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Playing around with Traction control in snowy parking lot & First S at "The Alamo"
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glhs272
Unnamed plug faced villian
I have found that even though the traction control is turned off, the stability control still runs like crazy when you try to do donuts. Obviously the stability control can't change the laws of physics so you can still do donuts, but the abs pump is angrily pumping away when you try to throw it around. I am assuming you ran into the same thing.
TC quickly becomes useless as the snow gets deeper and the slope gets steeper. Tesla should work on an intermediate position, or positions, between ON & OFF. Lacking a tachometer all the driver has to go by is the muted sound of spinning tires as the adhesion point is passed. Takes some practice to know just when to feather the acel pedal. Ideally the driver could be given an adjustable mid-position using a slider on the 17 in screen. Setting it just a skosh above TC-ON would cover most situations for most drivers.
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> I don't understand why they don't just link the TC with the front wheel speed so it can automatically adjust the rear wheel spin to provide maximum traction (front wheel speed). [RDoc]
What do you think it is linked to now, maybe the other rear wheel? I do not know myself, but these two would be the only available choices, no? Forgetting Stability Control (if we can), there should be some variable that TC tracks (maybe more than one). Let us get our hands on it with a GUI slider. For safety let it be adjustable only when car is in PARK.
Fun 'n Games - Next parking lot video maybe should feature 'wrapped' rear wheels using 3/8 inch rope. Especially good if there is a solid ice base under the snow, or on a frozen lake. Are the wrapped wheels actually better than snow tires??
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What do you think it is linked to now, maybe the other rear wheel? I do not know myself, but these two would be the only available choices, no? Forgetting Stability Control (if we can), there should be some variable that TC tracks (maybe more than one). Let us get our hands on it with a GUI slider. For safety let it be adjustable only when car is in PARK.
Fun 'n Games - Next parking lot video maybe should feature 'wrapped' rear wheels using 3/8 inch rope. Especially good if there is a solid ice base under the snow, or on a frozen lake. Are the wrapped wheels actually better than snow tires??
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Well, lake is coming up 
if we get a few days in the Dells where the temps are close to zero, I may take it on Lake Delton. Their were I.C.E. Fishers last weekend (Pulling Gas cars out of the lake that people parked out their to go ice fishing with tehe) so I don't think it can handle a 5k Lbs Model S yet, but once it can I wonder if my insurance would cover if it fell through @_@
if we get a few days in the Dells where the temps are close to zero, I may take it on Lake Delton. Their were I.C.E. Fishers last weekend (Pulling Gas cars out of the lake that people parked out their to go ice fishing with tehe) so I don't think it can handle a 5k Lbs Model S yet, but once it can I wonder if my insurance would cover if it fell through @_@
If you think the TC is useless, try it without. I actually think the S is amazing in icy weather or snow less than 4 inches. Not quite as good as an AWD vehicle, but much better than any FWD car I have ever driven. That is with TC, and stability control on. Without stability control and TC, it won't take long to wreck the car.
Al Sherman
It's about THIS car.
I just got back from some playing around also. Conditions were large ice patches covered by about 2 inches of slush. My Dodge Ram didn't come close to making it up the driveway (very steep) in 2WD. I wouldn't even have attempted it with the Prius. I thought it would be a good chance to see how the Model S did.
The first spot that the truck failed didn't affect the MS at all. Then on to the steepest part of the driveway. The TC kicked in briefly about 3 times but the car simply drove up the drive perfectly. I never felt that making it up the drive was the least bit in question.
Then I drove the county roads and pushed the car purposely but within the limits of what I considered safe. I would never drive that aggressively in these conditions if I weren't testing. The car performed beautifully. Both on straightaways, and curves the Traction and stability control were very impressive. I might push it a little more but not much. The MS has the best Winter performance of any RWD car I've ever driven. I'm really very impressed so far.
Full Disclosure: I'm running the Nokian Hakka R2's (no kidding Winter tires) and I never turned the TC off.
The driveway was the most impressive. We've been in this house for 20 years and I've never seen a RWD car (and most Front WD cars) get out of the driveway under these conditions.
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> If you think the TC is useless, try it without. [qwk]
You miss the point since obviously I have to turn it OFF as the slope gets steeper and the snow/mud gets deeper on the 2 mile dirt road and driveway here. As you know maintaining traction under these conditions requires maintaining momentum too. But what happens with the MS is that TC limits the power prematurely and the car just coasts down to ~5 mph when TC turns the power back on. Nobody wants to drive this way.
On the Roadster (which has much more bite, btw) driver can immediately punch the TC button under the parking brake lever and continue seamlessly up the snowy hill. On the MS, rather than thinking ahead as one leaves the paved highway and selecting DRIVING screen/TC/OFF, it would be much easier (and safer) if there was a selectable mid-position of traction control that one could set for their local everyday (mud or snow) conditions. Just a tad more in my case would do it.
Driving the MS on highways the TC rarely comes on and when it does it is appreciated.
Remember Positraction? Posi was rather subtle in stock form, i.e. the clutch pack was purposely under light pressure. Barely enough to climb over a 2x4 chock on a garage floor. Which is all you want in an everyday Posi. Similarly the TC mid-position would be just a bit more, certainly NOT the full jump to TC OFF unless that is where you set the slider.
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You miss the point since obviously I have to turn it OFF as the slope gets steeper and the snow/mud gets deeper on the 2 mile dirt road and driveway here. As you know maintaining traction under these conditions requires maintaining momentum too. But what happens with the MS is that TC limits the power prematurely and the car just coasts down to ~5 mph when TC turns the power back on. Nobody wants to drive this way.
On the Roadster (which has much more bite, btw) driver can immediately punch the TC button under the parking brake lever and continue seamlessly up the snowy hill. On the MS, rather than thinking ahead as one leaves the paved highway and selecting DRIVING screen/TC/OFF, it would be much easier (and safer) if there was a selectable mid-position of traction control that one could set for their local everyday (mud or snow) conditions. Just a tad more in my case would do it.
Driving the MS on highways the TC rarely comes on and when it does it is appreciated.
Remember Positraction? Posi was rather subtle in stock form, i.e. the clutch pack was purposely under light pressure. Barely enough to climb over a 2x4 chock on a garage floor. Which is all you want in an everyday Posi. Similarly the TC mid-position would be just a bit more, certainly NOT the full jump to TC OFF unless that is where you set the slider.
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Well, if as you suggest it is linked to front wheel speed, the algorithm is broken. The computer should be far better at adjusting rear wheel spin for maximum traction than the driver could possibly do. I suspect it's pretty simple, it just slows down the wheel until it stops spinning.
I'd very strongly suggest not playing with rope or anything else like that on the wheels. If (and when) it breaks, the pieces can come off at pretty high speed, potentially damaging both the car and anyone near by.
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