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Presumably they're comparing their observations to other vehicles they've driven on Laguna Seca. My suspicion is that the model 3 has undersized brakes for a v

Presumably they're comparing their observations to other vehicles they've driven on Laguna Seca. My suspicion is that the model 3 has undersized brakes for a vehicle of its mass. It's an obvious place to cut the costs. edit: To clarify, the autoevolution report noted not only the pads "were cooked" but that the front rotors appeared to need replacing. Typically only the pads will wear out when it's a simple matter of requiring a more track-oriented pad (higher temp range). The rotors do not get worn in the process, though they may need to be machined (AKA turned) to remove non-uniformly deposited pad material. When you've got both front rotors and pads ruined after a few hot laps at the track, your options are basically larger diameter rotors and/or a different rotor material. Putting back the same style rotors with a higher temp pad is only going to eat the rotors even faster than before. These long-range EVs are not light vehicles, they have a very high potential to stress the braking system.

dpark 8y ago
Undoubtedly the brakes are undersized for track racing. But you don’t need brakes that can hold up to timed laps on Laguna Seca to commute 30 minutes to work. Especially in a car where most braking is done regeneratively.
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  It doesn't require a track to repeatedly accelerate and brake agressively a dozen times in a short period of time, an activity a relatively quick EV practically encourages with its silent operation: "It makes all of its power at zero rpm, it has perfect traction control, it never squeaks the tires at all, and it's totallly quiet. So, every stop sign you go to, literally like 90% of the times I come to a stop, if it's a straight line ahead of me, I put my foot to the floor and you just get rubber-banded ahead, it's not anti... If I did that with the Testarossa, it was anti-social, I mean people could hear me three miles away when I would get on it on that car so it's just not something that you do every little corner on there." - John Carmack speaking about his Tesla Roadster [1] I think most people won't expect to have to replace their brakes after a single charge worth of likely shenanigans. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51eoUFp_YA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51eoUFp_YA
  - dpark 8y ago
    It doesn't take a track, just an aggressively inappropriate driving style. In a family sedan. :\ Flooring it between lights is stupid and unsafe and to the extent that it's causing massive brake fade you should detect it (and stop) unless your recklessness is accompanied by incompetence. If you're driving so aggressively that you manage to destroy your brake pads in a few miles, you're either on a track or an utter moron.
    - newnewpdro 8y ago
      There's no shortage of jalopies throughout automotive history which would want their brakes serviced after a single agressive stop from highway speeds. That was before they carried a floor full of batteries and accelerated with their peak torque from 0 RPM. This situation is exacerbated with the paradoxically affordable, massive, and quick (in a straight line) EVs. It won't surprise me one bit if Tesla's first "budget" electric car for the masses cut enough corners to join that list. Skimping on things like brakes in favor of retaining impressive, car-selling acceleration and range figures.
      - dpark 8y ago
        It would surprise me very much if the Model 3 couldn’t handle a single stop from highway speed since it took 4 laps to fry the brakes at Laguna Seca.
        newnewpdro 8y ago
        There's a big difference between brakes being worn to their service limit and wanting service due to runout caused by overheated pads depositing pad material on the rotor surface. Most people (I suspect) would take a vehicle in for service when the brake pedal pulsates or the steering judders under braking. This is fairly easy to cause on heavy vehicles with undersized brakes. We'll see what happens with the Model 3 as the numbers climb and we begin to get a real sense of just what Tesla has been selling to people.

dpark 8y ago

Undoubtedly the brakes are undersized for track racing. But you don’t need brakes that can hold up to timed laps on Laguna Seca to commute 30 minutes to work. Especially in a car where most braking is done regeneratively.

newnewpdro 8y ago
It doesn't require a track to repeatedly accelerate and brake agressively a dozen times in a short period of time, an activity a relatively quick EV practically encourages with its silent operation: "It makes all of its power at zero rpm, it has perfect traction control, it never squeaks the tires at all, and it's totallly quiet. So, every stop sign you go to, literally like 90% of the times I come to a stop, if it's a straight line ahead of me, I put my foot to the floor and you just get rubber-banded ahead, it's not anti... If I did that with the Testarossa, it was anti-social, I mean people could hear me three miles away when I would get on it on that car so it's just not something that you do every little corner on there." - John Carmack speaking about his Tesla Roadster [1] I think most people won't expect to have to replace their brakes after a single charge worth of likely shenanigans. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51eoUFp_YA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L51eoUFp_YA
- dpark 8y ago
  It doesn't take a track, just an aggressively inappropriate driving style. In a family sedan. :\ Flooring it between lights is stupid and unsafe and to the extent that it's causing massive brake fade you should detect it (and stop) unless your recklessness is accompanied by incompetence. If you're driving so aggressively that you manage to destroy your brake pads in a few miles, you're either on a track or an utter moron.
  - newnewpdro 8y ago
    There's no shortage of jalopies throughout automotive history which would want their brakes serviced after a single agressive stop from highway speeds. That was before they carried a floor full of batteries and accelerated with their peak torque from 0 RPM. This situation is exacerbated with the paradoxically affordable, massive, and quick (in a straight line) EVs. It won't surprise me one bit if Tesla's first "budget" electric car for the masses cut enough corners to join that list. Skimping on things like brakes in favor of retaining impressive, car-selling acceleration and range figures.
    - dpark 8y ago
      It would surprise me very much if the Model 3 couldn’t handle a single stop from highway speed since it took 4 laps to fry the brakes at Laguna Seca.
      - newnewpdro 8y ago
        There's a big difference between brakes being worn to their service limit and wanting service due to runout caused by overheated pads depositing pad material on the rotor surface. Most people (I suspect) would take a vehicle in for service when the brake pedal pulsates or the steering judders under braking. This is fairly easy to cause on heavy vehicles with undersized brakes. We'll see what happens with the Model 3 as the numbers climb and we begin to get a real sense of just what Tesla has been selling to people.