What’s the best mode for efficiency? Sport or Chill or Custom?

[NightOwl]

I ask because sport has the lowest height, which is best for efficiency.

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[Gurule92]

low and slow baby.


low and slow

 

[Pops]

I dont have the answer but a few things to consider.

1. The throttle is more responsive in Sport/Beast, which may result in faster acceleration/lower efficiency.
2. Even chill lowers its height at high speed to increase efficiency.
3. Being in low all the time may result in more tire wear and require new tires sooner, eliminating any savings of being in low all the time. This is true of other vehicles that lower like the Rivian, but I am not sure if its true of the CT. It depends on how much camber there is in the low setting.

 

[Gurule92]

I dont have the answer but a few things to consid

1. Being in low all the time may result in more tire wear and require new tires sooner, eliminating any savings of being in low all the time. This is true of other vehicles that lower like the Rivian, but I am not sure if its true of the CT. It depends on how much camber there is in the low setting.

This is why I swapped my camber arms and aligned my X in Low

 

[Woodrick]

I ask because sport has the lowest height, which is best for efficiency.

For efficiency, it's low. The acceleration doesn't make a lot of difference, except for local roads where you are generally charging at home and don't care about the range. On the Interstate, you rarely accelerate much.

But low comes at the cost of comfort.

But reality is that even on long trip, a decrease of 30 miles range is unnoticeable.

I'm sitting at normal-normal

As @Gurule92 suggest, to get the best efficiency, slow down.

If you want the fastest travel times, charge <5-50% and go 80 mph.

 

[NightOwl]

I dont have the answer but a few things to consider.

1. The throttle is more responsive in Sport/Beast, which may result in faster acceleration/lower efficiency.
2. Even chill lowers its height at high speed to increase efficiency.
3. Being in low all the time may result in more tire wear and require new tires sooner, eliminating any savings of being in low all the time. This is true of other vehicles that lower like the Rivian, but I am not sure if its true of the CT. It depends on how much camber there is in the low setting.

Comfort (Chill) mode lowers its height at high speed dynamically? I thought it just set it higher than sort mode and leaves it there.

Also, why more tire wear?

 

[NightOwl]

For efficiency, it's low. The acceleration doesn't make a lot of difference, except for local roads where you are generally charging at home and don't care about the range. On the Interstate, you rarely accelerate much.

But low comes at the cost of comfort.

But reality is that even on long trip, a decrease of 30 miles range is unnoticeable.

I'm sitting at normal-normal

As @Gurule92 suggest, to get the best efficiency, slow down.

If you want the fastest travel times, charge <5-50% and go 80 mph.

Already have 4,000+ miles on it in just 4 weeks. Mostly freeway miles traveling a lot (retired).

So I know about the difference the speed makes in efficiency. And I agree the difference in range isn’t impactful with regard to making it to the next supercharger stop. Because of this, we travel at our previous speeds (usually 77 where speed limit is 70; typically 7 miles over speed limit in general on highways). As much a curiosity thing as anything else at this point. May be more impactful on future trips.

By the way, I informally tested for difference at 77 mph between Sport and Comfort modes. This was a continuous speed test on a section of highway where we didn’t really have to change the speed because of other traffic. Anyway, we were getting right at 428 Wh/mi, regardless of which mode. The numbers didn’t change at all. (Very informal and unscientific.)

I was trying to determine if I could tell much difference between Comfort and Sport with regards to ride and handling. Ride may have been a little more comfortable in Comfort mode, but honestly didn’t perceive a big difference personally. Handling, however, did seem more “relaxed,” just like it said. So it was easier to drive, but less sporty and fun when wanting that feeling. So of course benefits both ways.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[Pops]

Comfort (Chill) mode lowers its height at high speed dynamically? I thought it just set it higher than sort mode and leaves it there.

From the manual:

Sets the Preferred Ride Height to Higher. When set to Higher, the ride height automatically adjusts between Medium and Low to balance ride comfort with handling and range. On highways or while driving at highway speeds, ride height adjusts to Low .

Also, why more tire wear?

As the suspension lowers and raises the camber changes. Think of how the angle of your arm changes as you do push ups and extend your elbow. At the extremes (high and low) there is more pressure on the inside or outside of the tire, increasing wear to that part.

I do not know exactly how much the camber changes on the CT, but there is likely some impact.

This image shows camber, but not in relation to the ride height specifically.

This video shows how the suspension camber/geometry put pressure into the flooring.



What camber wear looks like (this is not on a CT)

 

[NightOwl]

“Sets the Preferred Ride Height to Higher. When set to Higher, the ride height automatically adjusts between Medium and Low to balance ride comfort with handling and range. On highways or while driving at highway speeds, ride height adjusts to Low .”

Guess I should have checked the manual? ? Thanks!

Nice illustrations for showing camber. I knew some of it, but didn’t think about it in relation to the raising and lowering of the height. (My ignorance is showing, lol. Yep, I really didn’t think about it, as obvious as it is. Oh well. Such is life.)

thanks!

 

[NightOwl]

Forgot to say thanks for this , Pops. Really was helpful.

 

[NightOwl]

I previously said:
”By the way, I informally tested for difference at 77 mph between Sport and Comfort modes. This was a continuous speed test on a section of highway where we didn’t really have to change the speed because of other traffic. Anyway, we were getting right at 428 Wh/mi, regardless of which mode. The numbers didn’t change at all. (Very informal and unscientific.)”

Given the fact it lowers in Comfort mode at higher speeds, I would assume the result I got was thus expected.

 

[sefar]

I dont have the answer but a few things to consider.

1. Being in low all the time may result in more tire wear and require new tires sooner, eliminating any savings of being in low all the time. This is true of other vehicles that lower like the Rivian, but I am not sure if its true of the CT. It depends on how much camber there is in the low setting.

I don't know this to be true. I have had 2 Ram Limited 1500s and they always lowered to an aero position. Never had any issue with tire wear not reaching expected levels, including the replacement AT tires I put on them. The trucks were ecodiesel, so heavier than gas but no where near EV weights.

My CT is my third Tesla, have never had one with the OEM tires lasting more than 25k miles.

 

[NightOwl]

Wow, just 25,000 miles? I was expecting more than that.

 

[CyberGus]

“You can improve efficiency of the cabin heating by reducing your selected acceleration mode, allowing the heat pump to take more heat from the battery to efficiently heat the cabin instead of maintaining the battery’s ability to provide peak acceleration performance. ‘Chill’ is the most energy efficient mode, especially in cold weather.”

https://www.tesla.com/support/range

 

[Pops]

I don't know this to be true. I have had 2 Ram Limited 1500s and they always lowered to an aero position. Never had any issue with tire wear not reaching expected levels, including the replacement AT tires I put on them. The trucks were ecodiesel, so heavier than gas but no where near EV weights.

My CT is my third Tesla, have never had one with the OEM tires lasting more than 25k miles.

I hope you are right. Like a mentioned in my posts, its not clear if this will be an issue for the CT or not. It has been an issue for the Rivian R1T and Tesla Model X. A quick search returns a lot of reports of uneven wear on Teslas.

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