webbah
Active Member
here is for the seals: https://www.amazon.com/303-Rubber-P...76244392&sprefix=Gummi+pflege,aps,247&sr=8-13
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Winter driving advice, winter tire choices, etc.
- Thread starter Colgate2004
- Start date
I knew I'd get a ton of *sugar* for suggesting a Tesla has a flaw. But it's very frustrating. My car is in the driveway and I cannot charge it. Obviously I've owned other cars and the worst problem I ever had was I had to use a little extra force to open the door. I'm not buying the "this is just part of owning a car" defense.
TomB985
Member
Yep, as a fellow northern Midwesterner I would have to agree. Worst part is losing half my range, but other than planning for that this thing is been the best winter car I've ever owned. I've got a medical condition that makes it hard my body to retain heat, and being able to have the cabinet 80° on command is magical.
The traction/stability control systems are the best of any car I've owned, seeming almost telepathic and how fast they function. On snow tires this is the most confident vehicle I've ever owned, better than the more recent four-wheel-drives I've had as well. Takes a lot of juice to run this thing in the cold, but it makes my life a lot easier to deal with in the winter than anything else I've owned.
It's almost 40 degrees up here in NH today. I assume you're north of 40? If you still can't get into the Frunk then there's something else going on.
I’m in Alaska on the 2nd winter with the 3. I’ve had no freezing issues of any part. Pre heating the cabin fixes window/door handle issues. As for the frunk I almost never use it and would expect pushing around the edges would free up frozen seals quick. I’ll also mention we’ve had this crazy weather pattern the last 2 years of: snow->high wind->rain->sub 0F->repeat... the ice has been next level crazy, last week it went from 5F to 51F then back to 25F in 48 hours
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking you didn't read the winter experiences of other Tesla Model 3 owners. Most of them said your issues sound unusual - that they were not having the issues you're reporting or that, if the conditions are bad enough, yes, things can freeze. Here's where my Model 3 was parked most of last winter without issue:
The bottom picture is what happens to ANY car when parked fully warm in a snowstorm. The initial snow melts from the warmth of the parked car and turns to water which runs down and finally freezes. The colder it is the faster it will freeze. But the doors still opened with a light fist bump (standard procedure on all cars in extreme winter conditions like this), I wasn't stupid enough to try to roll down the windows (this can potentially damage the seals where the window disappears into the door). Instead, I preheated the car. In about 20 minutes it was clear. A gas car would take 10 minutes to heat up the coolant enough to have warm air - the Tesla has warm air instantly (well, OK, it takes 15 seconds, LOL!).
Here's a time-lapse video of it defrosting:
I've had a lot of nice cars including VW's, Volvo's and Subaru's but this is the best winter car I've ever had! And, no, it's never garaged.
I apologize if this has been covered on TMC, but is there a legitimate fear of puncturing the battery if you try to push through an icy snowbank?
My employer hardly ever plows overnight. This morning we all drove through some very deep snow. While I'm VERY impressed with how my AWD worked, I'm stressed about what's going to happen when the freezing rain kicks in and the snowbank might not be so giving.
My employer hardly ever plows overnight. This morning we all drove through some very deep snow. While I'm VERY impressed with how my AWD worked, I'm stressed about what's going to happen when the freezing rain kicks in and the snowbank might not be so giving.
webbah
Active Member
I would do everything to avoid that. You not only have the battery to think about but the “aero covers” underneath that are simply fabric. Quite a few people are reporting this fabric ripping loose and dangling on the ground if they drive in 2 inches of water or through a puddle.
The Model 3 is a really low car. Great for handling and aerodynamics, not great for ground clearance over snow and ice. From what I can see, the front air dam is just as low as the batteries. That air dam is at great risk for cracking if you run into a big ice block, particularly since the plastic will be very cold and brittle. Cracking the air dam is irritating, and likely costly to fix, but won't render the car undriveable. If you hit a big ice chunk with enough speed to high center on it, then yes, you may damage the battery pack too.
I hit an ice chunk at low speed in a rental Dodge Charger last winter in an poorly plowed parking lot in Jackson Hole last winter. It was about 10 degrees outside and the front air dam cracked. This resulted in a $1400 repair bill. Very irritating!
Most cars these days have plastic front ends that will crack if you hit a frozen ice ball or snowbank. The Tesla is lower than most. I'm careful to watch out for deep ruts or plow castoffs now that I've learned the hard way. I don't worry too much about the battery itself in winter driving, if I am cautious enough to keep the air dam intact, the battery should be fine.
But I live in a rural area, and we traverse dirt roads fairly often to hike, bike, or ski, and I am very cautious in all seasons about not driving up a deeply rutted road or straddling a big rock. What would be an innocuous scrape to the floor pan of an ICE car could badly damage the battery of a model 3. It is one of the few downsides of owning one.
I hit an ice chunk at low speed in a rental Dodge Charger last winter in an poorly plowed parking lot in Jackson Hole last winter. It was about 10 degrees outside and the front air dam cracked. This resulted in a $1400 repair bill. Very irritating!
Most cars these days have plastic front ends that will crack if you hit a frozen ice ball or snowbank. The Tesla is lower than most. I'm careful to watch out for deep ruts or plow castoffs now that I've learned the hard way. I don't worry too much about the battery itself in winter driving, if I am cautious enough to keep the air dam intact, the battery should be fine.
But I live in a rural area, and we traverse dirt roads fairly often to hike, bike, or ski, and I am very cautious in all seasons about not driving up a deeply rutted road or straddling a big rock. What would be an innocuous scrape to the floor pan of an ICE car could badly damage the battery of a model 3. It is one of the few downsides of owning one.
Your car is not a snowplow. While the battery casing is very rugged, you are probably going to damage a lot of things forward of the battery if you try to push your way through hard snow.
Performance car got stuck on an icy parking lot today. Embarassing. Car is very very RWD-biased. Good for having fun -- it can EASILY be provoked into mini rotations by breathing on throttle at low speeds on snow/gravel/ice, especially with a bit of slope -- but really needs a dedicated snow-mode with proper torque distribution.
Riding on Nokian R3s at 44psi. Car in chill mode. Winding my way up a hill. Roads were partially iced with some gravel spread out. Driving extremely carefully, but occasionally felt car move underneath me in certain spots. Fair game so far...
Pulled over at a viewing spot to abort the trip, and realized I couldnt get started again. The rear end wiggled but dont feel the front wheels slipping. Slip mode didnt help. The lot was very icy yes - but a van pulled in and left without a problem. Flagged over a local in an older Volvo V40 who zipped me up the hill looking for gravel pits and assistance. His car was 5MT, with studless tires, and it was significantly icy up the hill but he stopped and went without issues. His car wasnt at full grip obviously, but he flew around like a rally driver.
We returned to the car not having found sand. But 2 other parties pulled into the viewing-spot. And they helped push my car so I was perpendicular to the road, front wheels on the gravelled-road, rear wheels on the iced lot. They walked away and i tried to drive off and ....failed. Rear end slipping and wiggling hopelessly place. They gave second push and I finally got on my way, a little pink-faced.
Anyway, im reminded of this post Model X tromps Model 3 AWD in the snow
So.... a little more front-wheel bias, please????
Riding on Nokian R3s at 44psi. Car in chill mode. Winding my way up a hill. Roads were partially iced with some gravel spread out. Driving extremely carefully, but occasionally felt car move underneath me in certain spots. Fair game so far...
Pulled over at a viewing spot to abort the trip, and realized I couldnt get started again. The rear end wiggled but dont feel the front wheels slipping. Slip mode didnt help. The lot was very icy yes - but a van pulled in and left without a problem. Flagged over a local in an older Volvo V40 who zipped me up the hill looking for gravel pits and assistance. His car was 5MT, with studless tires, and it was significantly icy up the hill but he stopped and went without issues. His car wasnt at full grip obviously, but he flew around like a rally driver.
We returned to the car not having found sand. But 2 other parties pulled into the viewing-spot. And they helped push my car so I was perpendicular to the road, front wheels on the gravelled-road, rear wheels on the iced lot. They walked away and i tried to drive off and ....failed. Rear end slipping and wiggling hopelessly place. They gave second push and I finally got on my way, a little pink-faced.
Anyway, im reminded of this post Model X tromps Model 3 AWD in the snow
So.... a little more front-wheel bias, please????
TomB985
Member
Nokian Hakka R3, which are studless. Quite serious for winter tires as well, as they're rated T Speed (190kph/120mph). OEM Option. The other choice are studded R9 which is a bit extreme as my normal driving is around sea level.
I could've tried dropping the pressures if noone came to help. My mistake in forgetting to pack contingencies in the trunk, so now I'm carrying some rock salt in the back
I've had my Model 3 stealth for about a month now. Twin Cities, MN. Until kids made me have to give up my 2010 G37xS I'd been driving either RWD or AWS sport sedans and have always had winter tires, but with 3 young kids ended up trading the Infiniti in for a Honda Odyssey (snow tires) and my wife had a Mazda CX-5 (all seasons - totally crappy OEM tires but she didn't want to deal with the hassle of swapping seasons).
Anyways, all that is just to say, I am no foreigner to a good winter tire, and I'm pretty surprised to find myself actually thinking, wow, I don't really need winters with this car. I've been taking it out on the glare ice crap we've had on the roads lately, and I've taken it out on a 2-3" snow fall tonight and a couple of weeks ago on a 5-6" snow fall, and this thing is as solid as my previous AWD G37xS was with winters. I've been reading a bit about the MXM4 sunflower oil compound and guessing that makes it a slightly better tire than standard all seasons at sub freezing temps, but I'm guessing sub 0f temps it'll harden up pretty bad (good thing i can work from home whenever I want).
Someone else mentioned "best winter car" they've ever owned and I'd have a hard time disputing that so far. And I've been driving in sport mode with regen set to standard. I haven't had any reason to turn on Chill mode or set regen to low.
Anyways, all that is just to say, I am no foreigner to a good winter tire, and I'm pretty surprised to find myself actually thinking, wow, I don't really need winters with this car. I've been taking it out on the glare ice crap we've had on the roads lately, and I've taken it out on a 2-3" snow fall tonight and a couple of weeks ago on a 5-6" snow fall, and this thing is as solid as my previous AWD G37xS was with winters. I've been reading a bit about the MXM4 sunflower oil compound and guessing that makes it a slightly better tire than standard all seasons at sub freezing temps, but I'm guessing sub 0f temps it'll harden up pretty bad (good thing i can work from home whenever I want).
Someone else mentioned "best winter car" they've ever owned and I'd have a hard time disputing that so far. And I've been driving in sport mode with regen set to standard. I haven't had any reason to turn on Chill mode or set regen to low.
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