New M3P Owner Question

[Kimilions]

Getting use to the sounds and feels of my new M3P and loving it so far.

This morning I went on an on ramp and gave it a bit of throttle and felt a light knock/bump under the heal on my foot on the throttle.

Didn’t feel like a bump in the road type of thing more from the floor of the car. I know the battery expands and makes sounds etc when getting warm, but can you feel this?

 

[Tam]

...can you feel this?

Doesn't sound or feel right!

 

[UncertainTimes]

It’s the flux capacitor opening as you bend space time

 

[tm1v2]

@Kimilions From the sound and feel, could it have been stability control intervening with the brakes? Such systems can actuate the brakes at each wheel individually, so it might feel different than if you were to apply the brakes via the pedal.

If that is it, then it's normal. The nannies in this car are fairly intrusive and don't like you using much power while turning, or taking turns really fast in general. If you try to use a lot of power in a turn, traction control just won't allow it and the car won't give much power in the first place (no brakes involved). However if you are gentle with the accelerator then you can get some power out of it in turns, and then stability control will sometimes interfere using brakes as you get close to the car's limits.

Use Track Mode for such driving. Turn down the "Stability Assist" setting. In my experience this car doesn't have any scary handling tendencies, it's very stable and easy to control (except when the stock dampers get overwhelmed), but explore carefully and safely on your own of course, don't take my word for it.

If you're pretty sure it's not the brakes from stability control intervention, then I agree with others it sounds like something's wrong with your car.

 

[focher]

Please don’t use Track Mode and turn down safety features while you’re on public roads.

 

[tm1v2]

Please don’t use Track Mode and turn down safety features while you’re on public roads.

@focher Most of us above a certain age were driving before stability control or traction control became common. Cars were always in "Track Mode" in that sense.

Some cars were known to be a handful at the limit or even when losing traction from bumps and bad pavement, due to their weight distribution, suspension design, etc. I've read the Porsche 911 was known as a "widowmaker" in the old days. Other cars were known to be especially stable, predictable, and controllable. I believe most sedans with modern-ish independent suspension are not going to have any sketchy handling traits. (They may not handle "well" but won't unexpectedly spin or anything like that.)

M3P is well balanced and well behaved, just don't do stupid things with your right foot, it has a lot of power obviously and you can easily kick the tail out with too much throttle in a turn (depending on the "Handling Bias" setting). Where that leads is up to your judgement and car control. If you're exploring that I hope there is nobody and nothing around to hit. Give yourself room to recover, AND extra room in case you really mess up. There are roads and times where that is the case, but certainly not in typical daily driving in well-populated areas.