why, was they were caked with ice. Elon's software didn't plan for wipers caked with ice. Here's a vid:
This video is from the east side of the tunnel, heading down to Denver. The roads look like summer compared to what I'd just driven through.
I'd post videos of the car going slipping. I was going to. But for some reason, there's no files on my dash cam from yesterday. Something else Elon needs to fix.
I've driven this trip who knows how many times - in Audis and our HIPEVAN. Never once, have I felt unsafe. In fact I dominate on the trip, because I'm in an Audi or our Van. I'm the guy going around everyone. Now, I'm the guy struggling.
Maybe it's the 20" tires? Could be. Today I stopped by the Littleton Service Center to beyotch. The rep I talked to said, "You're not the first one we've heard from about this".
I'm going to get 18's and put Hakkapaliitta's on. Maybe that will do the trick. But it pisses me off that I have to dump a lot of dough ray me into the car to maybe -- maybe -- get the performance brother Elon promised on the website. Brother Elon says his cars do great in the Winter, that his All-Wheel Drive rocks. At this point I don't believe brother Elon has been where Winter really happens. The wiper video is proof positive.
The M3 with Red Brakes is not a car for the Colorado Mountains, when Winter is on. Nope. That doesn't mean it sucks, doesn't mean it's not adequate for places where there's less Winter.
So what's the solution? Brother Elon needs to be straight with people. And, he needs to make an 18" wheel set, pronto.
I wish I had the dash cam vids, so Brother Elon could watch his car fail. I'd have posted them. Maybe Brother Elon knew his car was tanking, and deleted the vids? Just kidding. Sort of.
Peace and love,