Does anyone have experience with the 'S' in snow/ice/adverse driving conditions? Being a rear wheel drive immediate concern is that it will not behave well in these kinds of driving conditions.........apparently mitigating factors are that the weight distribution is better than other gas powered vehicles but I remain unconvinced at present.
Here's my experience so far (living in one of the snowiest place on earth)
... Already went thru one snowstorm with Model S. So far, the car is doing okay in the snow but not amazingly well. We're far from any comparison to AWD. I really miss driving my AWD in the snow. Spinning wheels is something I did not encounter in my last 10 years of driving Audi's Quatro. A friend of mine has ordered a Model S and I will have to test climbing his driveway (he lives at the top of a ski station) as I'm not sure this will work for him. (He currently has an AWD Toyota Highlander). He may have to wait for an AWD Model S or X.
So far, my high level evaluation of Model S in the snow is similar to a normal traction car but way off any AWD car. Not counting fogging and heating issues....
Anyone care to comment on how badly the cold affected your range?
We did surprisingly well in the snow on Christmas day with our 21" wheels. I thought that we'd end up having to wait it out on the shoulder due to the grade we were on. We maintained a decent speed and made it over the short pass without incident.
I'd have to say that the Model S is "okay" in snowy conditions. I had expected it to be a bit better given the Roadster's quite good performance. Most of the time it's just fine, but in certain conditions it needs some teaks. It backs off power too aggressive starting from a standstill, and is perhaps a little too permissive at higher speeds. The settings are probably great for warm, dry pavement... it needs a "snow mode" I think.
Today I was stopped on a mild uphill but glare ice, nicely polished by previous traffic. This is the sort of stuff where you'd fall down if you stepped on it. It would have given any car some trouble, but any car should have been able to climb it with some difficulty. When I hit the throttle the wheels started moving, then stopped and only applied enough torque to keep the car stationary. The car simply did not move. At all. I considered turning off TC, but instead I just backed up until the wheels were on a better surface, then started it forward again. Now with a little momentum the car carried on and slowly climbed the hill.
TC should never just stop the wheels from turning. What it should have done is keep the wheels moving slowly but steadily.
NNIC.
@mscheuller - I am assuming your living in SLC with your Telsa if you were driving up to Park City?
Have you made any trips to Vegas or other long trips from SLC?
How has the service from Telsa been seeing how there is no dealer in the area?
Thanks
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