Cybertruck offroad performance review by pro off-road racer Emme Hall

[KuMX]

https://insideevs.com/reviews/707982/tesla-cybertruck-king-of-hammers/

I Took The Tesla Cybertruck Off-Roading. Here's What Surprised Me

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[cybrtrk84]

seems like a pretty fair review from a highly qualified driver....hopefully some of this can get improved with over the air updates (off road braking, lockers, etc)

 

[CyberVeteran]

That was actually a fair assessment, I like that she was honest. I still don't like the Rivian.

 

[Cyber Man]

I like how she highlighted the benefits of independent Torque vectoring for superior off roading. You can say she is a pro.

I think CT’s full off roading capability is truly not unlocked yet because of the software. Hope she gets to try CB once the software tuning is done.

 

[Wraven]

I like how she highlighted the benefits of independent Torque vectoring for superior off roading. You can say she is a pro.

I think CT’s full off roading capability is truly not unlocked yet because of the software. Hope she gets to try CB once the software tuning is done.

Torque vectoring is only on the Cyberbeast with the tri-motor config. The uplugged truck is a dual motor, which is why its waiting for the software update for the rear mechanical locker (only dual motors get a locker in the rear, as the tri-motor gets the true independent torque vectoring due to a motor on each wheel)

 

[CyberT1]

I am still on team Cybertruck if I ever get my Vin number.

 

[Gene]

That was actually a fair assessment, I like that she was honest. I still don't like the Rivian.

My concern with Rivian is the bed area capacity is only 1/3 of the Cybertruck and the chances of Rivian going bankrupt is at the very least 40%.

I have 40 years off-road experience from the Sahara to the Arctic and all places between. I have in my possession for two weeks now, an AWD Foundation. I have not had a drive off-road yet. I must have over 100,000 miles on rough dirt roads under my belt. Many of my trips could be hundreds of miles of dirt washboard and the occasional rocks and washouts to reach the destination. In my experience, safety and reliability IN ANY TRUCK requires driving slow and taking any rocky washouts and climbs especially slow and careful. At times one has to get out and move some things out of the way such as large rocks and even occasional boulders. In my case, especially once the locking diffs are active , the CT should fit the bill fairly well. The 6 foot bed a huge bonus for the amount of gear I carry.
There’s no perfect truck gas nor electric. I agree for driving in circles at high speed like those that attend off-road events, something like the Rivian would perform better but for my use case and my work, the Cybertruck should work well, or even better.

In Algeria I had a Mitsubishi 4x4 van with ABS. What the author describes about the ABS remaining active in loose terrain is very dangerous. At least the CT has one pedal driving so you have some braking, with ABS operating in the Mitsubishi, on any slippery gravel road there was ZERO braking, In my Mitsubishi I simply pulled the ABS fuse out—problem solved!! We need an ABS shutoff from Tesla ASAP!!! Also, while they are at it diff locks update please! I’ve never done my travels with air suspension so my fingers crossed for no failures in the field. Something like the live axle, coil sprung Jeeps with a proper electric drive and NACS would be sweet! Live axles and coils get you the best in articulation and a consistent ground clearance.

 

[HardyBro2]

I have spent sixteen years exploring the utah outback in a Kia Sportage, 2003 Nissan Sentra, 2005 Subaru Outback, 2013 Nissan Frontier, 1993 Toyota 4 Runner and now 2003 Nissan Frontier. I've been in mud, sand, packed to loose dirt, all types of snow, bedrock, streams, and small boulders. I know there are those with far more off road experience. We just love camping and exploring. I am confident the CT will be a blast out there! One of the things I love about my old truck is we do not care about scratches, dings, etc. so that CT HFS is going to be awesome. We currently own the 2003 Frontier, a 2013 Nissan Leaf and a 2023 Model Y. Can't wait to be a dual Tesla household.

 

[Gene]

I have spent sixteen years exploring the utah outback in a Kia Sportage, 2003 Nissan Sentra, 2005 Subaru Outback, 2013 Nissan Frontier, 1993 Toyota 4 Runner and now 2003 Nissan Frontier. I've been in mud, sand, packed to loose dirt, all types of snow, bedrock, streams, and small boulders. I know there are those with far more off road experience. We just love camping and exploring. I am confident the CT will be a blast out there! One of the things I love about my old truck is we do not care about scratches, dings, etc. so that CT HFS is going to be awesome. We currently own the 2003 Frontier, a 2013 Nissan Leaf and a 2023 Model Y. Can't wait to be a dual Tesla household.

That reminds me. I had a 2000 Nissan Frontier with the same dangerous ABS. Again, I removed the ABS fuse on dirt roads. The way ABS works is it reduces/disables the braking to any wheel that it senses slippage and applies brakes to those that have no slippage ie; better traction. This model saves lives by preventing accidents and sliding off the road/cliff on icy or slick roads. The problem comes when you need heavy braking on a gravel road because in this case all 4 wheels have some slippage at an equal level. So both the Nissan and Mitsubishi 4x4 ABS would reduce or worse yet, cancel braking on all 4 wheels!!!!!

Does your 2003 Nissan do the same? Maybe they set it up so that ABS is disabled when in 4WD? I really hope Tesla solves this soon as there will be videos of Cybertrucks not stopping on gravel, again, thankfully one pedal driving will help here, a little.

 

[JBee]

That reminds me. I had a 2000 Nissan Frontier with the same dangerous ABS. Again, I removed the ABS fuse on dirt roads. The way ABS works is it reduces/disables the braking to any wheel that it senses slippage and applies brakes to those that have no slippage ie; better traction. This model saves lives by preventing accidents and sliding off the road/cliff on icy or slick roads. The problem comes when you need heavy braking on a gravel road because in this case all 4 wheels have some slippage at an equal level. So both the Nissan and Mitsubishi 4x4 ABS would reduce or worse yet, cancel braking on all 4 wheels!!!!!

Does your 2003 Nissan do the same? Maybe they set it up so that ABS is disabled when in 4WD? I really hope Tesla solves this soon as there will be videos of Cybertrucks not stopping on gravel, again, thankfully one pedal driving will help here, a little.

I hope you put the ABS fuse back in for on-road.

 

[cybguy]

I am still on team Cybertruck if I ever get my Vin number.

Me too. But if a had more than light off-roading and rough dirt road needs I'd already have a Rivian R1T. Most Cybertrucks will be wrapped to look nice at ball fields and mall parking lots anyways.

 

[Strykerwsu]

I love and will have both trucks for a period of time to see which better fits my families needs. One item to clear up per @cvalue13 is bed volume is half not 1/3 . In addition you also have a full size spare space and gear tunnel. CT is bigger for sure but definitely could have done better on storage space since R1T has larger battery as well.

 

[swinefeaster]

How would a model x awd compare to a CT awd? Sorry I don't really understand all this mumbo jumbo. However for my purposes, I've found the mx with blizzak winter tires to be amazing in snow and ice and I've never gotten stuck. Should the CT be worse, comparable, or better?

 

[Gene]

I have at this point done many hours on very rough terrain. I come from a place with a huge amount of off-road experience even two Sahara crossings of 6,000 miles to name just one. I have been quite pleased with the Cybertruck. A few days ago I was on a little used track in the California Eastern Sierras. To travel this track, less than 20 miles took 3.5 hours so you know it was rough. The track was flooded during the last big rains to the point that it looks mostly like a riverbed. Completely rock strewn with many rocks the size of water melons and many ruts as deep as 3 feet. And then, of course, many cross-road deep washouts. Though having the locking diffs would have been really sweet, the truck still traversed the obstacles very easily. I have owned probably 10 different 4wd's in my time, both smaller vehicles as well as full sized. Always manual trans, manual hubs, super low gears, etc. Yet the Cybertruck was more comfortable and handled all obstacles as well or better than any of them.

The greatest asset? That front mounted camera was amazingly helpful. With other vehicles, one can only see the road starting 20 or 30 feet out. You have to plan what your approach will be and memorize it in order to carry forward. Often your co-pilot would have to get out and direct you around and through the obstacles. Not so with the Cybertruck! That large screen allowed me to see with easy what line I had to travel as close as right in front of the bumper. In the rougher areas I drove using the camera more than I look out the windshield. It was really game changing.

I never once had ABS affect any braking at all.

So, about off road, I am so pleased to have the confidence in this truck for which I was a bit apprehensive at first. Also, this last trip was 5 days and overnights off grid. Phantom loss overnight was only 1 to 2%. Having the 6 foot bed was a luxury vs. the 5 foot bed my previous truck had.

 

[fishtek]

@Gene That's great to hear, you should share some pics if handy, I'm sure many would love to see them!

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