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New Roadster owner

Discussion in 'Roadster 2008-2012' started by jason.tv, Feb 21, 2020.

  1. drewski

    drewski Supporting Member

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    agreed!

    i was joking about doing braking tests in the rain, but not about driving the roadster in less than perfect weather.

    i'll try to remembver to add disclaimers in the future! :oops:
     
  2. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #162 jason.tv, Jun 5, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
    We all love you!! lol

    Finally managed to take the car for a spin as it wasn't raining this morning and roads were dry. So as I'm leaving the neighborhood i'm telling my self there is no way I can have any close calls and going to take it very easy.

    Sure enough the first light I approached I had to hold the brakes all the way down; didn't think I was going to stop in time with the car stopped at the light in front of me, I should of not went in traffic for the very first time but it is what it is. Another close call lol.. But overall I can tell they are better then stock; I just have to drive normal for the next 6 days before I can start the performance braking embed process.

    The rear right pad is covering the entire rotor where as the rear left pad is not covering about a 1/3 of the rotor; going to have him recheck the pad but said it's normal and the tread off the pad will eventually hit with a little driving. Since the entire cars weight distribution is in the rear this is probably why I had the issue stopping at the first light.

    IMG_8283.JPG IMG_8290.JPG IMG_8288.JPG IMG_8286.JPG
     
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  3. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    I would like to tackle the latest alpine double din stereo, upgraded speakers, and alpine shallow subwoofer installation.

    I've read forum posts that people have installed or placed the subwoofer in the passenger foot well? Where exactly would this subwoofer be installed in the passenger foot well, can anyone help or give me some advice as I would like to disable the current sub behind driver side and install the alpine sub somewhere upfront near the legs or feet so I can get the effect and bass that vibrates your legs like the model 3.

    Any ideas?
     
  4. hcsharp

    hcsharp Active Member

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    You don't like vibrating your left arm and shoulder?:p I don't think you'll ever get it to sound like the Model 3.
     
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  5. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    I covered the bass tube or enclosure in dynamat and dynaliner and still can hear it rattle; also the sub can be upgraded from the original. It's ok but can be 3-4x better in regards to bass and can't have that pulsating behind my head lol.

    I think the model 3 uses a 5 channel amp, I believe I can come close to it. the problem is when people install these amps they want to bridge them for max amps or more powerful subs; I want to tackle this properly and have a full 5.1 surround sound setup like the model 3.
     
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  6. drewski

    drewski Supporting Member

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    I have no noticable bass rattle or perhaps poor hearing (my left ear is ~70% (and 1038 has a LOT of other rattles)).

    Could be the B-Pillar trim? Where the subwoofer projects through?

    OT: Where is the amp in the Roadster and why is it wired through the speaker wire and not the line outs (RCA plugs)? I'm no audio guy so genuinely curious.
     
  7. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #167 jason.tv, Jun 7, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2020
    are you asking where the amp is? I thought your already knew; it's under the passenger foot well where the diagnostic cable was for your ovms.

    The amp connects to the stereo or head unit using RCA plugs and audio cables to input the signal into the amp so you can add instruments such as digital processors and equalizers; The expensive speakers come with equalizers. Then the amp also has speaker wire connections to connect to your individual speakers; So a 5 channel amp you can power the front left, front right, rear left, rear right, and sub woofer; including tweeters for each speaker if wanted to separately mount tweeters elsewhere.

    Focal ES 100K K2 Power Series 4" component speaker system at Crutchfield - for the fronts
    Focal ES 130K K2 Power Series 5-1/4" component speaker system at Crutchfield - for the rears

    Think I can fit this in the trunk? lol, just kidding. The trunk would prob blow apart along with PEM and battery internals.

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  8. drewski

    drewski Supporting Member

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    Thanks! I think that will fit . . . or just swap that for the trunk box!

    Yeah, not a big stereo guy so never looked into audio upgrades except getting an Android Auto compatible head unit in 667.

    Both my head units (JVC & DDIN Alpine changed to Sony by prior owner) only have speaker wire connections going out, with nothing connected via RCA.

    Sounds like that changed with later VINs
     
  9. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #169 jason.tv, Jun 8, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
    Installed the ExtendView Mirrors - ExtendView Mirrors (TM) and have to say just like everyone else I was really skeptical at first because of the curvatures from the installation but I have to say it's amazing.

    The Car in the rear view mirror was pretty much next to the left of me; so that clearly covers the blind spot. The other photos if you can zoom in on the rear view mirror can show all three lanes are visible; with the oem rear view mirrors you could only see your lane you are in at best so this literally added 100% more visibility on the road.

    The other pictures are the new HID lights I was testing at sundown.

    Now on the bad news I am receiving 283 and 286 errors BSM: Isolation Fault; car works perfectly fine, it's just when the PEM moved to the first yellow bar temp it gave me this error; so perhaps the PEM is getting to hot and needs cleaning. The car charges perfectly fine.

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  10. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #170 jason.tv, Jun 15, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2020
    My car did not come with one of those red diagnostic tesla usb sticks so I came across this today on ebay which was given to tesla employees. Figured I can store my logs on it and keep it as a backup for future reference and more goodies for the roadster instead of using any crappy 4gb usb stick.

    So after some thinking about the audio system upgrade I think I am going to install subs behind both of the seats near the lower back area; this way the subs would be hidden. The inside of the wooden box is completely empty so we might seal the inside in the middle so it creates a sealed enclosure for each of the subs. I believe this was the reasoning for the box wall behind you; I don't think they completed the design to create a ported or sealed box out of it.

    Considering the subs would be behind the lower section of the seats this would be completely hidden from visible view and would blow anyone away who sits in the car unexpected.

    s-l1600 (1).jpg s-l1600.jpg
     
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  11. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #171 jason.tv, Jun 22, 2020
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2020
    Rotors are completed and fully embedded; followed the instructions to a tee. When braking that hard you can hear the metal, chassis, and components in the car crunch forward from the force since the car is only used to taking off. No Slipping or brake fade.

    Final brake embed 65-5 90% force - video

    I have a audio design consultation tomorrow morning so more thinking about the sub upgrade; I was planning on putting the new amp behind the passenger Seat which has only 1-1/2" space between the wall; But based on the size of amp needed I could place the Amplifier in the trunk underneath the floor compartment and route the wires through the trunk?

    I plan to only use one 8" or 10" shallow mount sub right in the middle of the two seats or maybe two 8" subs we'll see how the design consultation goes.

    Should I put the amp in the trunk? is there another location I should try to find? is this a good idea because seems like there is no other place to put the amp. Even if I remove or place a new on over the original under the passenger foot well it will still stick out regardless.

    Which is why I never go in the under compartment of the trunk which seems logical to be hidden and out of the way.

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  12. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    forgot to mention the crest toothpaste box was to measure the distance from seat to wall as it had perfect exact fit at 1-1/2" lol.

    and shows you how much the wall needs to be built out to accommodate the sub as a shallow amp mounts at 3"
     
  13. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    scratching the whole idea of putting the sub between seats and amps in trunk; too much work. Just going to place a new powerful sub in the existing place where the current sub is installed behind the driver side left well, upgrade all the speakers, and change out the Alpine head unit to a later model.

    have to wait till end of August to do this since My service guy left for Europe for two months.

    IMG_8733.JPG
     
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  14. ML Auto

    ML Auto Member

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    The existing sub works pretty good with just an amp upgrade. A clarion xc2510 5 channel amp is small enough to mount under the pass side dash and provides enough power and clarity for most people. The factory speakers are better than you think, it's just that the stock amp is abysmal.
     
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  15. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    You are absolutely right; the clarion xc2510 is exactly what is needed for the roadster; this is the only compact 5 channel class D amplifier that uses less voltage and both top of the line front and rear focal speakers at 50w rms x4 then 1 channel for a real subwoofer up to 200-300w rms.
     
  16. ML Auto

    ML Auto Member

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    And the adjustable crossovers allow you to really dial it in. It's too bad they doubled in price-they used to be everywhere for less than $150.
     
  17. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    #177 jason.tv, Jul 5, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2020
    HOLY WOW!!! So over the past month and half ever since summer time here in Florida it has been beastly hot and noticed my car was not going to sleep; the battery after charge was not achieving temperature of 87F in order to put the car to idle or sleep mode.

    When the car is not sleeping the pem fan and the coolant pump run 24/7 so in the hottest months in Florida during summer time I really didn't know what to do; I even tried a portable AC unit and that didn't work either. The problem is in Florida during summer time it's Dead heat; there is barley any breeze once sun goes down so it's just dead air / heat.

    I keep my car parked in the garage so when I charge the car the exhaust fans just circulate right back into the garage; Yes I have the garage door open while charging; even with the dead hot summer heat I even try to charge outside and still doesn't achieve temperatures of 87F to trigger idle or go to sleep. I even tried a portable AC unit and that didn't work either. One of the final solutions discussed was to install a separate AC unit for the garage but this would of cost thousands; but worth it to save your investment on a roadster.

    So after a month and a half of the car not going to sleep I managed to get it to sleep for the first time. I purchased "two" of the Commercial Electric 20 in. 3-Speed High Velocity Floor Fan-SFC1-500B - The Home Depot

    and WOW battery went from 104 to 92F in first two exhaust cycles with 27 miles remaining to charge; during the charging I have not seen temperatures this low in my car before. The battery even went to 80F right before it was done charging I absolutely couldn't believe it.. sucess!!

    So if are in a hot summer climate and your car is not going to sleep or not reaching ambient temperature where it goes idle or goes to sleep; or you just don't know and you wake up and notice your car has 6-10 miles of phantom drain the next day then this could be your solution!!

    I simply placed one fan in the front and one fan in the back of the car while the car is charging; once done and goes to sleep you can stop the fans.


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  18. gregd

    gregd Active Member

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    One trick to sucking heat out of the battery is to start your charging session with about 30-45 minutes of RANGE charging, then switch to standard charging before the SoC gets above 80%. Range mode charging puts a priority on cooling the battery first, using the car's A/C, and I never had a problem getting the car to sleep soundly after doing that. You must be on a 240v charger, in order for the A/C to run.
     
  19. jason.tv

    jason.tv Member

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    I tried this range charge for couple cycles and still did not reach ambient temperature during summer florida heat; yes I understand how it cools cycles first in this mode. However I don't want to start in one mode and then keep an eye on it and then switch to another mode.

    But with the dead heat the battery was still not reaching 87f by the time it was done charging.
     
  20. ML Auto

    ML Auto Member

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