Someone Else's Problem: The wait was long enough: leviathan's Tesla Model 3 Performance

It probably saves Tesla and other manufacturers a ton of money to put everything in a touchscreen instead of engineering a bunch of switchgear with the right look and feel.

General Motors did it particularly brilliantly on my car - the only buttons on the HVAC panel you ever use (temp, seat heater) are on laggy touch controls. All the other features are on well made buttons but you never ever touch them because that's what auto mode is for.
I've yet to own a car with auto climate control... My parents have owned 2 cars that have and they flat out do not understand it. "why is the fan going to full blast? it's too noisy." *turns off auto climate control.*
 
I've yet to own a car with auto climate control... My parents have owned 2 cars that have and they flat out do not understand it. "why is the fan going to full blast? it's too noisy." *turns off auto climate control.*
Yeah, I remember getting a ride by the parents of a friend of mine. "Can you turn the AC off, dear? It's too cold in here."

So he did, on a hot summers day with three people in the car. :p Instead of turning the dial up a degree or two. Sigh.
 
Old people just need 2 settings on the aircon anyway : freeze my testicles with arctic air , or completely off.
 
Old people just need 2 settings on the aircon anyway : freeze my testicles with arctic air , or completely off.
You've met my dad, then :p
 
Well this was fun a couple days ago. Youtube processing messes up the framerate, but you get the gist:


Dude wasn't even slowing down, would've hit me without braking. Looking at a phone most likely. I had two passengers, both on the right side, too...

In other news, booked a service appointment for the first thing in 2 years to legit go wrong: front left suspension and/or steering is making squeaking noises when driven warm. Nothing after sitting in the garage for a while, but after half an hour driving in summer temps, all the squeaks on bumps or when steering. Reading up online, supposedly a common issue on upper ball joints - thanksfully cosmetic, should be safe to drive on. Nevertheless, would much like it fixed, it's annoying - especially when the rest of the car is silent at low speeds.
 
Took the car in for the abovementioned fix. Front left suspension cross-member was swapped, and bushings all around the front suspension renewed, should make the squeaking go away for good.

Shortly before the visit, I've noticed that the spoiler that was glued onto the trunk lid almost two years ago has started to come off. It was always a bit imperfect on the left edge, the outermost ~4-5cm had a tiny gap - that's supposedly normal. However, when I checked it after going through a carwash a couple days ago, the gap had widened to much more than that. Noted it during the visit, they took the spoiler off and re-glued it completely. Seems to be stuck on much better now, no gaps to report anywhere - here's hoping it holds like that for the remaining two years :D
 
The spoiler seems about the same as mine, I got it changed immediately because I thought that the gap would increase over time. The mobile service guy who did mine (replaced entirely rather than re-glued, probably to save time) said they aren't quite the right shape. Who'd have thought? :rolleyes:
 
Question : since EVs are whisper quiet, isn’t this kind of squeak thing easier noticed and therefore fixed faster than it would be in an ICE engine?

I wore my old Astra’s brake pads completely down since I couldn’t hear the ‘metal on metal’ sound due to excessive diesel rattle + loud stereo. Every little rattle my EV makes is noticed though (even if it’s something silly like the kids leaving crap in the footwell which rolls around)
 
Oh yes, the squeal was very easily noticed precisely because this is a very quiet EV - it was perfectly audible at very low speed when steering and/or going over bumps. When the car got warm enough it got loud enough to be heard over AC, rolling noise and even music sometimes, but most of the time it was pretty quiet and would've probably gone unnoticed in an ICE vehicle.
 
Roadtrip and Ringmeet 2021 have happened. Nothing much exciting concerning the car to report - it performed as expected, entertained a 6-year-old passenger on some twisty roads, did a relaxed lap of the Nordschleife, all in order :)

Something interesting did happen a couple weeks later though. A friend has procured a RaceLogic device for... some reason, and we took out the 3 on a very deserted Landstraße for some pulls, to see how it performs after two years. Results:

WhatsApp Image 2021-08-26 at 20.10.53.jpeg


This was at ~80% SoC, with cold tires, on an evening with ~17-18°C and dry roads. I'm quite happy with the performance. Especially since the same friend had a brand-new 3 Performance loaner some time back, and measured ~3.5-3.6 0-100 with that - for some reason mine is actually faster :) I assume my Michelin PS4S tires vs the P-Zeros on the new Model 3s are part of the reason.
 
Anything sub 4 sec is ridiculous in my book, so even 3,6 would seem blisteringly fast.

Didn’t they start out with 3,9 or something and got quicker via software-update? Maybe there’s more performance to find?
 
When I ordered mine it was advertised as 3.2, I didn't expect it to be close to that but I agree that anything sub 4 seconds is amazing. It doesn't get boring. ?
 
3,2s is probably 0-60mph. Current 3 Performance is advertised on the website at 3.3s 0-100kph, and that's with a new bigger battery than mine, and iirc the motors have been changed as well. Mine was advertised at 3.5 when ordered I think, and should've gone down to 3.4 with the 5% power upgrade that happened in between (motor controller software update). Given that the runs yesterday were at imperfect conditions (cold tires, ~80% SoC, not the best road surface), I think it definitely works as well or better than advertised.
 
These numbers are crazy. My friend just got a 2018 model and we're joking about how it's almost as fast 0-60 as Rock 'N' Roller Coaster just down the road from us at Disney. I can't wait to go for a ride in his... but I'm gonna have to remember to keep my head pressed against the seat!
 
Well technically the coaster doesn't do 60? ?
But it was great fun indeed... the initial kick felt a bit bigger in the coaster, but overall fairly comparable... except that the Teslas will keep pulling.
 
Well technically the coaster doesn't do 60? ?
But it was great fun indeed... the initial kick felt a bit bigger in the coaster, but overall fairly comparable... except that the Teslas will keep pulling.
Huh, I had no idea. I don't do coasters with inversions so I didn't realize it only hit 57 mph...

Now I wanna know how the Performance compares to the newest fast Orlando coaster which does 40 to 70 in 2.4 seconds... since the Teslas "will keep pulling" ;)
 
Huh, I had no idea. I don't do coasters with inversions so I didn't realize it only hit 57 mph...

Now I wanna know how the Performance compares to the newest fast Orlando coaster which does 40 to 70 in 2.4 seconds... since the Teslas "will keep pulling" ;)
Well in terms of initial kick in Orlando I can only compare to Rock&Roller and The Hulk ... and initial kick feels muuuuch bigger in R&R, it's frictionless linear induction while both The Hulk and Teslas have wheels pushing you along, effectively limiting the initial kick due to pesky physics.

I enjoyed The Hulk much more, but then a Tesla is much more usable as a daily...
 
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