Model 3 Refresh Review
- Thread starter Jibjab
- Start date
VanillaAir_UK
Supporting Member
The one thing I'm relieved yet also annoyed at with the refresh is the double pane glass. From a couple of YouTube video's (TeslaBjorn and Symons) it appears strangely that the car is slightly noisier with the double pane glass that with single, although very minimal difference. I'm kind of relieved it doesn't make much difference so I don't feel like I've missed out still having the pre refresh model, but at the same time disappointed it has not improved the noise inside the car. Personal preference but I would much rather the money had gone into good sound proofing for the interior that you can appreciate all the time rather than some of the other improvements they have introduced.
I haven’t seen this option. Please message me if you find it!
It's not totally surprising. They are frameless windows, so are only sealed against the rubber trim by how it's adjusted. There is a lot of adjustment available inward and outwards, as well as the regular adjustment left, right, up and down.
It is possible the RSymons facelift car is adjusted more poorly than the 2020 one.
I was interested in this too, and it's the first I've heard of it. I can't see any obvious place to configure that behaviour to be on or off.
Just been
cant find any setting, wonder if he was just referring to the button to press the camera icon so it shows up the side repeater views (having only had the car 2 months not sure if that is recent addition or not), slightly misleading in the review if that is the case. Maybe a feature to add to "things we didnt know we wanted" thread
cant find any setting, wonder if he was just referring to the button to press the camera icon so it shows up the side repeater views (having only had the car 2 months not sure if that is recent addition or not), slightly misleading in the review if that is the case. Maybe a feature to add to "things we didnt know we wanted" thread
Only problem I can see with cameras automatically coming on when you indicate is if you come off a motorway or whatever and suddenly don't know where you're going because navigation has been replaced by cameras, unless it's a 1/2 and 1/2 screen thing.
What is all this about double pane glass. Why does everyone keep calling it this? or calling it double glazing? Its laminated glass, it can reduce some noise from adjacent traffic or wind noise around the a pillar and wing mirror, but its nothing miraculous. You don't call the windscreen double glazing, or the roof double glazing.
Seems to me like most of the wind noise comes from the rubber seals around the door windows, so I doubt laminated glass would make much difference
ACarneiro
Active Member
Well, UK roads tend to be very noisy (much more so than French ones, for example, which have much better quality tarmac).
Maybe that’s why they don’t feel the noise to be a big deal?
Maybe that’s why they don’t feel the noise to be a big deal?
I tend to think that too. And has Tesla claimed the laminated windows are intended to reduce noise? The plastic layer does appear to be thicker than you get in normal laminated glass .. maybe it's just for security.
Drew57
Member
When I first drove a Model X end 2017, the screen was configurable to choose a variety of display options like this and I was disappointed when that disappeared (possibly because the Model 3 screen orientation precluded it with shared updates)
Apologies for using the wrong term, yes it's laminated glass, two panes of glass laminated together. I wasn't expecting miracles but if they went to the expense of upgrading the glass then you would hope some noticeable difference would have been acheived, but Tesla may have changed it more for heat insulation purposed than noise reduction. I do really like my Model 3 but the noise is the main grating thing for me, as mentioned above I also think the UK roads do contribute quite a bit. Generally I find it noisier than the 5 year old diesel it replaced which is disappointing when there is no engine, it's only on good road surfaces at low speed that it's quieter.
Frameless glass cars suffer from this as a rule, there is nothing really making a tight seal when the glass is just resting against the rubber trim. You can see how poor it is generally by looking at the impression on the rubber by the glass.
When I wash my car with a pressure washer it is not unusual for a drip or two to get past the seal and end up on the inside of the glass.
Frameless windows are a bit of an odd choice imo for EVs, where quietness is one of its unique selling points.
When I wash my car with a pressure washer it is not unusual for a drip or two to get past the seal and end up on the inside of the glass.
Frameless windows are a bit of an odd choice imo for EVs, where quietness is one of its unique selling points.
Electric Dream
Pilots the Millennium Milkfloat
Noise is very subjective. These reviews where they use an app on a phone to try and compare noise in a Model 3 with laminated glass and one without are not going to be a lot of help IMO.
Tesla aren't the first to use laminated side windows and they wouldn't spend the money if it didn't do something positive.
In other news, lots of reports coming in about M3s being delivered with side cameras not working. Seems there might have been a known issue at the factory but they decided to get the cars on the boats and fix them the other end...
Tesla aren't the first to use laminated side windows and they wouldn't spend the money if it didn't do something positive.
In other news, lots of reports coming in about M3s being delivered with side cameras not working. Seems there might have been a known issue at the factory but they decided to get the cars on the boats and fix them the other end...
Its certainly not you, but this "double pane" thing seems to be widely circulating around EV news sites, and respectable youtube channels. Its technically incorrect at best, misleading at worst. It's being overhyped and these outlets are promising more than it can possibly provide.
Regarding your insulation theory, laminated glass has little effect on insulation as there's no air gap. There is some small difference, but changing two panels on a car that large is likely to make an immeasurable difference overall.
It is, from what I can tell specifically acoustic laminated glass. It is therefore reasonable to expect it was installed to reduce cabin noise, but it's important to note that it largely wont affect road noise from the car it's installed on being brought into the cabin, as that comes through the body itself. You are also looking at such small differences from one change, that differences between brand new tyres, and worn in tyres will probably be larger than anything the glass can do. Unless you can measure on the exact same road, exact same temperature, exact same traffic conditions, exact same tyres, using a properly calibrated and isolated meter (not a phone sitting on the center console), the difference will likely be within margins of error. I would hope there have been ongoing improvements in other areas to help with noise, but we shall see. I've not seen a comparison yet that I can call conclusive, either way.
rincewind
Member
This. Another issue I have with ad hoc tests is that these generic meter apps measure a peak or a weighted peak from a broad frequency spectrum. We know that the ear is more sensitive in the 1-5Khz region so if measures have been taken to reduce peaks here, we won't necessarily see any difference if there's a peak somewhere else in the frequency spectrum.
tl:dr we need to see full curves.
Similar threads
