Raven Tire Wear Observation

[SDRick]

I find my Raven model S superior to my 2016 in most aspects but... My 2016 dual motor consistently had very even tire wear between the front and back. So much so that rotation was basically unnecessary.

With the Raven, the front tires are wearing out at 10,000 miles while the backs have plenty of tread. My hunch is that the majority of the time the Raven is only utilizing the front motor except for rigorous acceleration?

Any other thoughts contributing to the different tire wear experience between the two dual motor cars or what can be done about it?

 

[destructure00]

Any other thoughts contributing to the different tire wear experience between the two dual motor cars or what can be done about it?

Have you had the alignment checked?

 

[SDRick]

The wear on the front is even, just excessive compared to the backs.

 

[bishoppeak]

Bad alignment can cause excessive even wear, much more likely than acceleration with our very effective traction control

 

[SSonnentag]

The tires should last much longer than 10,000 miles. With rotations that would only get you 20,000 miles from a set at best, which is quite a bit fewer miles than the 35,000-40,000 miles I'm getting from my 2017 S100D. Like your 2016, my tires wear evenly front and back and don't generally require rotations. I'm currently at 21,000 miles on my latest set of tires and can't measure any discernible differences between front and rear tires.

 

[dark cloud]

With the Raven, the front tires are wearing out at 10,000 miles while the backs have plenty of tread. My hunch is that the majority of the time the Raven is only utilizing the front motor except for rigorous acceleration?

Have you had the alignment checked?

The wear on the front is even, just excessive compared to the backs.

Think of this though, if the car was a front wheel drive only, that would still be excessive wear, yes?

 

[destructure00]

The wear on the front is even, just excessive compared to the backs.

Simplest answer is the alignment is out. I'd get that checked first and go from there.

Think of this though, if the car was a front wheel drive only, that would still be excessive wear, yes?

Agreed

 

[SDRick]

Bad alignment can cause excessive even wear, much more likely than acceleration with our very effective traction control

I thought one goal of alignment was to get even wear across the tire. What part of an alignment (adjusting camber- caster etc) would correct "accelerated" tire wear on tires that exhibit even wear?

 

[rlawson4]

I got 20K miles on the front tires, while the rear was still at 7/32. I replaced the front tires with the idea that I would then replace all 4 tires next time.

 

[dark cloud]

Odd. Very odd. The only thing I can think of is someone has borrowed your car and tested g forces by running around in large circles at constant speed for hours?

 

[bishoppeak]

I thought one goal of alignment was to get even wear across the tire. What part of an alignment (adjusting camber- caster etc) would correct "accelerated" tire wear on tires that exhibit even wear?

Incorrect toe

 

[SDRick]

Incorrect toe

This would not be my understanding. Too much toe-in causes accelerated wear at the outboard edges of the tires, while too much toe-out causes wear at the inboard edges. As I mentioned I am getting even wear.

You say incorrect toe, please explain how changing it would help.

 

[bishoppeak]

Extreme toe error causes uneven wear, less extreme can cause excessive even wear

 

[SDRick]

Extreme toe error causes uneven wear, less extreme can cause excessive even wear

Interesting, never heard that before. Source?

 

[bishoppeak]

Think about how toe works. Slightly too much toe in or out causes constant scrubbing across the tread. Really is the only possible explanation for your excessive wear since you aren't doing front wheel burnouts or wildly understeering track work.

 

[SDRick]

Slightly too much toe in or out causes constant scrubbing across the tread. Really is the only possible explanation for your excessive wear since you aren't doing front wheel burnouts or wildly understeering track work.

Slightly too much toe-in causes slightly more accelerated wear at the outboard edges of the tires, while slightly toe-out causes wear at the inboard edges. I believe in the Raven dual motor cars, 85% of torque and motor time is through the front motor. Unless you have a source for your statement, I think that would be a more likely explanation for the greater front wear.

 

[dark cloud]

The car is still under warranty, so I would take it in and ask the service centre the reason. Ask for an alignment check. The lack of responses here from other Raven owners gives an indication that your car is in the minority. Let us know the results.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Incorrect toe

If your camber is pretty neutral, this could be it. An alignment would be the easiest way to check this. I think Tesla calls for a bit of toe-out in the front from the factory - if it's out of spec, that could do it.

Only other thing I could think of would be if the front motor was somehow "pulling" the car - as in, the front was putting down more power than the rear, and killing the tires by out driving the lagging rear. Your case seems to be a one-off, though, so i'm not sure how that would actually happen in execution other than a software issue.

So my money would be on bad toe.

 

[SDRick]

If your camber is pretty neutral, this could be it. An alignment would be the easiest way to check this. I think Tesla calls for a bit of toe-out in the front from the factory - if it's out of spec, that could do it.

Only other thing I could think of would be if the front motor was somehow "pulling" the car - as in, the front was putting down more power than the rear, and killing the tires by out driving the lagging rear. Your case seems to be a one-off, though, so i'm not sure how that would actually happen in execution other than a software issue.

So my money would be on bad toe.

Yes, the front motor is "pulling" the car. When I last checked the power meter, the front motor is doing almost all the work unless you have your foot into it, then the rear motor kicks in. This may be one reason why the Raven model has significantly more range than previous dual motors?

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the fronts have about 5/100s" more wear than the rears. Also, the center is wearing slightly more than the edges, possibly indicating slight over inflation even though I run consistently between 43 and 45 pounds pressure.

By the eye-ball looks of it, the alignment looks within spec on all four corners.

In any event, I have a an alignment scheduled and will report back within two weeks.

 

[Aggmeister2010]

Yes, the front motor is "pulling" the car. When I last checked the power meter, the front motor is doing almost all the work unless you have your foot into it, then the rear motor kicks in. This may be one reason why the Raven model has significantly more range than previous dual motors?

In any event, I have a an alignment scheduled and will report back within two weeks.

that’s really interesting. I know on the pre-raven cars, “Range Mode” effectively did the same thing, and split the power Distribution more evenly front to rear, and since the rear motor Is a bigger power hog, that extended range slightly by working the smaller front motor a bit harder ....I wonder if they basically made that configuration the standard for raven vehicles.