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Model X for light off-road?

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Is anyone taking their Model X off-road? How are you finding the experience of off roading? a half dozen or so times a year, we head up some back roads camping. The majority of the road is just gravel/dirt with some ruts, but the last 300' are pretty rugged.

I assume I'd set the suspension to very high and hope for the best.

Would I have to worry about a sharp rock damaging the underneath or is it pretty bulletproof? How about dirt and mud from such an excursion? Finally, has anyone experimented with more all terrain tires?
 
Would be interesting to see how it fares. Probably not very well, though it does have good all wheel drive. Would probably want to put some all terrain tires on it.

I could see Tesla making a more off road vehicle some day, but the X I would think would be not the best choice. As long as it doesn't get too rugged or muddy perhaps.
 
Is anyone taking their Model X off-road? How are you finding the experience of off roading? a half dozen or so times a year, we head up some back roads camping. The majority of the road is just gravel/dirt with some ruts, but the last 300' are pretty rugged.

I assume I'd set the suspension to very high and hope for the best.

Would I have to worry about a sharp rock damaging the underneath or is it pretty bulletproof? How about dirt and mud from such an excursion? Finally, has anyone experimented with more all terrain tires?

The higher the setting the more prone to damage if you hit a bump hard.

There is a famous thread about a Model S owner mushroom hunting and damaging his suspension on a back road at the highest setting. Suspension Problem on Model S

I wouldn't worry about the dirt and mud as much as I would worry about shock/g forces doing blunt force damage.

Use the lowest height setting that clears the obstacle.
 
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Tesla has a rock crusher to make sure you can drive over it without puncturing its main battery.

I don't think under panels are very durable. They may come off due to friction, water current or mud collection.

The "rock crusher" plate assumes level ground. If you are on uneven ground you could get a rock to puncture the bottom of the pack rear of the shield you are thinking of.
 
If for all terrain tires, the drive train should do pretty well. The Tesla drivetrain + electronics actually performs very well in all kinds of conditions is my experience.

My guess would be that as long as you've got enough clearance (ie front and back angles that won't ruin your bumpers, and only smaller obstacles small enough not to hit the bottom of the car at any time at low speeds, and of course no real river wading landrover defender style) the X will take you where you need to go, paved or not paved. Eliminate those constraints and you'd need another type of vehicle.
 
Tesla has remarkable traction control that they are quite proud of, so as long as the clearance is sufficient I'd expect the car to do very well compared to others with the same tires.

The battery pack has a sturdy bottom, but I wouldn't want to take it somewhere that there's a good chance I'd be smashing it against rocks - at least until packs become a bunch cheaper and more available.
 
I don't have my Model X yet, but based on past experience and some fairly extreme off roading with a range of vehicles from Audi's, and Subaru's to Jeeps and Land Rovers, I expect the X will be better than your average SUV. I certainly wouldn't treat it like a Jeep or Land Rover, but then I've taken my Audi Allroad, SQ5, and numerous Subaru Outbacks into all manner of rough, deeply rutted, and rocky roads without trouble. Pretty much ANY production vehicle is going to have vulnerable spots underneath, and I wouldn't think the X is any more so. Unless the vehicle has been modified for heavy off road use with heavy skid plates, you don't really want to be hitting any rocks on the undercarriage or you risk damaging all manner of systems. So, as with ANY vehicle, when you're driving into rough conditions, you should be doing your best to avoid hitting anything! :) Go SUPER SLOW, when traversing an obstacle, and make sure you have adequate clearance by getting out of the vehicle and checking first. I expect the great torque and regen capabilities of the X will be very helpful in steep terrain. The vast majority of the time you don't need to clear huge rocks to get where you want to go, but sometimes it's really helpful to be able to get up or down something quite steep and/or slippery, and I think the X will do great.

So, from what I know now (and that does not yet include first hand experience driving the X in any "off road" terrain yet) I expect the Model X to be a very capable vehicle for light off road duty. As I'm sure most people would agree, I would be very aware that I'm driving an extremely expensive vehicle and be very cautious to avoid damage (there's ALWAYS a risk of damage whenever you're off road), but I think the car will perform well.
 
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This mail delivery guy drives 80 miles a day on gravel in his Model S, so I would assume the Model X would do equally well. I plan to drive 16 miles of gravel next week on my way to a National Park campground... I expect, like any other car, it will be fine if I drive appropriately for the terrain.

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...I don't see this feature when I provision the car...



The feature Concrete Block Under Body Crusher, officially called "Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates," was implemented for Model S after bad press in March 2014.

I assume that Model X would incorporate Model S's safety feature with no need for advertisement.
 
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I did some mild off-roading in my Model X today. My grandson wanted to join his dad who was mowing alfalfa in one of the fields among the 300 acres he farms for his dairy herd.

Put the suspension on very high, and the only issues were warnings from the sensors that were concerned I would hit some tall alfalfa plants. There was no rock crushing, just some mud on the tires and a little alfalfa in the grille...