Model 3 snow “donuts”

[PoitNarf]

I was at the Edison NJ meet and greet stop for You You Xue’s Model 3 road trip last night. More info on the road trip can be found here: Tesla Model 3 Road Trip

About an inch of snow had fallen earlier in the day and one of the parking lots by the supercharger was not plowed, so they decided to do their first driving in the snow with their 3. They were attempting donuts but I think the traction control was preventing any serious fish tailing. Here’s the video I took:

 

[dragoljub]

Able to turn off traction control?

 

[PoitNarf]

Able to turn off traction control?

I believe so. I just stumbled upon this other video which offers some better insight:

 

[swaltner]

On the front-wheel drive Subaru hatchback I drove in high school, I couldn’t get the back end to break free in the snow when playing around in an empty parking lot. The only way I could get it to spin around was to go in reverse and turn the steering wheel. This doesn’t allow you to sustain the maneuver like in a standard donut, but does allow you to have a little fun and get the front end to flip around 180 to 360 degrees.

I wonder if that would work on a Tesla or any other vehicle where you can’t fully disable the traction/stability control systems.

 

[Drivesolo]

It seems that hanging the tail out for the sake of fun isn't possible with the Model 3. I'm sure that the driver wasn't being conservative with the throttle and all of what was on the video was being limited by the TCS. Slip Start was probably allowed but it seems that the yaw limits are set way too conservative IMO, part of the enjoyment of having a RWD is for that little bit of oversteer when it's acceptable to do so.

 

[Drivesolo]

One of the things that's great about this and the earlier drag race w/ the Model S is that it doesn't attract any unwanted attention. So quite and calm. Someone not knowing what's being attempted could look at this from a distance and would probably think that someone seems to be driving around a parking lot probably looking for a place to park. The lack of noise from a high-revving engine really conceals what's going on.

 

[boaterva]

I was going to post the NYK video and saw someone had. It’s a pretty good example that you don’t need AWD for your 3 unless you are in snow-covered territory a lot or where you ‘have’ to have AWD (ski trails/mountains that require it or chains, etc.).

May change some minds on waiting the extra six months!

 

[daniel]

Able to turn off traction control?

My Roadster has a TC button for turning off the traction control. My salesguy warned me never to press that button, and I never have.

 

[strykeroz]

This doesn’t allow you to sustain the maneuver like in a standard donut, but does allow you to have a little fun and get the front end to flip around 180 to 360 degrees.

In a frontie you reef on the handbrake you'll get a sustained tight donut, orbiting around the rear. It can help if you start with a short run-up in reverse before going handbrake and full lock.

...so I must have read somplace.

 

[dailydriver]

My Roadster has a TC button for turning off the traction control. My salesguy warned me never to press that button, and I never have.

That's the first thing I did when I got my first Model S.

My original RWD Signature Model S had no problem doing donuts.

 

[evlectric]

I DID DOUGHNUTS IN MY MODEL 3 non-performance AWD DRY Concrete!

 

[JPUConn]

I DID DOUGHNUTS IN MY MODEL 3 non-performance AWD DRY Concrete!

Very cool. Did the car throw the hazards on automatically due to the g forces?

Was this just with slip start enabled and regen low or did you pull the wheel speed sensor or something else?

 

[evlectric]

Very cool. Did the car throw the hazards on automatically due to the g forces?

Was this just with slip start enabled and regen low or did you pull the wheel speed sensor or something else?

I put the hazards on because it looked cool lol and if I needed to pull over to the side they were already on. I did a few things i cant say yet

 

[SwedishSTIle]

I put the hazards on because it looked cool lol and if I needed to pull over to the side they were already on. I did a few things i cant say yet

You cant say?? Why so cagey? You either pulled a/some wheel sensor(s) or you didnt. Common knowledge its required to dyno these cars.

Maybe its just me, but if I was going to pull of the 241 at Portola, or anywhere else in OC, and record myself doing something illegal, I would probably take my plates off the car, make sure to not have street signs in the video, or just not post it on youtube so there is a public record of me breaking the law. At least the other vids are in parking lots which are ostensibly private property.

 

[Nocturnal]

Track mode is amazing for doing Donuts in the snow. I have some dash cam videos I need to upload.

One of the things that's great about this and the earlier drag race w/ the Model S is that it doesn't attract any unwanted attention. So quite and calm. Someone not knowing what's being attempted could look at this from a distance and would probably think that someone seems to be driving around a parking lot probably looking for a place to park. The lack of noise from a high-revving engine really conceals what's going on.

In my younger/dumber days I had a very loud Trans Am. (basically straight pipes) I could barely start it up in a parking lot without attracting some negative attention.

 

[MoreAgain]

You cant say?? Why so cagey? You either pulled a/some wheel sensor(s) or you didnt. Common knowledge its required to dyno these cars.

Possibly a similar product to the Mountain Pass Performance Party Box I'm using in my RWD Model 3, however his donut execution is much better than mine.