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Tesla model 3 performance - Test drive results
- Thread starter zayn
- Start date
WannabeOwner
Well-Known Member
I wonder who's going to be listening to tyre noise when there is Premium Sound to enjoy! Not me.
Your Premium Audio will sound a lot better without external noise.
Its one of the great advantages ... and disadvantages ... of EV. The quietness means that the music doesn't have to be adjusted just to compensate for the noise of the ICE ... or tyres. And conversely every additional noise - a slight creek for headliner - is noticeable.
I had a rear quarter-light replaced. I would never have noticed the additional air noise in an ICE, and the rubber seal was only a couple of mm out, but the air noise it generated was sufficient to be noticeable. They had to redo the windscreen that I had replaced a year or two back as well, because of headliner-creak; very much doubt I would have noticed that either in an ICE.
The Model-3 is far more noisy than the MS ... still "really quiet", but if you drive them one after the other it is very noticeable.
andyfox
Member
andyfox
Member
The chap selling them tells me that they are. They also weigh about a third less than the 20" standard wheels.
It is important to be able to hear stuff that's going on outside the car though. Sirens, pedestrians, etc.
I don't believe there is an active noise cancellation tech that will just take out one type of noise, the tech works by inverting whatever sound the mics pick up.
I would imagine it's not quite the same thing cancelling noise in the volume of an entire car interior vs a tiny personal headphone. But Bose are allegedly working on such a system as we speak. It's probably more viable with an EV due to having less noise energy to cancel.
Having had a look on their website, they use a technique called "spin forging" which is not the same as true forging. They are basically cast wheels with the barrel strengthened by heating and spinning it while compressing with rollers. Unlike true forging, it doesn't do anything to strengthen those rather thin looking spokes, which are still only cast. Looking at this design, I would want to see much thicker spokes on a cast wheel so I would look elsewhere personally. True forged wheels are much more costly, but it's what you need in a design like this with ultra-thin spokes.
Cheap, strong, light - I'm afraid you can only pick two of these parameters!
andyfox
Member
Agreed. Much the same applies with compter storage. It can be cheap, fast and reliable, but you can't have all three together.
With that in mind, I think I might just wait until I've got the car, and then make a decision. The main consideration for me would actually be the extra range that a lighter and smaller wheel could offer, as I didn't actually find the comfort too much of an issue when I test drive. I guess I might change my mind after driving around on Cornish back roads for a while.
FWIW, on test drives you tend to not notice things that later can become irritating. Ride comfort and noise levels being high on the list of things you don't really take in fully unless you live with the car for a week or two. I've owned a few cars that I thought rode reasonably well on test drives and then I later realised they were compromised. I'm worried the P+ will be in that category, but at least there is a relatively easy solution.
Where does it say they're spin forged?
Is what you call "true forging" the same as "flow forging"? Are Tsportline's wheels below trued forged?
Tesla Model 3 18
If you had 18" tires and were very careful with potholes, what would be the practical advantages of true forged over spin forged? Or would the advantages dissipate?
There was a whole page on the Varro website talking about their "spin-forging" process, but I don't have a link now. Basically nothing really like true forging, although it might add some additional strength to the barrel.
I have no idea what "flow-forging" is sorry. Probably just another marketing term for something that isn't really a fully forged wheel!
Now there's absolutely nothing wrong with a decent chunky cast 18" alloy wheel, but the very narrow spokes on that particular lightweight design (I'm talking about the Varro one @andyfox posted) are more typical of what you see on high end super-lightweight forged wheels. Personally I wouldn't go near a spoke design like that on a cheap cast wheel. They will likely flex and possibly crack, especially on a relatively heavy and very powerful car like the M3P. The Tsportline wheel design looks totally fine to me, regardless of whether it is cast or "flow-forged", whatever that really means!
The advantage of a forged wheel vs cast is simply low weight and strength. The big disadvantage of forging is the cost! Personally I would go for something like the Tsportline wheels, which are reasonably priced and don't have super thin spindly sharp edged spokes. Obviously 18" wheels will give you more tyre compliance, which will also greatly reduce stress on the wheel rims, especially over potholes and other sharp impacts.
andyfox
Member
Flow forging appears to be the same as spin forging i.e. not true forged in terms of the wheel strength.
Peteski and I have chatted about this on here, and I'm going to defer to his greater expertise. It made me decide not to go with the Varro wheels, even though they were very reasonably priced.
I'm going to wait until I get the car, and then re-evaluate my options if I find the 20's to be an issue.
Yes, those Varro wheels have a very racy spoke design for wheels costing only £170 each!
Hopefully we can find some decent alternatives at a reasonable price. I'm going to do the same, start off with the 20" and then look for a decent set of reasonably priced 18" or 19" for winter tyres. There should be loads of options fairly soon.
davidlittle
Member
I've had a model S for 5 years and yesterday I picked up my model 3 performance with 20" wheels, drove it from London to Devon, very pleasantly surprised - it is as quiet as the model S, no discernable noise from the motor, there is road and wind noise of course, but not excessive and no worse than model S.
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