Fewer drive modes for Dual-Motor?

[docwhiz]

Is there a current vehicle you can reference that has this feature? All the vehicles I know of require a mode selection from the driver in order to select from the full range of drive modes. For example, Kia has a Smart Drive mode, but it only allows a limited drive mode selection.

My Teslas haven't had drive modes and handling in all kinds of conditions has been excellent. Snow, rain, dry, heat, etc. I never have to fiddle with drive modes.
I've even intentionally tried to make them slip in snow, wet,etc. And the car just handles it. Even did some stretches on dirt, gravel and performance was perfect.

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[godfodder0901]

My Teslas haven't had drive modes and handling in all kinds of conditions has been excellent. Snow, rain, dry, heat, etc. I never have to fiddle with drive modes.
I've even intentionally tried to make them slip in snow, wet,etc. And the car just handles it. Even did some stretches on dirt, gravel and performance was perfect.

Ahh. Are there really different 'modes' though (no Tesla experience)? Is it really changing anything, or is it a function of weight, AWD, and traction control that allows it to handle it? Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to sound like an A-hole, but my Civic doesn't need modes either and it handles well in all conditions also.

 

[usofrob]

Or in another case you want the throttle response of sport mode or not. Tesla handles that with a different menu item for chill mode. It's similar to a Rivian drive mode.

Tesla also has a slip start mode for when handling deep snow or sand. This is a subset of Rivian's snow mode.

Tesla also has ride height adjustment, but it doesn't tie it together with any other cumulative settings, other than when you go over a certain speed it'll lower.

So, in summary, Tesla handles these things with individual settings. If you've had a Tesla and never adjusted these, then you'll probably do fine with Rivian's All-Purpose Mode with auto adjust ride height.

 

[docwhiz]

Ahh. Are there really different 'modes' though (no Tesla experience)? Is it really changing anything, or is it a function of weight, AWD, and traction control that allows it to handle it? Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to sound like an A-hole, but my Civic doesn't need modes either and it handles well in all conditions also.

I don't know all the details but I believe the Tesla monitors wheel speed, power, steering angle, ride height and ? other parameters and adjusts power to each wheel, braking, ride height to suit conditions with millisecond response.
One episode illustrates the system. I was driving up I80 through a wet curve (going too fast). I heard a chime, felt the rear end slide a bit and the car corrected immediately. It was all over in less than a second and the car continued in its lane.
Ice and snow are not a problem. The car refuses to slide with normal driving and braking. I've tried to get it to slip and slide but it just won't.

 

[docwhiz]

Or in another case you want the throttle response of sport mode or not. Tesla handles that with a different menu item for chill mode. It's similar to a Rivian drive mode.

Tesla also has a slip start mode for when handling deep snow or sand. This is a subset of Rivian's snow mode.

Tesla also has ride height adjustment, but it doesn't tie it together with any other cumulative settings, other than when you go over a certain speed it'll lower.

So, in summary, Tesla handles these things with individual settings. If you've had a Tesla and never adjusted these, then you'll probably do fine with Rivian's All-Purpose Mode with auto adjust ride height.

Tesla has a slip start mode for deep snow. I've never used it. It also has "ride comfort" settings for the air suspension and steering response modes (sport, comfort, something). I've never changed these from the default. Ride height is adjusted automatically depending on speed. I never change it.
I guess you could call the slip start mode a drive mode. The others are comfort settings and not really drive modes.

 

[usofrob]

I think what makes it a drive mode for Rivian is that it combines these settings under a more functional name and adjusts them together.

But I don't believe Tesla has the equivalent of any of the off road modes to adjust the traction control system for those purposes.

 

[docwhiz]

I think what makes it a drive mode for Rivian is that it combines these settings under a more functional name and adjusts them together.

But I don't believe Tesla has the equivalent of any of the off road modes to adjust the traction control system for those purposes.

The Tesla traction control system continuously monitors traction in all conditions and adjusts in milliseconds to any loss of traction. No mode setting necessary. It just works!

 

[emoore]

The Tesla traction control system continuously monitors traction in all conditions and adjusts in milliseconds to any loss of traction. No mode setting necessary. It just works!

And so does Rivian. You don't have to select a mode to get traction control.

 

[docwhiz]

And so does Rivian. You don't have to select a mode to get traction control.

What about "conservation mode"... doesn't that turn off traction control?

 

[emoore]

What about "conservation mode"... doesn't that turn off traction control?

So you are saying that front wheel drive cars don't have traction control? If you are that concerned then just leave the Rivian in all purpose mode which would be exactly like the Tesla.

 

[docwhiz]

So you are saying that front wheel drive cars don't have traction control? If you are that concerned then just leave the Rivian in all purpose mode which would be exactly like the Tesla.

It sounds like "all purpose mode" is best to avoid having to guess and switch modes depending on road surface.
I just wonder what the other modes do better than all purpose mode.

 

[emoore]

It sounds like "all purpose mode" is best to avoid having to guess and switch modes depending on road surface.
I just wonder what the other modes do better than all purpose mode.

What modes do better at what? Sport mode gets you the fastest acceleration, snow mode in snow, etc. but all purpose does just fine for 99% of road surfaces.

 

[usofrob]

My Tesla Model 3 has one additional drive mode that is actually very nice. Track Mode. It allows you to change the torque balance front/rear, and slip angles, among other features. It's really nice to have versus the standard traction control because it let's you be in charge of the car a little more when driving, but it's mostly useful on a trackss. I would sometimes use it on the street in fun sections of the road for the increased regen and change in the balance of the car so it doesn't understeer as much. It's probably most like Rivian's Sport Mode, if sport mode was adjustable. Maybe in a couple years Rivian can bring some adjustments to their special modes.

But, I doubt that Rivian will ever do much but minor improvements for the base dual motor because they've decided to withhold the sport mode for the performance version only. (I guess Tesla did that for the Model 3 Performance as well, but at least they claimed it was because it had different brakes than the non-performance version.)

 

[godfodder0901]

What about "conservation mode"... doesn't that turn off traction control?

No. Just decouples the rear motors to make it FWD. All the other safety features are still present.

 

[CharonPDX]

What modes do better at what? Sport mode gets you the fastest acceleration, snow mode in snow, etc. but all purpose does just fine for 99% of road surfaces.

Sport Mode doesn't actually increase acceleration at all. It just changes suspension and pedal-mapping. If you manually drop the ride height and just fully mash the accelerator pedal, you'll get the same acceleration in All Purpose as in Sport.

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