Center diff?

[HaulingAss]

you nailed it - I did mean for fun - aka puts the power down so can confidently move without fear of 100% rear bias and min traction....diff different definition of fun.....I know my limits and it's not to use drift settings in the snow - save that for wide open off-road conditions.

I think there is a common misunderstanding of how power bias works in Tesla AWD vehicles. The power bias changes based upon conditions. It's only RWD (or FWD in the case of some Tesla) when there is no slippage detected. If it senses a lot of wheel slippage, it automatically adjusts F/R power bias to be closer to 50/50 and that is before it makes instantaneous decisions to transfer power based upon immediate instances of slippage.

The purpose of modes like Track Mode and Baja Mode is to lock down the default F/R power bias for a more consistent driving experience when on a track or doing rally style driving. I can get a consistent driving experience in my M3P simply by driving it like I stole it continuously. As long as I'm rally driving, the experience stays consistent. If I drive gently for a while and then suddenly get on it, that's when it feels nerfed.

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[mongo]

That's interesting. I presume this instruction to maximize efficiency is in the off-road section? Or lifted from the off-road manual Tesla published recently?

If so, it does seem to imply the baseline F/R power bias in automatically moved closer to 50/50 in Overland Mode. But my point remains, if low traction is actually coming into play, via wheel slippage (while not in Baja Mode), the F/R bias is probably adjusted (based on wheel slippage) such that the instantaneous traction controls don't need to be activated as frequently. Baja Mode probably turns off those automatic adjustments to F/R bias in order to provide a consistent driving experience when Baja Mode is selected.

Yeah, from the off road guide. Page 10, just before how to do donuts. https://service.tesla.com/docs/Cybertruck/cybertruck_offroad_guide.pdf

 

[HaulingAss]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I do use snow tires (Blizzak WS90) and on snow it is exactly as you described. It just GOES with a limited angle like you said. I don’t have any of the track mode settings to play with, only “slip start” that I’ve tried. There’s probably some fear still that the car is going to go sideways on the faster icy highway, and it’s not exactly a place to push it and see what happens. It also took some time to get used to the rear end feeling loose on full regen braking on ice.

In my experience, it's very hard to lose control of a Model 3 on snow and ice, it's just super stable even if it feels looser (less nerfed) than other vehicles. I want to say you can drive with reckless abandon but, of course, that's not really true as there are obviously limits to everything. What gets most people on icy corners is when they are off-camber. When it's really slippery, the camber of the road matters more than most people realize.

If you still have your Model 3 this winter, I would encourage you to try an experiment. Before approaching the turn onto the fast, icy highway, try driving in a playful/reckless manner for a minute, sliding around, giving it too much power, etc. If your driveway is the road that enters the highway you would have to do this in your driveway (and if your driveway is not slippery like the highway, this might not be possible). Without a break in the action, pull up to the fast highway and, when you have a clear spot, go for it. See if the playful driving before the entry to the highway improves things. I suspect it won't, that just implies the delay in power to the front wheels is because they are already limited in traction by the steering angle.

If that is the case, the situation can likely be improved organically (not involving "tricking" the traction controls). See if you can straighten the angle out by taking a line that may be through fresh snow or on the shoulder. Often times the "obvious" place to drive is not the highest traction surface that is available to you. Sometimes just being over 6 inches or a foot (to one side or the other) is all it takes to get a better launch. Also, one thing that really brings out the worst in traction control systems on snow and ice is uneven tire pressures from left to right. Even a one or two psi difference can significantly hinder your ability to accelerate as quickly as possible. Keep the pressures of tires on the same axle dead even, because they are connected through an open differential. This matters more the slipperier it is.

Does your "launch" onto the highway involve a small amount of elevation gain?

 

[HaulingAss]

Yeah, from the off road guide. Page 10, just before how to do donuts. https://service.tesla.com/docs/Cybertruck/cybertruck_offroad_guide.pdf

Thanks for that, I'm going to experiment more with rear wheel power bias in Baja Mode to increase my off-road efficiency. I already prefer "Roll Mode" because it feels more organic (but I will admit switching to Hold Mode in more consequential situations).

Currently, I drive the non-technical sections in normal on-road mode to increase my efficiency.

 

[HaulingAss]

Yes, hopefully they back port this to all teslas....should be easy to add...gonna make the cyber truck fun in the snow!!!!

It probably won't happen, and I think you can thank the EPA for that. If I'm not misremembering, the EPA recently changed the rules for calculating each models EPA efficiency numbers to include the stipulation that the least efficient mode be used. I believe the Cybertruck is exempt from EPA numbers due to its high cargo capacity.

 

[SentinelOne]

It probably won't happen, and I think you can thank the EPA for that. If I'm not misremembering, the EPA recently changed the rules for calculating each models EPA efficiency numbers to include the stipulation that the least efficient mode be used. I believe the Cybertruck is exempt from EPA numbers due to its high cargo capacity.

Good point, forgot that nuance….

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