Model 3 RC sightings

[Sonny Daze]

Also, it would be beyond silly for Tesla to make their own tires.

That part was a joke. Sorry, I forgot the .

 

[Triptych]

Ahhh that's even more aggravating because Ohio cars should be nearly identical to production if that's what they're going to base early crash test data on. July can't come soon enough.

Does that cover have "Takata" printed on it anywhere?

 

[BluestarE3]

Also, it would be beyond silly for Tesla to make their own tires.

That part was a joke. Sorry, I forgot the .

There was an entire thread devoted to this a while back:
When will Tesla design and manufacture tires?

 

[ccutrer]

Could have been a vinyl wrap rather than repaint.

I worded it very carefully to avoid saying how it was done . So many ways to do it these days. Wrap, paint, plastidip and probably more.

 

[J1mbo]

Were these tires made at the Gigafactory? I don't see any recognizable markings.

Don't know about the tyres, but the brake caliper looks pretty unusual in this shot.

 

[Knobi]

Bernd Hahn

 

[gregincal]

I wonder how long they had to wait standing on the corner until a Model 3 drove past.

Bernd Hahn

 

[Foxhound199]

Wow, the black one looks great in these pics. I've got my heart set on red, but it looks so good in so many shades.

 

[JeffK]

Bernd Hahn

Finally, an active turn signal from the front!

 

[Zaphod]

That part was a joke. Sorry, I forgot the .

Definitely flew over my head then I know there was thread somewhere in some subforum that did suggest Tesla should make their own tires so thought you were serious.

 

[Zaphod]

There was an entire thread devoted to this a while back:
When will Tesla design and manufacture tires?

I remember that and is just as silly to me then as it is now.

 

[Zaphod]

Don't know about the tyres, but the brake caliper looks pretty unusual in this shot.

That's the rear brake caliper. They usually are quite small compared to front calipers. Reason being is that most of the braking is done with the front, not the rear, so no point making the rear caliper larger than it needs to be.

 

[Zaphod]

Finally, an active turn signal from the front!

Unfortunately just a still picture, not a video. I know it's dorky, but want to see how it flashes. Wonder if it just flashes or is sequential sweep when activated.

I'm disappointed in the DRL (or signature light whatever you want to call it) as it's just a "blob" at the back of the headlight. To me it was lazy and uninspired design choice. Don't hate it, but its "meh" to me.

 

[Big-T]

That's the rear brake caliper. They usually are quite small compared to front calipers. Reason being is that most of the braking is done with the front, not the rear, so no point making the rear caliper larger than it needs to be.

Is that still true on a RWD drive car? I have no idea, just asking.

 

[CaptainKirk]

Is that still true on a RWD drive car? I have no idea, just asking.

Yes

 

[Twiglett]

Is that still true on a RWD drive car? I have no idea, just asking.

They key is in what D stands for in RWD (as in Drive)
Better explanation - weight transfer during braking throws more weight onto the front wheels and off the back wheels, so smaller calipers are needed.

As an aside, I noticed that some RCs have really nice Tesla branded front brake calipers as well, others seem to have plain ones

 

[TEG]

Also with RWD only, they can do some regen on the rear wheels (so perhaps not needing as big of a caliper) but not on the front.

Well, the friction braking system needs to be good enough to handle full braking for cases when regen may not be available such as when the battery is totally full, or really cold.

 

[TEG]

Have we noticed if the rear disk has a small secondary braking mechanism for e-Braking / Parking, or did they put a "parking pawl" in the gearbox this time?
( Tesla & Toyota debated which was the better approach when co-designing the RAV4EV... Model S & X get the aux caliper... )

 

[Zaphod]

Have we noticed if the rear disk has a small secondary braking mechanism for e-Braking / Parking, or did they put a "parking pawl" in the gearbox this time?
( Tesla & Toyota debated which was the better approach when co-designing the RAV4EV... Model S & X get the aux caliper... )

There was fairly recent change on the S (not sure about the X) where there is now just a single rear caliper and believe the parking brake is integrated into the rear caliper itself. This only applied to non-performance variants as they still have the separate caliper for the parking brake. Not sure if that will eventually change as can't imagine what difference there is between the performance and non-performance variants as believe they still use the same size brake setup.

All pictures far as I recall we have seen of the 3 only show single rear caliper.

 

[1208]

RC = reproduction car?
RC = real car?

not going to google it, that would make me look an idiot.