Sandy Munro’s Tesla Model Y teardown continues. In his last video, Munro took out his trusty gap gauger and shared his opinions on the Model Y's fit and finish. In his latest video, Munro talks about the Model Y’s suspension and some sage advice for Tesla’s cowl clip.
Model Y Suspension
Munro’s most recent video in his Model Y teardown series was about the SUV’s suspension. The expert auto consultant prefaced his review by saying that the Model Y and the Model 3’s suspension systems were very similar, but were not exactly the same.
One of the differences Munro noted about the suspension was that the Model Y’s damper was being held by screws instead of bands like in the Model 3. He also pointed out that the control arms in the front suspension of the Model Y looked beefier.
The rear suspension of the Tesla Model Y was much closer in design with the Model 3. The lower control arm in the rear suspension of the Model Y had a label exposing that it was actually for a Tesla Model 3. The label proved that Tesla’s sedan and SUV do, in fact, share parts.
Before Model Y production started, Elon Musk has said that manufacturing Tesla’s affordable SUV crossover would be easier because it shared 75% of its parts with the Model 3. “We’re looking at good commonality. This is a good idea for carmakers to use or reuse parts that have proven to be worthwhile,” Munro said about the common parts.
Model Y Cowl Cover
Before he looked at the Model Y’s teardown, Munro had planned to tear down its frunk. However, an issue with the frunk’s cowl cover drew his attention.
When Munro took the cowl cover of the Model Y’s frunk off, he noted that it was too easily removed. The auto consultant discovered that one of the fasteners—which he called “Christmas trees"—was missing and that the clips were holding the cowl cover improperly.
After finding the issue, Munro abruptly stopped the video to investigate the cowl cover further. In the following video, Munro showed his audience the real job of his company.
He gave Tesla a free consultation for its cowl cover and its clip. Munro couldn’t find one that would fit the Model Y exactly, so he made one instead. The cowl clip he designed for the Model Y would slide into the vehicle on one side. Then the tongue of the cowl cover would slip through the other side.
Tesla Model Y Gets Positive First Impressions From Edmunds https://t.co/RGshg1MubI pic.twitter.com/OHHrZqcgzO
— Tesmanian.com (@Tesmanian_com) April 1, 2020
Munro said that the main objective of the cowl clip was for it to be easy to place and difficult to remove. His redesigned cowl clip seemed to check off that objective.
After his consultation, Munro made his main objective with the Model Y teardown clear. “I don’t want anybody to get the impression that all we’re going to do is slam Tesla. In this particular report, what we’re going to do is find out what went wrong and what can be done to fix it,” he said.
He also shared that after the Model 3 teardown, Munro & Associates sent Tesla an Excel sheet with approximately 250 ideas for improvement. Munro explained that the sheet was sent to show Tesla that his company didn’t mean to slam the company, but wanted to offer some constructive criticism.
Featured Image Credit: MunroLive
About the Author
Ma. Claribelle Deveza
Longtime writer and news/book editor. Writing about Tesla allows me to contribute something good to the world, while doing something I love.
