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Braking issues ...

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letoufou

New Member
Jan 9, 2010
3
0
one week living with the roadster sport now ...

very impressed by the handling, the immediate torque and the acceleration ... beeing used to sports car i was not waiting for such "push me in the back" effect.

this car is definitly not a toy and at the red light you will smoke any 911 or F430.

the most complain for me will be the brakes wich i found WAY TO LIGHT ...
2 piston caliper in the front and 1 for the rear this is the same steup as for the "small" elise which has 800 lbs less weight to stop :eek:

i find 2 issues :

1/ brakes are not powerfull enough

2/ ABS is coming WAY to early

Question 1/ :
did anybody upgraded the brakes ?
i am thinking of installing AP racing 4 piston calliper front + Rear (same as EXIGE CUP) but i do not know if they will fit ... any advice :confused:

Question 2/ : i know it is possible to enter an "administrator" menu and have access to "hidden" options ... do you know how to do it and if it is possible to disable the ABS ?
(except on the wet i quite always disable the traction control which i find also annoying ...)

PS yes i live in Europe where you can still have fun on small mountainous roads without ending up in jail like in the US :biggrin:
 
2/ ABS is coming WAY to early

Are you sure you mean ABS or do you mean T/C comes on way too early ? (The Traction Control is HUGELY more complicated on an EV with regen in general as compared to an ICE. The Tesla in particular is sensitve because it is conservative ...) Are you using winter tires, and what are they ?
 
well if you're engaging ABS too early your tires are the problem any upgrade to the applied braking force is just going to cause ABS to engage that much more quickly.

As far as fitment goes I would imagine if the calipers are the same anything that will fit on the elise should work. I'm sure there are plenty of aftermarket big brake kits for the elise.

I would think that upgraded pads, ss brakelines, and better tires would be all the upgrade you would need short of serious track duty.
 
Hmm, IMO the tires on the Sport are about as sticky as they get on a reasonable road car; they're very much summer tires though; might be a little cold for them at this time of year - assuming you're north on the equator!

For me I have to say... brakes, do we have those, I don't recall using them :biggrin:

I was on the local highway doing some miles-per-hour after passing a group of cars when I did need to slow down I did feel the car skip a bit and was surprised a little but put it down to simply getting more feedback than I'm accustomed to.
 
Hmm, IMO the tires on the Sport are about as sticky as they get on a reasonable road car; they're very much summer tires though; might be a little cold for them at this time of year - assuming you're north on the equator!

Yes, letoufou says he lives in Europe, which is why I asked about the winter tires.

...when I did need to slow down I did feel the car skip a bit and was surprised a little but put it down to simply getting more feedback than I'm accustomed to.

I am pretty sure what you felt was not ABS, but the sensitive T/C software during regen, probably when experiencing a change of surface (bump, crack, etc). (That being the reason for my first question to letoufou.)
 
ChargeIt! said:
I am pretty sure what you felt was not ABS, but the sensitive T/C software during regen, probably when experiencing a change of surface (bump, crack, etc). (That being the reason for my first question to letoufou.)

It definately wasn't abs, but felt like the grip fading as the car flew over the broken and cracked surface; this is NJ, I imagine it to be similar to the moon. I'm trying to think if I saw the TC light come on or not. Does the force of the regen change as you brake or is it simply on/off based on grip?
 
Force of regen does not change when you touch the brake -- under normal circumstances. **BUT** if an event occures that "offends" :rolleyes: the sensitive T/C (the T/C light will blink) then the regen is affected (reduced), sometimes dramatically, i.e. possibly completely, i.e. ZERO regen, which is a VERY ODD feeling because you are now coasting with 85%+ efficiency, i.e. almost no deceleration. The only way to reproduce this consistently for your car is to charge completely, and maybe even top-off, in Range Mode. Be prepared, though, you'll have NO regen (for a dozen+ miles). ( But I think you know this, since you posted about absence of regen when battery is cold. )

Edit: if "loss of grip" happened without regen (i.e. you were not decelerating) ... it is the T/C reducing power to the motor (i.e. power to the wheels). Although a slippage condition ("loss of grip") may or may not have actually occured, the T/C is so conservative and sensitive (compared to other cars, IMHO), it reduces power if slippage is imminent, then re-applies power an instant (milli-seconds) later; this you might feel as a "loss of grip" when it's just irregular surfaces.
 
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After turning the key (and beeing told tu unarm vehicle grrrr) the first thing i do it disengaging the TC ...
But anyway as far as you brake in line...TC is not involved.

Regarding the lack of power of the brakes...The problem is that the brake are those of the small elise...all other more performance cars are fitted with 4 pistons calliper F and R...instead of 2 and 1 on the roadster which is 1.000lbs heavier !
Did anybody here upgraded the brake ? Should i put elise S1 or S2 calliper?

Regarding the abs issue...temperature was just above freezing so yes it is more a thermocontact issue...i will tell you as soon as the weather will improve...but still do you know how to disconnect abs ?

Ps i am not a crazy guy wanting to kill myself...it is just that i am used to drive a caterham CSR...and i am not used to have the car interfering in my driving ;-)
 
You really are driving it to the extreme!

I don't know about the brakes but I do know that the disks are not the same as the regular Elise; they have a five hole bolt pattern so you'd need to investigate.

I'm sure that the ABS could be disabled with some thought too - fuse pulled perhaps... Top Gear managed to do it... "How hard could it be?"

Have fun!
 
Brakes better than they feel?

I agree that the brakes don't feel as though they are as positive and quick to stop as some cars, but they may be better than they feel. According to Road&Track testing a Tesla stopped in 119 feet from 60 and 210 feet from 80. Not wonderful, but not the lowest of sports cars and better than all the sedans (I think).

For instance, from 60 from 80
Tesla 119 210
Cayman 111 195
MINI 121 210
Saleen 119 210
BMW M3 Coupe 116 205
Exige 112 196
 
Just test drove a used Tesla roadster today and it felt as if it had no brakes at all.
without the regenerative braking, I don't think I would have been able to get that car to come to a stop.

Is that normal? It as so bad that I actually asked the dealer to have the brakes checked ...
 
that normal? It as so bad that I actually asked the dealer to have the brakes checked ...

I'm the second owner of my Roadster, the brakes were stock when I bought it. Original discs (rotors) and pads probably second set. I've replaced the pads with EBC Yellowstuff and left the discs for now, bled the system and replaced brake fluid. Roadster stops pretty good compared to other performance cars I've owned and driven (Caymans, RX-8s, TTs, M3s). Tyres and road conditions make a big difference, certainly without regen, I don't have any concerns about stopping. Discs due to be replaced in next few months, and will replace with EBC USRs slotted and drilled discs which will look better and improve overall braking. I've not seen the need to go for ceramic discs as others have...
 
Just test drove a used Tesla roadster today and it felt as if it had no brakes at all.
without the regenerative braking, I don't think I would have been able to get that car to come to a stop.

Is that normal? It as so bad that I actually asked the dealer to have the brakes checked ...
If the brake booster has failed, it should feel like you described. That’s a pretty simple part replacement. However, the Roadster brakes are used so seldom, that they make need to be “cleaned off” before they’re really effective. Hit them hard a couple times and see if they improve. There’s also a custom rotor setup that drastically improves braking capability.
 
Thank you for the responses. Seems like something is wrong with the brakes.
I don't think that the car would get too little use at a dealership to have the "dirt" cleaned off.
Don’t be so quick with that diagnosis. They may need to be cleaned off at the start of every drive, especially if the car has been washed recently. In the plus side, brakes are often unnecessary due to the regenerative feature. I’ve heard it described as “driving with one pedal” since it’s often unnecessary to hit the brakes other than to keep the car at rest.
 
Don’t be so quick with that diagnosis. They may need to be cleaned off at the start of every drive, especially if the car has been washed recently. In the plus side, brakes are often unnecessary due to the regenerative feature. I’ve heard it described as “driving with one pedal” since it’s often unnecessary to hit the brakes other than to keep the car at rest.
I second that. I find that because regen braking works so well that I rarely use the friction brakes much, and as a result they'll "glaze" and not be very effective. I try to do some hard braking sometimes just to keep them clean. There's a freeway exit near my house, and when there's no one behind me (and I don't have anything loose in the passenger's seat), I'll do a maximal braking. It's also fun.
 
I second that. I find that because regen braking works so well that I rarely use the friction brakes much, and as a result they'll "glaze" and not be very effective. I try to do some hard braking sometimes just to keep them clean. There's a freeway exit near my house, and when there's no one behind me (and I don't have anything loose in the passenger's seat), I'll do a maximal braking. It's also fun.

Thank you. I may stop by again and will try working the brakes.
I have driven big/heavy cars and they stop on a dime compared to this Tesla Roadster, so hopefully it just is dirt.