Crashnburn80's Tesla Model 3 Performance Longer Range Build

Did a run across the pass today for a trip into the valley. Winter shoes aren’t on the wife’s Y so we took the Tacoma. I’m interested on how your new set does this winter. I’m considering going back to a studded set for her next year but these may be the reason not to.

We’re running Hakka R5 EV for winter months currently.

 

Tint the windows on that fishbowl

 

Holy sipes batman! Mounted these Pirelli performance winter tires up today.



The tread depth and aggressiveness on these winter tires is extreme. I'm actually surprised Pirelli somehow made these lighter (by 1lb/tire) than their highest performance summer tire. The car practically looks like it is rocking ATs, and these are supposed to be far sticker as one of the very few exotic car high performance winter tires. This is a brand new release of the EV version of this tire. Also worth noting this is a directional tire.

Ironically today I saw another M3P with the same tires mounted on the Tesla Sport wheels and definitely did the double take.

 

I love it when the opportunity arises to use new tools. Today was that day.

I have all my battery tools standardized on the DeWalt 20/60v Flex standard. I saw DeWalt had a portable air compressor using 20v batteries where you set the desired pressure and the pump fills to the specified pressure and shuts off. I knew this would be useful and loved the idea of the unrestricted portability. The idea of having to do a position dance with the Tacoma and Tesla to use the compressor hooked to the Tacoma's 12v battery to inflate a tire on the Tesla was not appealing.

When the Tesla tires were swapped to the winter Pirellis, one tire was under filled to 32 PSI when spec is 42 PSI. So I broke out the

$110 DEWALT Tire Inflator Portable Air Compressor 20V MAX, Air Pump with Automatic Shut Off, LED Light, Tool Only (DCC020IB)

Dewalt 20v air compressor.



So easy to use being battery portable and set-and-forget pressure with auto-shutoff.


While the pump wouldn't be ideal for filling aired down large off-road tires at the trailhead, it was great for a quick fill on the Tesla tire.

 

Yeah, I just used mine when swapping to winters on the Odyssey. Cool tool.

 

The winter tires were more a necessity of wanting to run the max performance summer tires which are not suitable to even be present in cold weather, much less driven on. I do really like these Pirelli winter tires though, they seem very grippy and also very quiet. I was concerned with the high void in the pattern that it would produce more road noise. I of course could have gone with an all-season for winter, but if changing them out for winter I might as well go with a dedicated winter tire. And when Pirelli released these winter tires for high performance sports cars in an EV version and they were ultra light, it was a no-brainer. While I'd certainly drive the Tesla in light snow, any heavy snow duty will be relegated to the 1st Gen Tacoma.

That's the route I initially took too going to an AS. But I just can't help myself in maximizing the performance and those summer only performance Pirellis are just so sticky. You keep with 20s on the uberturbines?



Took a ride in my co-workers new dual motor performance Rivian R1T today. Really cool truck. I had originally ordered the quad-motor version before bailing on it for the Tesla and 1st Gen Tacoma. Even with the AT tire options it's quieter than my model 3 refresh. Not quite as quick. Much more info is available to use user about the vehicle in the Rivian vs Tesla, such as battery temp, motor temps ect, which in the Tesla you need to be in track mode on a performance model to get for the 3/Y. It also displays power output and regen power input per wheel, which was very interesting. At cruise the Rivian is FWD, no power to the rear wheels, which I thought was fascinating. FWD configuration is safer for control, and many mechanical AWD systems work similarly to optimize efficiency, though the better ones keep power to all 4 wheels at all times. I do like the mechanical door handles on the 3/Y over handles that electronically "present" like on the Rivian and S/X.

One of the things my coworker noted is that the Rivian takes much longer to charge than his Tesla Y Long Range, due to the much larger battery pack, and still won't travel as far as the Y. The significantly longer charging, no access to the Supercharger network and using coil resistance heat which consumes 2x the energy of Tesla's heat pump heat all contribute to more range/charging stress/planning on long trips. Rivian is switching to the Tesla charge standard in 2025 and sound like will have access to the charging network but TBD on what that looks like. Really cool to see the competing products come to market. I'm definitely looking forward to Rivian's next smaller truck come to market as the R1T is more 3/4 size than mid-size.

 

I'd love a Plaid, but I also like the smaller size of the 3.

The stock summer Pirelli 20s weigh 23lbs. The Pilot Sport 4 AS is 24lbs. The real offender in that setup though is the 32lb uberturbines.

Tesla certainly could. The Tesla interface is a lot cleaner/simpler in display though I doubt they would be inclined to. Really while the information is interesting and I like all the data, there isn't a whole lot to use it for outside of tracking the car for optimum performance.

 

Tesla at Bellevue Square just received the first Cybertruck in the area yesterday. So of course had to go see it.









It actually doesn’t look bad from the front angles IMO (unorthodox design aside). But the rear overhang is too long and makes the truck look too long and not proportionate. It has a 6.5’ bed, I think keeping it to a standard 6’ bed or even slightly shorter would make the truck look more balanced. Also weird, the ugly wheel spoke design is carried into the matching tire sidewall tread. Those tires will have to be perfectly aligned with the wheels to not look out of place. Also, that is one huge wiper.

 

Hard pass for me even w great specs and competitive price.

 

In case you missed it today, the Cyber Truck launch:

https://www.youtube.com/live/ddzZMUoXzDM?si=cBXCxGle_G-hhQXo

The 2 things I find most interesting.
1) Tesla has gone to steer by wire. No mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Now all modern aircraft do this, but I'm not aware of any passenger vehicles.
2) Tesla is ditching the 12v electrical system found in every passenger vehicle and moving to a 48v base system. At the same time going from a 400v drivetrain system to an 800v drivetrain system.

Lesser, the longer range 'range extender' option seem to be though an extra battery stored in the bed. Otherwise the truck has similar range as model 3 variants.

 

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a43350167/toyota-steer-by-wire/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=agMrewRJTow

 

Love getting free charging.

Hadn’t seen that, does look like Toyota beat Tesla to steer solely by wire by a few months.

 

what do you think about EEs video about bigger wheel isn’t better for EV range? https://youtu.be/NYvKxsYFqO8

they must need to pay off the charger and install.

there is one coming… it even looks a bit like an 80s Toyota. https://www.alphamotorinc.com/wolf

 

Saw a Cybertruck on the road last week.

It looked like an amateur built the thing in their garage.

 

[QUOTE="JasonLee, post: 29364481, member: 129454"

there is one coming… it even looks a bit like an 80s Toyota. https://www.alphamotorinc.com/wolf[/QUOTE]

feels like they're trying to sell an experience over a truck, but it looks better than most of the others

 

It's on target. Tesla's site will show you the range changes as you change wheel sizes, every step up in wheel size results in a reduction in published range. One of the things he did not cover was the design of the wheel itself, whether it is open spoke or an aero design, the later can improve range by 4% in a Model 3. I stepped down from the factory 20x9 wheels to 19x8.5s in part for range improvement, as well as sidewall durability, both important when driving across state in remote areas with no spare. 18s would do even better, but I also want to balance sporty looks with handling and range.

It is a 3rd party for profit charging company. Tesla used to (not sure if they still do) install designation chargers for free to businesses at request, then they are free to use. Non-Tesla vehicles can use them as well if they have the adapter. Now I just charge at other spots a short walk away that are free instead. I wouldn't be surprised if the association just didn't do their homework.

All manufactures abandoned the mid-size single cab because they don't sell and it makes vehicles cheaper to offer fewer frame/body configurations. Most private individuals trucks are multi-purpose and single cab trucks are very single purpose.

I wouldn't put a lot of faith in that company yet. They were founded in 2020 and have produced 1 prototype vehicle several months ago this year. They have a lot of realistic looking concept renderings, but no products. And that concept vehicle truck is in the single cab formation that all the major automotive manufactures have decided is not profitable in mid-size, plus the specs are pretty underwhelming. Wouldn't be surprised if they go bankrupt before full production, like so many EV startups.

 

I thought most manufacturers made high trucks to avoid increasing efficiency due to CAFE standards that when their wheelbase and footprint increase, they don’t have to actually put in any effort to improve MPGs…

I’m hoping this country starts to reverse the ever increasing vehicle size now that EVs don’t have to fall into the CAFE parameters and a small(er) EV that gets better range is more profitable than the monstrosities like the EV Hummer.