Winter Performance

[Doug_G]

Might be good to compare notes on winter driving in the Roadster.

I wasn't planning on getting winter tires for my Roadster; figured I wouldn't want to drive it in the fairly nasty Ottawa winter. Maybe take it out on nice days. Today the less-traveled roads are snow covered, so I figured I'd take the SUV. Unfortunately the SUV's battery is apparently getting old; when I stopped for gas I couldn't start it again. So I got a boost and went home to get the Tesla.

Suffice it to say I was quite pleasantly surprised by how well it did on (thin) snow and ice, especially considering the summer tires. If I pressed the throttle the TC light would illuminate and the car would gently accelerate. I tried flooring it and the exact same thing happened. If I lifted off the TC light would come on again, and it would decelerate steadily. No muss, no fuss. Pretty impressive, actually.

I didn't seem to have any trouble cornering either. Of course I was driving it gently around the corners, as I'm always cautious on snow in any car.

My only real concern is deep snow. Just backing out I bottomed out on the tiny snowbank (and I mean tiny) at the end of the driveway. It didn't affect the car except for making a raspy sound. But I wonder how the car would handle a major snowfall even if it had snow tires.

As for the SUV I was able to stop in at Canadian Tire and buy a new battery for it. Seemed odd lifting a lead-acid car battery into the back of the Telsa...

[Jaff]

Thanks for the winter driving notes Doug...they are much appreciated!

I agree with your fears about "deeper snow" and how the Roadster will perform (plough)...this does worry me.

[Doug_G]

I agree with your fears about "deeper snow" and how the Roadster will perform (plough)...this does worry me.

Yes, that's a concern. I'm wondering how the diffuser will hold up. The snow plows here frequently leave snowbanks across road entrances, especially since they do the bus routes first and just plow straight across the side streets. Even if other cars have been through it your bottom is pretty low.

Also what happens if the snow gets more than 6 inches deep? If you plow into that, will the wheels get lifted off the road? Snow tires won't matter if they're not touching the ground. Even on lighter snowstorms you will get deeper drifts here and there, so you might get a surprise.

[Zythryn]

This is my first winter driving the Tesla.
We have had one snowstorm so far (Minnesota). My wife and I were eager to try snow driving, so in the middle of the snowstorm we took the Tesla out for a test.
When we started out we had just over 4 inches of virgin snow. We live in suburbia, and no plows had yet been through the neighborhood streets, although some vehicles had, so you had a mix of chopped up snow and virgin snow.
We do have the winter tires.
No issues with traction. I was actually quite surprised at how good the traction system was, no sliding whatsoever.
If the traction light had not come on I would not have known it was on.
We did a number of errands an returned a couple hours later.
Snow debri between lanes on streets that had been plowed posed no issues. You could on occasion hear chunks of snow hitting the bottom panels.
In our neighborhood the streets were still not plowed and we were up around 6 inches of snow. Temp was near freezing so the snow was very wet and clumped easily. In the unplowed backstreets we did run into an issue of snow getting jammed up into and sticking in the wheel wells to the point where the wheels were actually difficult to turn.
I have not experienced this at any other time. I am hoping to get a chance to test it in 6 inches of dry snow and will report back.
On plowed streets, the Tesla handled better than any other car I have driven in the snow.

[stenkb]

I have had my Pirelli winter tires on for a few days now and thought I would share how the Roadster handles winter in Lethbridge, Alberta.

The tires have great grip - and the traction control works very well with the Roadster - the tires don't spin! (unless I turn off the traction control and I have fun making donuts for a bit!)
Compared to the only other sports car I drove in winter - a BMW - the tesla handles better, grips better, and feels solid.

If the snow pile between the tires gets too high - you do become a plow unfortunately - but for me all main roads are fine (where the snow has been packed a bit) - in residential streets where snow does not get cleared I get to listen to the snow rubbing against the bottom of the car - but no real problem.

I am going to see if I can get more 3M film added in the door sills to protect the paint from sand, rocks, snow where it enters.

Here's a few pics to share:

[Doug_G]

Great feedback Zythryn and Kevin. How did you find it for cornering on slippery surfaces?

[Zythryn]

Great feedback Zythryn and Kevin. How did you find it for cornering on slippery surfaces?

There was some sliding of the front wheels if I took turns too quickly. Just of a few inches. I suspect that was because of the RWD as I had always driven FWD or AWD in snow prior to the Roadster.
As I got used to it, my driving adjusted to it and I noticed it less and less.

The funnest part was at a stop light next to a big AWD SUV. Light turns green, I effortlessly start and leave the SUV spinning its wheels.
Smart driving wins over dumb driving every time, but excellent traction control sure does help

[Jaff]

Thanks for the input guys...so far, I'm really liking what I'm hearing!

The 3M paint armour in additional areas sounds like a good idea Kevin...is that a DIY project, or do you need a shop to do the work?

[stenkb]

Typically shops that do vehicle graphics/wraps can also do the paint armour. I will make a few calls this week and see what the cost would be to have it done. Will update.

[Jaff]

Thanks Kevin, I didn't know this.

We have a shop in town that does wraps...I'll give them a shout.

Typically shops that do vehicle graphics/wraps can also do the paint armour. I will make a few calls this week and see what the cost would be to have it done. Will update.