MountainPass Performance Comfort Coilovers

[dfwatt]

I think we emailed with Gbee to discuss this as well, so they should be taken care of now!

The skidplate does weigh roughly 12 lbs, so if weight is ultra-important, I'd stick with the stock plastic ones!

Does this skid plate protect the battery or just the front or rear suspension assemblies?

 

[tangible1]

Does this skid plate protect the battery or just the front or rear suspension assemblies?

leading front edge of the battery pack.
the OEM part is fiberboard, lioghtweight fiberglas piece. it's inexpensive and replaceable.
there's no additional protection of suspension bits, as they need clearance to function properly.

 

[Pianewman]

Clarification: My 2021 MYLR, Dec. 2020 production, skid plate is stiff plastic. Probably too brittle to take a solid hit.

 

[Yperformance]

I run with 3.75 inch clearance under from Jack points. only issue has been occasional mud flap scraping.

 

[tangible1]

Clarification: My 2021 MYLR, Dec. 2020 production, skid plate is stiff plastic. Probably too brittle to take a solid hit.

designed to be sacrificial. dissipates some energy from being transmitted to the battery pack.

 

[Pianewman]

designed to be sacrificial. dissipates some energy from being transmitted to the battery pack.

Huh? What might be sacrificed is the battery pack, if the object crushes through the skid plate.

I don't understand, unless it's too early in the day to understand your humor.

 

[tangible1]

Huh? What might be sacrificed is the battery pack, if the object crushes through the skid plate.

I don't understand, unless it's too early in the day to understand your humor.

It's designed to deflect the impact and in doing so carry away kinetic energy that would otherwise be directed into the battery pack.
If the panel breaks in the process, it will still have reduced the impact energy to the pack.
it doesn't need to be extremely strong; in fact, that is counter to the goal of reducing kinetic energy transfer - if it were strong, it would all be passed.

Read up on how F1 designs chassis components to be sacrificed to reduce energy delivered to the driver shell.
Same thing going on here.

 

[Pianewman]

But if it shatters, it's offering ZERO protection to the exposed coolant lines to the battery pack. Right?

We're not talking about F1 speeds. At 70mph, wouldn't the aluminum skid plate, remaining intact, possibly lift the car up and over any obstacle?

 

[tangible1]

But if it shatters, it's offering ZERO protection to the exposed coolant lines to the battery pack. Right?

We're not talking about F1 speeds. At 70mph, wouldn't the aluminum skid plate, remaining intact, possibly lift the car up and over any obstacle?

AFTER it deforms, shatters, whatever, yes.
DURING the event, impact is deflected.

It's not an expensive item to replace from Tesla.
The primary benefit of an aluminum piece tends to be front end NVH reduction, assuming it's got a foam liner.

 

[MasterC17]

AFTER it deforms, shatters, whatever, yes.
DURING the event, impact is deflected.

It's not an expensive item to replace from Tesla.
The primary benefit of an aluminum piece tends to be front end NVH reduction, assuming it's got a foam liner.

I disagree with this. That flimsy plastic isn't going to deflect right about anything of consequence. I've seen several battery packs with damaged coolant lines on the front which requires replacement of the HV Battery from the inadequate protection from the factory aero shield. The job of the aluminum is to avert said damage. I hit a deer that had already passed on and was laying down in the road and the aluminum skidplate allowed the car to jump over it rather than have it penetrate into the front portion of the battery. The plastic is certainly better than the fabric, but a large rock or metal object is still going to pasa right through it.

 

[tangible1]

I disagree with this. That flimsy plastic isn't going to deflect right about anything of consequence. I've seen several battery packs with damaged coolant lines on the front which requires replacement of the HV Battery from the inadequate protection from the factory aero shield. The job of the aluminum is to avert said damage. I hit a deer that had already passed on and was laying down in the road and the aluminum skidplate allowed the car to jump over it rather than have it penetrate into the front portion of the battery. The plastic is certainly better than the fabric, but a large rock or metal object is still going to pasa right through it.

Nobody's going offroad in a Tesla MY at speed, and the random, extremely low percentage event you describe isn't worth replacing the skidplate piece that the factory installs. Hell, I hit a wheelbarrow at night below an underpass (no lighting) once a few years ago. Stuff happens, but warranty and insurance are required for a reason.
Hitting Kerbs on a racetrack are expected, and that's really the reason for the AL skidplates. But for normal driving environments, nah.
I'm sure you've seen multiple battery packs damaged but they're not all Tesla's.

 

[MasterC17]

Nobody's going offroad in a Tesla MY at speed, and the random, extremely low percentage event you describe isn't worth replacing the skidplate piece that the factory installs. Hell, I hit a wheelbarrow at night below an underpass (no lighting) once a few years ago. Stuff happens, but warranty and insurance are required for a reason.
Hitting Kerbs on a racetrack are expected, and that's really the reason for the AL skidplates. But for normal driving environments, nah.
I'm sure you've seen multiple battery packs damaged but they're not all Tesla's.

Eh, $300 for the skid plate versus $1k deductible plus all the time and aggravation makes it an easy decision for me.

 

[tangible1]

Eh, $300 for the skid plate versus $1k deductible plus all the time and aggravation makes it an easy decision for me.

fine for you. it's ok to disagree.

 

[BobbyLeeChan]

I have hit plenty of rocks with my stock skid plates at various speeds - it has definitely punctured, but not shattered. I debated going with the aluminum skid plates before a few of my big trips earlier this year, but due to availability, I just rocked the stock ones. In my case, the aluminum would have been nice to have, but not critical. More of my impacts were directly on the battery as I was in need of better breakover angle rather than approach/departure angle. Now, @MountainPass starts selling their Side Bash Bar, that will be the real game changer

 

[tangible1]

I have hit plenty of rocks with my stock skid plates at various speeds - it has definitely punctured, but not shattered. I debated going with the aluminum skid plates before a few of my big trips earlier this year, but due to availability, I just rocked the stock ones. In my case, the aluminum would have been nice to have, but not critical. More of my impacts were directly on the battery as I was in need of better breakover angle rather than approach/departure angle. Now, @MountainPass starts selling their Side Bash Bar, that will be the real game changer

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Method wheels? what size tire?

I use 18" M3 Aero wheels with BFG 255/55/18 Trail-Terrain tires, which add sidewall and 1/2 inch ground clearance. (Yeah, so all of 7" with those wheels)
But my off-road is limited to a dam spillway no more than 1/4 mile wide, so that wheelset only gets used a couple times a month.
Lots of pointy rocks (the spillway pushes all manner of rock around, and they're not smooth), but nothing of substance.
What I have hit has been minor and I see no reason to jump on an aluminum skidplate. Before I got the MY, I thought about it but experience says not needed.

 

[BobbyLeeChan]

Method wheels? what size tire?

I use 18" M3 Aero wheels with BFG 255/55/18 Trail-Terrain tires, which add sidewall and 1/2 inch ground clearance. (Yeah, so all of 7" with those wheels)
But my off-road is limited to a dam spillway no more than 1/4 mile wide, so that wheelset only gets used a couple times a month.
Lots of pointy rocks (the spillway pushes all manner of rock around, and they're not smooth), but nothing of substance.
What I have hit has been minor and I see no reason to jump on an aluminum skidplate. Before I got the MY, I thought about it but experience says not needed.

Yup, methods with Toyo Open Country on 255/55R18. I've got the MYP, so aero wheels didn't work for me and I wanted a higher load capacity wheel.

I recently drove my buddies MYP and I actually prefer my off road wheel/tire/coilover setup, even when were were canyon carving. It's more forgiving going over bumps and potholes and I don't mind the slightly 'squishy' feel, though compared to my GX470, it still feels very tight.

 

[dfwatt]

Nobody's going offroad in a Tesla MY at speed, and the random, extremely low percentage event you describe isn't worth replacing the skidplate piece that the factory installs. Hell, I hit a wheelbarrow at night below an underpass (no lighting) once a few years ago. Stuff happens, but warranty and insurance are required for a reason.
Hitting Kerbs on a racetrack are expected, and that's really the reason for the AL skidplates. But for normal driving environments, nah.
I'm sure you've seen multiple battery packs damaged but they're not all Tesla's.

You make it sound like potentially replacing a battery pack is a minor service issue. You'll be lucky if you get your car back in a month. Then there's the question as to whether or not your insurance policy is actually going to cover that $24000 repair or whether they're going to try to find a work around otherwise known as stiffing the customer for some or all of the repair (such as arguing that you're not on the road and therefore you're not covered by road insurance!). As for your notion that that might be a warranty repair, dream on. You have about as much chance of that happening as winning the lottery. So it sounds to me like you're taking significant risks at the same time you're dismissing one way of protecting yourself.

 

[tangible1]

You make it sound like potentially replacing a battery pack is a minor service issue. You'll be lucky if you get your car back in a month. Then there's the question as to whether or not your insurance policy is actually going to cover that $24000 repair or whether they're going to try to find a work around otherwise known as stiffing the customer for some or all of the repair (such as arguing that you're not on the road and therefore you're not covered by road insurance!). As for your notion that that might be a warranty repair, dream on. You have about as much chance of that happening as winning the lottery. So it sounds to me like you're taking significant risks at the same time you're dismissing one way of protecting yourself.

we're discussing a very unlikely scenario.
if it happens, insurance covers auto rental.
at least it does on my policy. YMMV

 

[dfwatt]

we're discussing a very unlikely scenario.
if it happens, insurance covers auto rental.
at least it does on my policy. YMMV

Let's hope you remain as lucky as you expect to be. You obviously have never dealt with the battery claim under an insurance Damage policy. I honestly think you're being naive but it's your car and you get to decide what risks you want to take.

 

[tangible1]

Let's hope you remain as lucky as you expect to be. You obviously have never dealt with the battery claim under an insurance Damage policy. I honestly think you're being naive but it's your car and you get to decide what risks you want to take.

so you're saying you have?
Or just relying on internet blog reports......
Really, this is not a 'thing'.