Tesla "store" in Colorado.. clueless?

[mikecronis]

I went to the Park Meadows Mall in Denver the other day and had a few questions about the Roadster. Sadly, they knew nothing about it except they thought it was a "Franken-car" and were a bit rude and shrugged me off. I was surprised how annoyed they were, as there was 6 of them standing around their Model S P85D. Several of them were probably around 18 years old so the Roadster came out when they were 10 and don't remember it even existed. One guy knew about it a bit and said it was horrible, loud, and terrible a car, and even though I owned a Lotus Elise I wouldn't like it whatsoever.

My only questions were radio-options, that if the JVC head-unit in the 2008 model (or 2010) indicated it also included the subwoofer as-standard, if the JVC model indicated the upscaled audio-option. I actually had put that head-unit in my Lotus Elise in 2006, so I agree with Musk's choice there, it's quite good, despite the lack of a Navteq map-upgrade (I had researched an upgrade in 2007, it seems there's still no disc even STILL!)

My other question was what sort of charge-stations could I use. Certainly my Volt and ELR can use the EV-Level-2 charge-stations by ChargePoint and SemaConnect, and my home Bosch Powerstation 240v-16A, but I was wondering if the Roadster could use other kinds of stations, perhaps what the maximum ChargePoint EV-L2 stations with some voltage-sag would max-out at? How does the adapter J1772 make a difference? If I plug the Roadster into a Tesla Rapid-Charge station would it even work? I'd hate to be stranded as there's very few charge-stations in Colorado, and if I get to a "wrong one" I'd be screwed.

I knew also that the 2008 model 1.5 had a bit less noise-insulation but was wondering if the 2.0 had the same noise-insulation, that perhaps it was merely some cosmetic changes, or if that was only the 2.5 model in 2010? I also noticed some 2.5 Sport models had a double-DIN unit by what seems to be Pioneer.

In any case, I was wondering which are key-indicators for subwoofers if no pictures are handy. Sometime on AutoTrader I just ask the seller and they don't know (or won't tell me).

Can anyone help? Who's selling theirs? I always take super-care of my cars to the point of being an extremist and have had a lot of semi-exotics and RWD sports-cars and obsess over them.

 

[MileHighMotoring]

First, welcome to the forum! Sorry they weren't helpful, they're trained to help people learn about the Model S/X and place orders for them. They don't have access to, or knowledge of, technical information or they type of info you're after. Even Service Centers (where they repair cars) probably wouldn't know year to year changes for the Roadster. That's where this forum shines!

To help answer your questions: The JVC stereo was standard and doesn't indicate a higher-end audio system.

As to charging, you will get a 110/120v and 220/240v charging cables with the car, and can buy more to suit your outlet's plug style if they don't match. Charging on the go is more complicated, as the J1772 standard you see in every charging station around the country doesn't fit in the Roadster. You can buy the Tesla adapter, or a forum member created the CAN Jr. adapter: The CAN - Roadster to J1772 or Model S/X connector That gets you up to Level 2 charging, so you can use Chargepoint or other stations (although I've read people have problems with J1772 more than infrequently, so it might not be wise to rely on them for a trip?)

To charge faster, there's been a company recently here touting an installation of Chademo into the Roadster for a hefty fee. Nobody's done it yet, so buyer beware there.

My understanding on the sound insulation is that 2.5 have it, and 1.5 and 2.0 could (and probably still can) add it for around $3500. What difference it makes is up to the driver, because I think most noise comes from the air rushing around the windows, windshield, and top. It's never going to be a quiet car!

2.5 Cars have the double-DIN head unit. 1.5 and 2.0 have the single-DIN unit, and upgrading is a TON of expensive work because you have to replace dash pieces, rerout HVAC, and cut the structure behind the dash panels to make the change.

Don't sweat looking for a car with a subwoofer. Any audio shop can add one to suit your desires after you buy a car. Find a car you love, in great condition.

Hope that helps. Others will be along to assist you, too.

 

[tvuolo]

Welcome, Mike. Sorry the store has no info. Even the service center seems pretty clueless these days.

My 1.5 Roadster came from the factory with the stock Blaupunkt, no subwoofer, and no insulation. The original owner "upgraded" to the JVC HU, but didn't add the subwoofer or replace the speakers. Further, the JVC is routed through the Blaupunkt amplifier. In short... the radio sounds awful. So having the JVC isn't an indication of having the subwoofer.

Someday, I'll turn my car over to my neighbor who does some incredible installs in his spare time. He's got a whole plan laid out whenever I want to fork over the cash, and don't mind my car being laid up for a week or two. He did a bunch of research on the max wattage draw, and found it a bit limiting, but doable. Others have added a lithium battery in the trunk that powers the sound system, but I need my full trunk space for playing Costco Tetris

 

[supersnoop]

I don't think it's unusable for car salesmen to be unfamiliar with a car that hasn't been sold in five years. That said, one of the guys running the Austin showroom used to drive a roadster.

 

[simonog]

I bought a Roadster a year ago, from Tesla (UK).

Fabulous car! Fun, nippy, handles well under most conditions. Little luggage carrying space; even my wife's handbag has to go in the boot (trunk).

 

[ViperDoc]

My understanding on the sound insulation is that 2.5 have it, and 1.5 and 2.0 could (and probably still can) add it for around $3500. What difference it makes is up to the driver, because I think most noise comes from the air rushing around the windows, windshield, and top. It's never going to be a quiet car!

I wish it were so. The extra insulation upgrades that you could buy from Tesla (different pricing depending what Roadster you started from) didn't even last 1 year in the store. I know because I wanted the soundproofing upgrade (and one other upgrade) for my Roadster 2.5, but living far from a service center, I decided to wait until my next annual service visit. When that rolled around, neither upgrade (soundproofing/sill squeegee and the floor heater upgrade) was available any more...

 

[Jaff]

No, not correct Mile High...I have had my 2010 "2.5" Roadster from new, and I had to add the sound deadening package as an option (installed by Tesla) well after the car was delivered...It was definitely not standard equipment on the 2.5s.

First, welcome to the forum! Sorry they weren't helpful, they're trained to help people learn about the Model S/X and place orders for them. They don't have access to, or knowledge of, technical information or they type of info you're after. Even Service Centers (where they repair cars) probably wouldn't know year to year changes for the Roadster. That's where this forum shines!

To help answer your questions: The JVC stereo was standard and doesn't indicate a higher-end audio system.

As to charging, you will get a 110/120v and 220/240v charging cables with the car, and can buy more to suit your outlet's plug style if they don't match. Charging on the go is more complicated, as the J1772 standard you see in every charging station around the country doesn't fit in the Roadster. You can buy the Tesla adapter, or a forum member created the CAN Jr. adapter: The CAN - Roadster to J1772 or Model S/X connector That gets you up to Level 2 charging, so you can use Chargepoint or other stations (although I've read people have problems with J1772 more than infrequently, so it might not be wise to rely on them for a trip?)

To charge faster, there's been a company recently here touting an installation of Chademo into the Roadster for a hefty fee. Nobody's done it yet, so buyer beware there.

My understanding on the sound insulation is that 2.5 have it, and 1.5 and 2.0 could (and probably still can) add it for around $3500. What difference it makes is up to the driver, because I think most noise comes from the air rushing around the windows, windshield, and top. It's never going to be a quiet car!

2.5 Cars have the double-DIN head unit. 1.5 and 2.0 have the single-DIN unit, and upgrading is a TON of expensive work because you have to replace dash pieces, rerout HVAC, and cut the structure behind the dash panels to make the change.

Don't sweat looking for a car with a subwoofer. Any audio shop can add one to suit your desires after you buy a car. Find a car you love, in great condition.

Hope that helps. Others will be along to assist you, too.

 

[MileHighMotoring]

No, not correct Mile High...I have had my 2010 "2.5" Roadster from new, and I had to add the sound deadening package as an option (installed by Tesla) well after the car was delivered...It was definitely not standard equipment on the 2.5s.

Ahh, thanks for the correction. Did you notice much difference?

 

[Jaff]

Ahh, thanks for the correction. Did you notice much difference?

Nope, not a lot lol...just crank up the tunes & save your cash imo

 

[strider]

There are 3 levels of sound insulation. 1.5's and 2.0's came with Level 1. They could be upgraded to level 2 or level 3. 2.5's came with Level 2 and could be upgraded to Level 3. I had the Level 3 upgrade done on my Roadster but I didn't notice much difference in sound (as MHM said most of the noise is wind noise) but it did cut down a bit on the tire noise. It also helps with keeping mud off the door sills.

Actually the whole reason I ended up with the level 3 kit is an amusing story. Several years ago I managed to spill a large latte onto the passenger floor of my car (put my bag and coffee into the car from the passenger side but couldn't reach far enough to get the latte in the cup holder so just set it on the floor next to the cup holder. When I came around and got into the driver's seat the cup looked like it was in the "right" place so I drove off. First left turn, splash. I did my best to vacuum and shampoo everything but with the milk in there it started to smell bad. I talked to my service center and they said they had a crashed Roadster with only 90 miles on it. I was welcome to the carpet if I paid the labor. I then asked about the Level 3 upgrade and since it included the labor to remove all the carpet if I bought that they'd just put the crashed car's carpet in when they were done. And so that is how I ended up with the Level 3 sound deadening kit

 

[gregd]

There are 3 levels of sound insulation. 1.5's and 2.0's came with Level 1. They could be upgraded to level 2 or level 3. 2.5's came with Level 2 and could be upgraded to Level 3. I had the Level 3 upgrade done on my Roadster but I didn't notice much difference in sound (as MHM said most of the noise is wind noise) but it did cut down a bit on the tire noise. It also helps with keeping mud off the door sills.

How much of the road noise could be fixed by a better choice of tires? I've seen discussions on the topic, but no clear recommendation.

I have a 2.0 and no idea what level of sound insulation it has (I'm the second owner), but presume it's the default level 1. Road and wind noise are fighting with each other for top contribution, and since I can't fix the wind, perhaps I can go after the road noise with the next tires change.

 

[wiztecy]

I ended up putting on the APD race mirrors on with the BOA mounts. Huge improvement cutting down wind noise, the stock mirrors if you look at the heat meter for wind are red hot. They stick out out like tree branches. I don't have any sound insulation and have no need for it. I was in a Roadster where they installed the sound insulation themselves, went on a test drive and didn't see / hear that much of a difference to go ripping things all apart, out, and back together for it. But as in Strider's case, if somethings out, you have time, that's the best time to add it.

 

[samcarney]

To help answer your questions: The JVC stereo was standard and doesn't indicate a higher-end audio system.
Hope that helps. Others will be along to assist you, too.

The standard radio in 1.5 and 2.0 Roadsters was a Blaupunkt unit. The upgrade was a JVC NX-5000 with Nav.

 

[wiztecy]

My 1.5 Roadster came from the factory with the stock Blaupunkt, no subwoofer, and no insulation. The original owner "upgraded" to the JVC HU, but didn't add the subwoofer or replace the speakers. Further, the JVC is routed through the Blaupunkt amplifier. In short... the radio sounds awful. So having the JVC isn't an indication of having the subwoofer.

Are you certain your 1.5 had an amplifier? Curious, I also have the 1.5 which came stock with the BP head unit, no sub, and I replaced it with a Nakamichi. The sound quality drastically improved since the Nakamichi is pushing more amps per channel. With that I'm certain I don't have an inline amplifier in the system. Where's your amp located? Also why would they put an amp in? Subs need an amp, not your front, rear, and door tweeters.... The head unit has enough amps to power that alone.

If you replaced the BP unit with one of equal or lesser amps, your sound will be significantly impacted in a negative way since bass needs power to reflex properly for a clean sound.

I personally don't want to muck around with the audio system (or any 12v accessory for that matter) any more than I need to. I feel the switchpack is very fragile to 'dirty' noise that's induced in by electronics. Most I'm going to do is add the side door tweeters and upgrade the rears to 5 1/2" speakers to get more bass response and I'm done.

One thing I'm looking at is installing a front/rear dashcam. But I don't want to tie it into the 12v system. For that I will search for one with a battery or just install a portable battery pack that charges your iPod/iPhone, Tablet, and have it pull its power source from that. If I buy two battery packs I can cycle them at home to charge while the other one is in use. Cameras don't consume that much energy either. Only accessory I'm willing to allow to draw from the 12v energy source is my phone whenever its battery is in a low battery state. And even then I don't allow it to dangle off there all the time, only to pick up enough charge to get me to my destination.

 

[tvuolo]

Are you certain your 1.5 had an amplifier?

Yep, positive. It looks to be a Blaupunkt THA PnP, maybe a 275? It appears to be about 7" x 7". If you slide down into the passenger side facing up, it's visible under the dash toward the outside of the car. I'm just not sure how everything is hooked up since I haven't taken the dash apart. I found it when routing the OVMS antenna. Maybe the previous owner had a sub and took it out before the sale? Best pic I could get:

 

[wiztecy]

Yep, positive. It looks to be a Blaupunkt THA PnP, maybe a 275? It appears to be about 7" x 7". If you slide down into the passenger side facing up, it's visible under the dash toward the outside of the car. I'm just not sure how everything is hooked up since I haven't taken the dash apart. I found it when routing the OVMS antenna. Maybe the previous owner had a sub and took it out before the sale? Best pic I could get:View attachment 167956

Thanks! Nope, crawled under there and verified that I don't have one (amp). Possibly you do have the factory subwoofer and it stopped working!? I'm sure Tesla would have those details based upon your VIN and options installed.

Based upon your link your amp looks like you have the same amp as pictured below. I don't know if this amp was stock or if Al & Eds installed it when they did the head-unit:

1.5 Blaupunkt Blowing Fuse

Based upon the fact that your VIN is #265 (bp amp), mine is #268 (no amp), and the one in the link above is #278 (bp amp) that its most likely a factory installed amp.

 

[tvuolo]

Isn't the stock subwoofer behind the driver seat? There's definitely nothing there. If all goes well, I'll have time to investigate later this week. Sorry for hijacking your thread, Mike. Maybe the mods can move our stereo discussion to one of the other threads.

 

[wiztecy]

Isn't the stock subwoofer behind the driver seat? There's definitely nothing there. If all goes well, I'll have time to investigate later this week. Sorry for hijacking your thread, Mike. Maybe the mods can move our stereo discussion to one of the other threads.

Its behind the firewall of the driver's seat and in front of the ESS. The ESS needs to be dropped in order to access it, I don't believe you can visually see it.