2013 in the shop...2018 loaner MS

[Shadnic]

I took my 2013 MS 60 RWD into a service center and they're keeping it for a few days to put in a new drive unit and seals around the windows and such.

While it's being worked on they gave me a loaner car. A 2018 S75 (AWD) with only 12,000 miles on it. I have found it fascinating to compare the two cars, so I just wanted to compile my thoughts below.

The shiny stuff:

• The new front bumper is really sexy. It makes the whole car look sleeker, thinner, and sexier.
• This car has a glass roof instead of a pano roof like mine. It makes the car look so alien and futuristic that I have a hard time wrapping my head around it, but I do love it. I think I like the pano roof a bit more, but it's neat and seems to make the car taller and brighter, which I love.
• Parking sensors...oh my god these are neat. Showing the exact inches on all sides of the car is awesome. I've heard you can get some version of parking sensors installed on older cars (like mine). If you do does it give you this same visual in the UI or does that only happen if you have autopilot?
• Autopilot visualization of the cars around you feels like the future. It is hard to imagine this technology existing and working so well. I don't honestly find myself wanting to actually use autopilot as I'm driving around much (I like the feel of driving Teslas), but it's damn cool. And I love the energy gauge being a circle vs the square it is in my car. Just looks cleaner that way.
• MCU 2 is much faster. Seeing the map move around while navigating so smoothly is nice.
• The sun visors and vanity mirrors are so much better it's not even funny.

The surprisingly not so shiny stuff:

• The interior of this car feels...exactly the same as my 2013. Maybe even a little worse because it doesn't have leather seats and is a bit creaky in places. But for being an almost brand new car I was shocked that I felt my 6 year old model actually feels newer and more premium in some ways. This isn't a read on newer cars, just more surprised on how little has changed here.
• The center console (which mine lacks) I am surprised to find I don't love. The sliding drawer thing and cup holders feel kind of cheap and clunky. It makes weird sounds when I open it and seems so easy to scratch (and hard to clean dust out of). I do love the cupholders in the back though.
• The dome lights in this car are yellow where as mine are white. I much prefer the white...not sure why that would have changed.
• Car feels much stiffer when driving, probably just because it's so new.
• This car suffers from screen-yellowing and YIKES it looks BAD.

Biggest surprise:

• AWD feels...actually a little less zippy/fun than my RWD. I know the 0-60 time is probably faster, but even when I hit the accelerator I don't get the same pressed-back-in-my-seat feeling that I get very easily in my RWD. The whole experience seems smoother and more consistent, which is probably good, but I kind of like the burst of torque I get in my car. I'm sure if I had an empty strip of road in front of me and I REALLY slammed the accelerator I could get that feeling going in this car, but it definitely does not come as easily. It just kind of gracefully and powerfully moves forward. Still feels very powerful, but not as "thrilling".

Anyway, this has been a really fun comparison to me and so wanted to write it down. No true "point" to this thread other than wondering if others agree/disagree with these points or if there are things in the new car I should check out before I return it.

Thanks for listening!

 

[_TK_]

The lack of thrilling acceleration may be due to chill mode. The last loaner I had was locked in chill. Service center informed me that it enabled and locked chill mode for all their loaners.

 

[Shadnic]

The lack of thrilling acceleration may be due to chill mode. The last loaner I had was locked in chill. Service center informed me that it enabled and locked chill mode for all their loaners.

Ohhh that's fascinating. I didn't even realize that non-P cars could change acceleration modes. Would I even be able to see it in the options if it's "locked" in that way?

 

[_TK_]

Yeah, you can navigate to the setting via the options menu but the slider is grayed out (locked).

 

[dethman]

The 0 to 60 between a 2013 60 and a 2018 75d should feel quite different. Like 5.9s to 4.2s or so.

But yes true tesla has been super lazy about updating the S. A huge mistake IMO.

 

[_TK_]

The word “CHILL” will also be displayed above the speedometer if it’s enabled.

 

[rsg123]

It has to be in chill mode. I had the bad luck of getting a 60 loaner car so I can compare it to a brand new 75d and my 85. The 75d was much much quicker than the 60.
My 75d loaner annoyingly did not have autopilot so I was unable to see the difference firsthand between the AP1 in my 85 and AP2.5.

 

[Mikes68charger]

Funny topic, I struggled between a used MS or M3 around the 42k price range. I like fast so I got a 2014 P85+ fully loaded, I like the power up to 70 or so then its week compared to a Charger SRT8 with same power level.

Last week I had to get a door handle fixed and airbag replacement, they gave me a regular 85 2015 with 18,000 miles

Mine feels fast to 30 but after it felt the exact same, kind of said as I could of gotten a MS with AP1 If I just got a regular 85

Also disappointing was I just found out you can't do a burn out as the car doesn't like you being on brake and gas at same time, even though I saw a clip with Jay Leno doing a burn out.

I do think our older ones feel just as nice as the new oned

 

[PWlakewood]

The different color lights inside the car is the difference between having the tech package which have white lights and non tech package have the regular ugly yellow ones. When I took my 2013 MS in for service I was given a 2015 s85 and there was a few things that's I noticed. The seats in my car are more comfortable in the seat and back but the 85 had what appeared to be headrests that were closer to the person seated. Also the ride was a little sloppy compared to mine. It just didnt feel as sporty either when it came to how quick it was and how it cornered.

 

[darxsys]

Funny topic, I struggled between a used MS or M3 around the 42k price range. I like fast so I got a 2014 P85+ fully loaded, I like the power up to 70 or so then its week compared to a Charger SRT8 with same power level.

Last week I had to get a door handle fixed and airbag replacement, they gave me a regular 85 2015 with 18,000 miles

Mine feels fast to 30 but after it felt the exact same, kind of said as I could of gotten a MS with AP1 If I just got a regular 85

Also disappointing was I just found out you can't do a burn out as the car doesn't like you being on brake and gas at same time, even though I saw a clip with Jay Leno doing a burn out.

I do think our older ones feel just as nice as the new oned

I wonder if you have to have "Slip start" enabled for that to work?

 

[aaron0k]

• AWD feels...actually a little less zippy/fun than my RWD. I know the 0-60 time is probably faster, but even when I hit the accelerator I don't get the same pressed-back-in-my-seat feeling that I get very easily in my RWD. The whole experience seems smoother and more consistent, which is probably good, but I kind of like the burst of torque I get in my car. I'm sure if I had an empty strip of road in front of me and I REALLY slammed the accelerator I could get that feeling going in this car, but it definitely does not come as easily. It just kind of gracefully and powerfully moves forward. Still feels very powerful, but not as "thrilling".

Agreed. I own a 2013 RWD and and a 2015 AWD. Much prefer the RWD; which gives the feeling of being 'pushed' while AWD feels like you're being 'pulled'. I regret paying extra for AWD (optional at the time); which isn't very useful in SoCal.

Too bad Tesla doesn't give us an 'Advanced Settings' option to allow us to change front/back power ratio's. Sort of like how Range Mode on AWD's changes torque between both motors, albeit for efficiency.

 

[AMPd]

Funny topic, I struggled between a used MS or M3 around the 42k price range. I like fast so I got a 2014 P85+ fully loaded, I like the power up to 70 or so then its week compared to a Charger SRT8 with same power level.

Last week I had to get a door handle fixed and airbag replacement, they gave me a regular 85 2015 with 18,000 miles

Mine feels fast to 30 but after it felt the exact same, kind of said as I could of gotten a MS with AP1 If I just got a regular 85

Also disappointing was I just found out you can't do a burn out as the car doesn't like you being on brake and gas at same time, even though I saw a clip with Jay Leno doing a burn out.

I do think our older ones feel just as nice as the new oned

Turn off traction control and floor it

 

[DCEV]

The different color lights inside the car is the difference between having the tech package which have white lights and non tech package have the regular ugly yellow ones.

Just chiming in about the interior lights. I love the yellowish lights and every premium car I've driven has had similar lights at night and the main reason behind this is that yellow/red lights does not kill your night vision the way bright white lights kill your night vision. For a while Tesla had these bright white ambient lighting, which made no sense and so glad they softened that up.

For those who prefer bright white lights, perhaps they should make that an option so you can change it as many cars allow that capability but I wanted to point out there is a real reason why they didn't make the lights super white.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

P85 vs 75 d are similar to 60mph...after the 75d update. 60 is no where near, even a 85s is slower. 75D’s are semi impressive.

 

[Shadnic]

The lack of thrilling acceleration may be due to chill mode. The last loaner I had was locked in chill. Service center informed me that it enabled and locked chill mode for all their loaners.

It has to be in chill mode.

I checked it out and nope, not in chill mode, it's in Standard.

I think to be clear I definitely don't feel like the car isn't fast or powerful, it's just the feeling of getting up to speed is so smooth you don't feel it in your internal organs like I currently do in my car. I'm not getting many opportunities to floor it to 60 or anything, this is just driving around town, zooming from stoplight to stoplight.

Agreed. I own a 2013 RWD and and a 2015 AWD. Much prefer the RWD; which gives the feeling of being 'pushed' while AWD feels like you're being 'pulled'.

Hadn't thought about it in these terms but this is probably the feeling I'm talking about!

 

[PWlakewood]

Just chiming in about the interior lights. I love the yellowish lights and every premium car I've driven has had similar lights at night and the main reason behind this is that yellow/red lights does not kill your night vision the way bright white lights kill your night vision. For a while Tesla had these bright white ambient lighting, which made no sense and so glad they softened that up.

For those who prefer bright white lights, perhaps they should make that an option so you can change it as many cars allow that capability but I wanted to point out there is a real reason why they didn't make the lights super white.

Are you sure they arent still just as bright white on newer ones with tech package?

 

[Shadnic]

So picked up my car today (whisper quiet with the new drive unit, so happy!), and .... I still can't explain exactly what it is, but it was a thrill to drive home compared to the 75D. I did notice the 75D was noticeably powerful on the highway. I could suddenly be at 80mph without even feeling like I was going fast, or having noticed that I was accelerating up to that speed.

Either way though, I just really loved the feeling of driving my 60S. It was very refreshing to be driving it again.

 

[Lasttoy]

I got a new loaner.
They had it set to 75mph. Grandpa speed. I was pissed.
I dont like the brake feel.the dash drove me crazy with flashing red and yellow warnings . It was a 100d.
I didnt like the left side sticks.
I know I've gotten used to my antique, but that was crazy. I'm glad i didn't know how to use AP..

 

[aaron0k]

While I've been a bit critical of Tesla, I will say they really got it right with the S... the design tech/engineering from 2012 still holds up incredibly well 7 years later.

The S was way ahead of it's time.

 

[bigbear]

I got a 15 MS loaner and own a 12 MS. Why don't we get the circle energy gauge? Seems like that'd be an easy update?!