Since the domestic Model 3 was officially delivered, many prospective owners in the Model 3 owners group of the 42nd Garage haven’t received their cars yet, but they have already purchased floor mats.
It has to be said that Tesla has really achieved the ultimate in cost control. Imported models are equipped with floor mats, but domestic models have even canceled them.
Although for a car costing around 300,000 RMB, floor mats may not count for much, buying floor mats has become a must-do for every Tesla owner.
In order to better help everyone solve this problem, we have comprehensively purchased the seven mainstream and best-selling floor mats in the market from Taobao, Tmall, Amazon and other platforms to study which floor mat is more suitable for Tesla. (Group purchase link is available at the end of this article)
Why are there only three floor mats with full names? After careful evaluation, we found that these three floor mats are relatively more recommended, and we will explain the specific reasons later.
These seven floor mats are mainly divided into four types: silk circle floor mat, all-weather floor mat, all TPE floor mat, and full-surround silk circle floor mat.
Our selection covers from over 100 to over 1,000 RMB, including Amazon’s floor mat sales champion, Taobao’s floor mat sales champion, e-commerce custom low-priced products, and floor mat brands commonly used by Tesla owners.
The lineup for this floor mat evaluation is also very powerful, and the evaluation team members are:
First of all, we need to study which aspects to evaluate the floor mats from.
After several “very pleasant” discussions…
We finally reached a consensus, good-looking! It’s the most important thing!
When we enter a car, the first item we contact is the floor mat. Visual and olfactory experience is a very important first impression. In addition, daily maintenance matters such as durability and easy cleaning are also included in the evaluation criteria.
Therefore, in addition to good-looking appearance, overall quality, dirt resistance, environmental protection, and ease of cleaning, which are related to everyone’s daily use, have also been included in the evaluation indicators.
These are our evaluation criteria.
Visual Effect
Before talking about the visual effect, it should be noted that visual effect is not just about looking good, fitting is also very important, otherwise it will really drive people with OCD crazy. In addition, the floor mat underfoot, although it will gradually ignore its existence after long-term use, the bad fitting will reduce its protective effect, and dirt is easy to hide in the gap between the floor mat and the car compartment.
Slide to the left for more pictures.
Overall, the all-weather floor mat and TPE floor mat have the best texture, and the coil floor mat comes in second place.
However, due to the average texture of the rubber material in the middle area of the coil floor mat of certain Tiger brand, the overall visual effect is worse than the other two coil floor mats.
Speaking of which, there is an unwritten hierarchy of floor mat rings. For the three-dimensional space inside the car, the 3D dimensions of the floor mat are the truth and the perfect product that truly fits the space. The 2D floor mat is a heretic! It should be fired from the floor mat community!
The coil floor mat is in such an awkward position, but it is strong, durable and cost-effective, becoming the sales champion of domestic floor mats.
However, traditional large surrounding floor mats have a strong professional car atmosphere, which does not match the simple and elegant temperament of Tesla.
Next, let’s explore in detail.
- Coil floor mats
Let’s first talk about something that the general public will never think of.
The coverage of the Chinese-made Model 3 driver’s rest area is different from that of the imported version. The Chinese-made version is made of suede material, while the imported version is covered with plastic parts. Without testing the floor mat, I would never have thought that there could be such a difference between the Chinese-made and the imported versions in this area… (It seems that I have discovered some strange secret)
The floor mats are actually quite soft and not completely jammed in the car compartment, so the method of fixing the back is very important.
The Goodyear mats use a fur claw design for the back, while the mats from certain horse and certain tiger use an anti-skid nail design.
*Due to the fact that the original floor of Model 3 is made of flannel, foot mats with a fur claw design on the back will be more stable.* During our evaluation process, we repeatedly rubbed each mat against the floor.
Finally, we found that Goodyear mats have a fur claw design on the back and have the best fixed performance among the three silk circle foot mats. Due to the use of anti-skid nail design, the other two foot mats may become loose at the front of the driver and passenger seats.
In addition, the driver’s seat of certain horse is lacking coverage in the rest area, which may easily cause that area to become dirty or worn.
- Mat from certain Feng for full coverage of silk circle
The installation of a full coverage silk circle mat is a bit troublesome. Many parts are fixed with small clips on the car interior trim. The leather used for full coverage is relatively hard and prone to wrinkles and non-alignment.
- All-weather, all TPE mats
Although all-weather mats and all TPE mats are not completely the same in material, the surface of all-weather mats is made of TPR, the middle is XPE material (XPE is a chemical cross-linked polyethylene foam material with stable chemical properties, not easy to decompose, odorless, and good elasticity), and the bottom is a fur claw or anti-skid nail. But from a usage perspective, they are very similar, so we compare them together.
Two points to note here:
1. The 3W car mat can be paired with two different materials and designs of carpets, and is fixed with a buckle. If the carpet is not used, the 3W logo and protruding buckle are still quite noticeable. However, with the carpet, it will look more high-end, so it is recommended to use it with the carpet.
- Both the 3D and XX’s car mats are very similar in both material and design. Let’s continue to read on to see the specific differences.
- The visual effect of 3W is completely different from that of 3D and XX, and it varies from person to person as to which one looks better. Here, I will only talk about the fit.
The fit of 3D is the best, with precise size, almost completely fitting and uniform seams, giving a feeling of original car mats.
The overall fit of 3W is also good, but there are occasionally uneven edge gaps. We speculate that the reason is that the material of 3W is elastic, soft, and relatively thick. The difference in material causes the difference in the fit between 3D and 3W, but it is still OK without careful observation.
XX’s mat is not quite fitting enough, and there are gaps in the driver’s seat position due to the design, which is not completely fitted in the car cabin. The size of the passenger side mat also has some errors, causing obvious compression marks on the right edge of the mat. We are not sure if this is the case for the set of mats we purchased, and we hope it’s just an individual case.
Anti-dirt Performance
In order to test anti-dirt performance, Junmeng went into the mud and started spinning and jumping around.
Let’s take a look at his masterpiece together.
The silk loop foot pad is very resistant to dirt. If you don’t look carefully, you can hardly see any stains, except for the rubber material area of a certain tiger.
Similarly, with the same mud and step method, the all-weather foot pad and all TPE foot pad are indeed somewhat helpless to dirt, especially mud. Even if the 3W foot pad is matched with a quick-drying blanket surface, there is no obvious change.
The fully-wrapped silk loop foot pad is between the two, mainly because the outer leather part is slightly less resistant to dirt.
Ease of cleaning
I thought that both the all-weather foot pad and the all TPE foot pad would be easy to clean, after all, the surface is relatively flat and there are not so many circles and holes, but after our actual tests, there are differences in the easy-to-clean of different brands of all-weather/TPE foot pad.
First of all, after taking out the foot pad from the car and shaking it, wiping it with a wet towel and a little water, we found that 3W and 3D can be as clean as before.
However, no matter how to wipe it, it is difficult to completely clean the foot pad from a certain brother. It seems that a high-pressure water gun is still necessary.
Cleaning the silk loop foot pad requires a little more effort. When driving daily, in addition to dust, there will also be small stones or even food residue falling onto the foot pad. In long-term stepping, these dirty things are easily embedded in the seams of the silk loop foot pad.
It’s not enough to just pat them hard to clean. High-pressure water gun is needed, and it may not remove the dirt at the deepest part.
In addition, it is recommended to air-dry the mats after washing the coils to prevent them from getting moldy due to long-term moisture.
Finally, let’s talk about the fully surrounded coil mats, with countless clips and various edges that need to be stuffed into the seat gaps. Just dismantling and assembling them is already very difficult, not to mention that the coil parts also need to be removed and washed. It’s enough to give a headache to the car wash guys…
Odor
When it comes to mats, we cannot ignore the odor problem. After all, the car is mostly a closed environment, and environmental protection is important.
First of all, all of the 7 mats we purchased passed the regular environmental protection tests, and under normal circumstances, there is no odor.
But if you smell them like this, it’s different.
After all, the coil mat is made up of two materials that stick together, so after our sensitive smell test, we found that all coil mats have a certain odor as long as they are attached to the nose. The coils of certain tiger and certain Lexus have a stronger odor, which is very pungent when smelled closely, while those of certain Mercedes-Benz and Goodyear are relatively better and less uncomfortable.
Other material mats don’t have any odor even if they are attached to the nose.
Price
Of course, evaluations without discussing prices are bogus.
Overall, coil mats are relatively cheap, fully surrounded mats are in the middle in terms of price, and all-weather and all-TPE mats are relatively expensive.
Why are all-weather and all-TPE mats more expensive?
Two reasons:
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The coil mat is cut and formed as a whole, while the all-weather and all-TPE mats require special molds for production, and each model needs to be molded in advance, so the cost is naturally higher.## Translation
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Thermoplastic elastomer TPE/TPR, also known as synthetic rubber. It has the characteristics of high elasticity, aging resistance, and oil resistance, and does not have the peculiar smell of rubber. However, the material itself is relatively expensive.
So, the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”…
The reason why certain Tiger is much cheaper than certain Horse and Goodyear is mainly because:
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The back uses soft nails, which have average safety and anti-slip effects;
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More glue spraying will make the filament more sticky, harder, and smellier ;
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The middle rubber material is relatively hard and affects the texture;
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The packaging only includes one burlap bag.
The price difference between certain Brother and 3D floor mats also mainly lies in the craftsmanship and materials.
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The overall size is not completely in line with the car, causing a situation where it nests in the corner;
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The edge processing is relatively average and there may be some burrs;
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It is comparatively harder and easy to have creases.
However, there is one thing that must be noted, both 3D and Xiaosa Brother’s wool claws are relatively hard and sharp. When everyone installs them, be sure not to touch the wool claws too hard, as it may poke your hands.
In summary, you get what you pay for.
Summary
First, let’s briefly discuss the overall advantages and disadvantages of these three types of silk circle floor mats, all-weather floor mats (all TPE floor mats), and fully-wrapped silk circle floor mats:
Now let’s take a look at the scores of these seven floor mats in our evaluation system.
Overall, if you are sensitive to price, it is recommended to choose Goodyear’s silk circle floor mats. There are no major problems with visual effects and workmanship, which is very cost-effective. If you have high requirements for quality and safety, we recommend 3D and 3W floor mats, which have a significantly better texture than silk circle floor mats.
Finally, the 42CLUB offers came! We have launched a group-buying activity for the recommended floor mats, and the prices are very surprising. Please click on the image below for details ↓“`markdown
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.