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Right now getting to Las Vegas requires a lot of time. But as soon as Beaver and St George come online you will be able to make it on superchargers.
Basically in terms of winter conditions traction, it is one of the best performing rear-while drive cars ever made, so it has very impressive winter performance...for a rear wheel drive. But do not expect it to perform like an AWD in the snow. In terms of range it seems like most people figure about 10mi loss for every 1000' elevation gain, and like 5 mi gained back in regen for every 1000' elevation loss.
Yes, Evergreen, CO. Live at 8,000 feet on the foothills West of Denver. The Model S does great in the mountains. My favorite part is coming up I-70W from Denver where there is a 6-mile climb from Morrison exit to Genessee Park (~3000 ft. Climb), and I set the cruise control and the car never loses speed - steady, smooth climb. However, I also get a kick out of dropping any challenger on the climb with a burst of hyper-drive, too.
Alysashley79
Active Member
The MS does absolutely fantastic in the mountains!! I live at 2100' elevation which probably doesn't sound like much but when you factor in the fact that I live in the seattle area it's huge. We have anywhere from 6" to 4' of snow on the ground in the winter time. We put Nokian Haakas R7's studded tyres on the car and it handled better than my previous 4x4 honda pilot and our 4x4 Ford F250 did. I have one particular hill that literally goes from sea level to 1600' it's quite steep and when it's plowed the only way it can be plowed is by bulldozer it's so steep and it was no match for the MS she powered her way up.
I think if you outfit it properly with the correct tyres for for winter you will have no problems. Additionally we also drive a 3 mile dirt road when there is no snow and with the air suspension you can't feel any of the bumps. It's a very smooth ride.
I think if you outfit it properly with the correct tyres for for winter you will have no problems. Additionally we also drive a 3 mile dirt road when there is no snow and with the air suspension you can't feel any of the bumps. It's a very smooth ride.
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I drive that stretch often and there's often a MS flying by everyone in the left lane :smile:
The other factor responsible is ICEs lose significant power at elevation due to the lower level of oxygen present. Gas stations in Colorado rate their blends 2 Octane points lower than at sea level (eg., regular is 85 octane, not 87).
The Model S is a spectacular performer in mountain driving. It's effortless: plenty of power up the hills without regard for altitude; plenty of regen braking downhill so you're never reaching for the brake pedal to keep from over-speeding. If it weren't for the power meter telling you otherwise, you might as well be driving on the flat.
Cotttonwood's rule of thumb for big climbs and descents: 1000' of climb costs you 7 miles of Rated range, but you get 6 of those miles back on the descent. And he should know, with dozens of round trips between Boulder and Pagosa over some of the highest mountain passes in the country.
Cotttonwood's rule of thumb for big climbs and descents: 1000' of climb costs you 7 miles of Rated range, but you get 6 of those miles back on the descent. And he should know, with dozens of round trips between Boulder and Pagosa over some of the highest mountain passes in the country.
Velo I used to live in Denver and had friends that live on a ranch up that windy road that goes up the river/creek from Evergreen, I bet it would be hard to respect the speed limits on those roads as well as I-70 in a MS.
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> The other factor responsible is ICEs lose significant power at elevation due to the lower level of oxygen present. Gas stations in Colorado rate their blends 2 Octane points lower than at sea level (eg., regular is 85 octane, not 87). [Barry]
Make that mostly 'due to lower atmospheric pressure'. LAP means reduced fuel/air charge in cylinder compared to @sea level. After compression stroke you have lower cylinder pressure so can get away with lower Octane Rating fuel and still avoid detonation. But if your ICE is Turbo or Supercharged you need to use High Test 89 Octane.
Water Vapor % can vary a lot and affects Cylinder Pressure, Octane requirements and air drag in weird ways. O2 levels might be affected by WV but afaik is assumed to be proportional to altitude.
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Make that mostly 'due to lower atmospheric pressure'. LAP means reduced fuel/air charge in cylinder compared to @sea level. After compression stroke you have lower cylinder pressure so can get away with lower Octane Rating fuel and still avoid detonation. But if your ICE is Turbo or Supercharged you need to use High Test 89 Octane.
Water Vapor % can vary a lot and affects Cylinder Pressure, Octane requirements and air drag in weird ways. O2 levels might be affected by WV but afaik is assumed to be proportional to altitude.
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That would be Upper Bear Creek, which is a narrow, twisty, winding road. The S handles like a floating magic carpet ride along the creek. Beautiful drive, too. There are two MS owners that live back that way, too.
Vger
Active Member
We have driven extensively in the Cascades, Canadian Coast Range, the Chilcotin, and the Canadian Rockies. The trip through Jasper and down to Banff was one of our most fun drives ever. We used Sun Country Highway 70A chargers for that, since there are still no Superchargers out there (though they are supposedly coming!).
The car loves the mountains!
<---- See my blog at left in my profile block (click the "1") for some hair-raising mountain driving!
The car loves the mountains!
<---- See my blog at left in my profile block (click the "1") for some hair-raising mountain driving!
