Last week my wife and I took our RWD Long Range M3 with OEM 19" wheels and all season tires on our second road trip - the first was Chicago to Atlanta days after receiving the car in November. This time we made a last minute decision to spend Christmas in Breckenridge. I plan on buying 18" Aero wheels with winter tires but was unable to get them installed prior to leaving due to a 4-6 week lead time. That said, I was confident in the winter weather performance of brand new all season tires combined with 4,500-5,000 lb. total weight after including snowboarding gear for 2, coolers, snacks, luggage, etc.
It's about 1,150 miles each way, and we decided to drive straight through without spending a night in a hotel. The temperature was generally below 32°F, especially as we drove through the night. The last 40 miles through the mountains were white out conditions, but it was just the beginning of a bad storm. Conditions worsened until I had about 20 miles to go and could no longer see lane lines.
Below are some comments I can offer after returning from this trip:
- Car did not slip once in the mountains and drove surprisingly well in heavy snow. Much better than the VW CC I previously owned. That said I drove the last 30-40 miles going 30 mph in a 65 mph zone. This was at 4-6am and the few cars on the road were travelling the same speed.
- Optimized range by manually controlling climate control. Best results achieved by using only the lower fan on the lowest speed setting and 70° temperature. I turned it on for about a minute to warm the cabin, then would leave it off for 15-30 minutes. AC was off which is typically on when using Auto climate control.
- Speed limit is faster on Chicago area highways (70 mph) than rural Iowa (65 mph)
- In Nebraska the speed limit is 75 mph - had to decide whether to be the slowest car on the road to optimize range or drive 80 mph with traffic and stop more frequently to charge.
- Generally 1-2 superchargers between each of my charging stops which minimizes the possibility of running out of electricity.
- Popping in floor board while supercharging in cold weather got a little worse after 10-20 hours of consecutive driving. Towards the end of this trip the floor was popping every time we charged.
- Middle brake light is not sealed with the rear window allowing condensation to form inside the housing.
- Overall I was in the 260-320 wh/mi range between charges. My biggest discovery was the ability to increase range by following a semi. I understand this should come as no surprise, but I was amazed by the significant increase in range. There were a few situations where I was 1-2 hours from my destination and the navigation claimed I would arrive with 5% battery. Temporarily driving behind a semi would reduce consumption to the low 200s wh/mi range therefore slowly adding to the arrival battery percentage - sometimes I was able to add 8-10% due to reduction in consumption. This was most helpful when driving from Brush, CO to Silverthorne, CO.
Overall I had a very positive experience and would definitely do it again (with winter tires!).
It's about 1,150 miles each way, and we decided to drive straight through without spending a night in a hotel. The temperature was generally below 32°F, especially as we drove through the night. The last 40 miles through the mountains were white out conditions, but it was just the beginning of a bad storm. Conditions worsened until I had about 20 miles to go and could no longer see lane lines.
Below are some comments I can offer after returning from this trip:
- Car did not slip once in the mountains and drove surprisingly well in heavy snow. Much better than the VW CC I previously owned. That said I drove the last 30-40 miles going 30 mph in a 65 mph zone. This was at 4-6am and the few cars on the road were travelling the same speed.
- Optimized range by manually controlling climate control. Best results achieved by using only the lower fan on the lowest speed setting and 70° temperature. I turned it on for about a minute to warm the cabin, then would leave it off for 15-30 minutes. AC was off which is typically on when using Auto climate control.
- Speed limit is faster on Chicago area highways (70 mph) than rural Iowa (65 mph)
- In Nebraska the speed limit is 75 mph - had to decide whether to be the slowest car on the road to optimize range or drive 80 mph with traffic and stop more frequently to charge.
- Generally 1-2 superchargers between each of my charging stops which minimizes the possibility of running out of electricity.
- Popping in floor board while supercharging in cold weather got a little worse after 10-20 hours of consecutive driving. Towards the end of this trip the floor was popping every time we charged.
- Middle brake light is not sealed with the rear window allowing condensation to form inside the housing.
- Overall I was in the 260-320 wh/mi range between charges. My biggest discovery was the ability to increase range by following a semi. I understand this should come as no surprise, but I was amazed by the significant increase in range. There were a few situations where I was 1-2 hours from my destination and the navigation claimed I would arrive with 5% battery. Temporarily driving behind a semi would reduce consumption to the low 200s wh/mi range therefore slowly adding to the arrival battery percentage - sometimes I was able to add 8-10% due to reduction in consumption. This was most helpful when driving from Brush, CO to Silverthorne, CO.
Overall I had a very positive experience and would definitely do it again (with winter tires!).
