2016.5 P90D to 2022 Plaid Impressions

There aren't enough of these threads so I figured I would post one more. I have had my 2016.5 P90D for close to 4 years now and it has been the best non-exotic car that I have owned. I loved it so much that I picked up a 2022 Plaid a few weeks ago. While the new Plaid is impressive in its own right, it is even more so to me because Tesla has truly improved on so many little things from the older Model S cars that an owner that is new to the brand wouldn't appreciate. There are definitely some steps back but it is almost all positive from where I sit. Here is my nonexhaustive list:

(left: 2022 Plaid, right: 2016.5 P90D)

• Regen is so much better in every way. It is significantly stronger in all situations and I haven't even tried track mode yet which cranks it up further. The ability of the motors to regen to a stop now instead of only going down to 5 MPH is amazing. I never use the brakes aside from the odd situation in which I have to stop more quickly than anticipated due to some external factor. Also, I haven't read this anywhere else, but the low temp lack of regen is gone. Recently on my old car regen was severely reduced anytime the temp dropped much below 60F and around freezing forget about it. I have driven the Plaid in temps down to 15F or so and have not yet experienced reduced regen due to cold weather. I don't preheat the car but it is garaged at night. Regardless, that is a much welcomed change.
• The new audio system is truly among the best, and might be the best, OEM system I have ever heard. Huge upgrade.
• Fit and finish and perceived quality of the interior is so much better.
• Exterior styling changes make a big difference coming from an old car. The casual observer likely couldn't tell the difference in the same way normal people cannot tell a difference between a new Porsche 911 992 and a 10 year old 991.
• Responsiveness of the new MCU or whatever it is called now is vastly better than the MCU1 but that goes without saying. The utility of the refreshed instrument cluster display is a step back. It is useless compared to the old display in that it lost most of the additional information and all of the customizability of the old screen. It is obvious that its implementation is an afterthought so that Tesla can streamline the functionality between the 3/Y and refresh landscaped MCU in the new S/X as much as possible. Everything is done on the main screen now even though we still have an instrument cluster screen. Would you like to accept a phone call/check energy usage/check your TPMS/see music information/etc? Too bad, you will be using the main screen. So much wasted potential.
• Yoke is a pain in parking lots but otherwise not so bad. It is nice in that you can somewhat rest your hands on top of the tops of the nubs while cruising. I almost prefer it in some instances now. Until I have to make a big turn.
• Capacitive buttons are much worse than the yoke itself. I have gotten used to the blinkers are almost prefer them now. Obviously the horn is unusable now. Also it is very difficult to use the scroll wheels to change music tracks in that it is difficult to move it to the right to skip tracks without also pushing it in and pausing the music. The dedicated audio buttons were so much better in that regard.
• New doors/door handles feel so much more sold when opening/closing the doors.
• Car still makes lots of crazy noises while sitting in the garage but they are different. The operation of the heat pump is louder than the old resistive heat. Performance has been about the same for me.

(left: 2016 P90D, right: 2022 Plaid)

• Trunk opens and closes more quietly and is so much quicker.
• No red brakes for a Plaid unless you buy the (still unavailable) CCB upgrade for $20k is silly. The upgrade cost itself is crazy too. Almost any other prestige manufacturer that offers CCBs as an option such as Porsche charge $10k or so for them. $20k is absurd.
• The brakes themselves are better than my P90D. Front calipers are larger. I wish that the rear wasn't a floating caliper as it is an inferior design to the old fixer calipers in the rear.
• For street driving the brakes in stock form are just fine. I have never had any problems with them even after slowing quickly from high speeds. The feel is good but supposedly some brake hardware was changed for 22 as noted in some of the other threads. I am sure they are inadequate for track driving but why someone would want to track an almost 5,000 lb luxury sedan is beyond me.
• Suspension is like butter. I thought the P90D was comfortable and it is but the Plaid is next level.
• The in cabin storage is so vastly improved. It has a big effect upon daily livability. I travel a fair amount and live out of my car some days. This is a huge benefit.
• Obviously the range improvement is massive.
• The headlights seem much better but this may be placebo as I believe them to be the same units right? They are definitely aimed better from the factory. I had the aim my other headlights way up on the P90D. No adjustments needed now.
• When I got my old car AP2 was still in its infancy and inferior to AP1 as far as ping ponging in its lane and whatnot. Those days are obviously long gone. On the interstate for my usage there isn't much difference between the two. AP3 or whatever it is now is better but not by much. On smaller roads such as rural highways that have sharper turns, more elevation changes, etc, the new AP is a revelation. On those roads I would not use AP1 because, in my usage, it was unsafe and had constant disengagements. The disengagements still happen but are much more infrequent and it negotiates the roads so much better. That has been impressive. I don't have FSD and am uninterested. I didn't buy a Plaid to be driven around.
• NVH is much improved. The car is significantly quieter while cruising.
• The struts that open the frunk are ridiculously overpowered. The front hood is violent when it opens, laughably so.
• The frunk is way smaller. The rear trunk feels about the same even though I believe it is slightly smaller.
• The seats are way more supportive. Ventilated seats are to die for.
• Back seat room is improved pretty significantly.
• My 3 year old absolutely loves having his own screen in the back seat so he can watch paw patrol. It is annoying that the only way for him to have sound on those videos back there to my knowledge is to have it playing over the entire car. Hopefully in a future update the sound can be separated into zones with media content from the screen in the back only played in the back seat.
• Straight line performance is obviously silly. From a dig is faster than the P90D but not a world different in that doing repeated launches in either car begins to make me feel queasy. I am a lightweight. The big difference for me is the acceleration from a roll, especially at lower states of charge. It is a different ballgame.
• I don't mind shifting on the screen one bit. It guesses correctly 80% of the time.
• Seeing all of the cameras when backing up and the new blindspot camera when the blinker is on is really nice. We really need a 360 view like Elon promised years ago. The blindspot camera implementation could be so much better. In going back to the theme of the underutilized gauge cluster, it would be so much better if the image were displayed there so it is directly in your line of sight. If Kia has figured this out I bet Tesla can too.
• Air suspension raises and lowers much more quickly and is more consistent in properly "remembering" saved GPS locations for raising.
• Previously my automatic homelink opened my garage door about 30% of the time. I programmed the Plaid in the exact same way and it is over 95%.
• I had a metal roof in the P90D. The alcantara headliner was nice but the glass roof is way better. Kids love it. It is tinted super dark so that except in pretty bright light you cannot really see out. That will be nice in the summer I guess but your view is definitely lessened by it. Electrochromic roof would be really nice and cost effective for such a large piece of glass I am sure. McLaren and Porsche can do it, why not Tesla?
• The car is slower to auto present handles and unlock than the P90D. It often waits when I am right beside it even when I am using the keyfob. P90D would do it 10 feet away or so and as a result you never had to wait on it.
• The blacked out pieces that were chrome previously are a huge upgrade obviously.
• You can feel that wider bodywork when pulling into your garage if you are used to an older, slightly narrower car. Be careful.
• The coat hooks and lighted vanity mirrors are nice.
• The usage of magnets throughout the car to latch things is welcome and elegant.
• The glass distortion at the bottom of the glass in the rear hatch is worse but doesn't really bother me. People that complain about that have never tried to see out the rear of a Lotus.
• The separation of the underfloor areas in the rear trunk is nice so items placed in the side cubby and not rolling into the main central cubby and vice versa.
• My radar detector works much better at detecting forward facing signals. My previous windshield must have had a coating even though I thought only earlier models had that.
• As has been discussed numerous times, the auto wipers are ok but the wipers on the AP1 are far better with a dedicated rain sensor as opposing to the approach of using the cameras in the newer cars. Just use the stupid rain sensor like everyone else does.
• The inductive phone chargers are really handy as are all of the USB C outlets.

Those are all of the stream of consciousness comparisons that I can come up with at the moment. Hopefully it helps someone. I am sure that I am leaving stuff out but the improvements over the older cars are vast and I couldn't be happier.

 

[JIClemens]

There aren't enough of these threads so I figured I would post one more. I have had my 2016.5 P90D for close to 4 years now and it has been the best non-exotic car that I have owned. I loved it so much that I picked up a 2022 Plaid a few weeks ago. While the new Plaid is impressive in its own right, it is even more so to me because Tesla has truly improved on so many little things from the older Model S cars that an owner that is new to the brand wouldn't appreciate. There are definitely some steps back but it is almost all positive from where I sit. Here is my nonexhaustive list:

View attachment 759750
(left: 2022 Plaid, right: 2016.5 P90D)

• Regen is so much better in every way. It is significantly stronger in all situations and I haven't even tried track mode yet which cranks it up further. The ability of the motors to regen to a stop now instead of only going down to 5 MPH is amazing. I never use the brakes aside from the odd situation in which I have to stop more quickly than anticipated due to some external factor. Also, I haven't read this anywhere else, but the low temp lack of regen is gone. Recently on my old car regen was severely reduced anytime the temp dropped much below 60F and around freezing forget about it. I have driven the Plaid in temps down to 15F or so and have not yet experienced reduced regen due to cold weather. I don't preheat the car but it is garaged at night. Regardless, that is a much welcomed change.
• The new audio system is truly among the best, and might be the best, OEM system I have ever heard. Huge upgrade.
• Fit and finish and perceived quality of the interior is so much better.
• Exterior styling changes make a big difference coming from an old car. The casual observer likely couldn't tell the difference in the same way normal people cannot tell a difference between a new Porsche 911 992 and a 10 year old 991.
• Responsiveness of the new MCU or whatever it is called now is vastly better than the MCU1 but that goes without saying. The utility of the refreshed instrument cluster display is a step back. It is useless compared to the old display in that it lost most of the additional information and all of the customizability of the old screen. It is obvious that its implementation is an afterthought so that Tesla can streamline the functionality between the 3/Y and refresh landscaped MCU in the new S/X as much as possible. Everything is done on the main screen now even though we still have an instrument cluster screen. Would you like to accept a phone call/check energy usage/check your TPMS/see music information/etc? Too bad, you will be using the main screen. So much wasted potential.
• Yoke is a pain in parking lots but otherwise not so bad. It is nice in that you can somewhat rest your hands on top of the tops of the nubs while cruising. I almost prefer it in some instances now. Until I have to make a big turn.
• Capacitive buttons are much worse than the yoke itself. I have gotten used to the blinkers are almost prefer them now. Obviously the horn is unusable now. Also it is very difficult to use the scroll wheels to change music tracks in that it is difficult to move it to the right to skip tracks without also pushing it in and pausing the music. The dedicated audio buttons were so much better in that regard.
• New doors/door handles feel so much more sold when opening/closing the doors.
• Car still makes lots of crazy noises while sitting in the garage but they are different. The operation of the heat pump is louder than the old resistive heat. Performance has been about the same for me.

View attachment 759752
(left: 2016 P90D, right: 2022 Plaid)

• Trunk opens and closes more quietly and is so much quicker.
• No red brakes for a Plaid unless you buy the (still unavailable) CCB upgrade for $20k is silly. The upgrade cost itself is crazy too. Almost any other prestige manufacturer that offers CCBs as an option such as Porsche charge $10k or so for them. $20k is absurd.
• The brakes themselves are better than my P90D. Front calipers are larger. I wish that the rear wasn't a floating caliper as it is an inferior design to the old fixer calipers in the rear.
• For street driving the brakes in stock form are just fine. I have never had any problems with them even after slowing quickly from high speeds. The feel is good but supposedly some brake hardware was changed for 22 as noted in some of the other threads. I am sure they are inadequate for track driving but why someone would want to track an almost 5,000 lb luxury sedan is beyond me.
• Suspension is like butter. I thought the P90D was comfortable and it is but the Plaid is next level.
• The in cabin storage is so vastly improved. It has a big effect upon daily livability. I travel a fair amount and live out of my car some days. This is a huge benefit.
• Obviously the range improvement is massive.
• The headlights seem much better but this may be placebo as I believe them to be the same units right? They are definitely aimed better from the factory. I had the aim my other headlights way up on the P90D. No adjustments needed now.
• When I got my old car AP2 was still in its infancy and inferior to AP1 as far as ping ponging in its lane and whatnot. Those days are obviously long gone. On the interstate for my usage there isn't much difference between the two. AP3 or whatever it is now is better but not by much. On smaller roads such as rural highways that have sharper turns, more elevation changes, etc, the new AP is a revelation. On those roads I would not use AP1 because, in my usage, it was unsafe and had constant disengagements. The disengagements still happen but are much more infrequent and it negotiates the roads so much better. That has been impressive. I don't have FSD and am uninterested. I didn't buy a Plaid to be driven around.
• NVH is much improved. The car is significantly quieter while cruising.
• The struts that open the frunk are ridiculously overpowered. The front hood is violent when it opens, laughably so.
• The frunk is way smaller. The rear trunk feels about the same even though I believe it is slightly smaller.
• The seats are way more supportive. Ventilated seats are to die for.
• Back seat room is improved pretty significantly.
• My 3 year old absolutely loves having his own screen in the back seat so he can watch paw patrol. It is annoying that the only way for him to have sound on those videos back there to my knowledge is to have it playing over the entire car. Hopefully in a future update the sound can be separated into zones with media content from the screen in the back only played in the back seat.
• Straight line performance is obviously silly. From a dig is faster than the P90D but not a world different in that doing repeated launches in either car begins to make me feel queasy. I am a lightweight. The big difference for me is the acceleration from a roll, especially at lower states of charge. It is a different ballgame.
• I don't mind shifting on the screen one bit. It guesses correctly 80% of the time.
• Seeing all of the cameras when backing up and the new blindspot camera when the blinker is on is really nice. We really need a 360 view like Elon promised years ago. The blindspot camera implementation could be so much better. In going back to the theme of the underutilized gauge cluster, it would be so much better if the image were displayed there so it is directly in your line of sight. If Kia has figured this out I bet Tesla can too.
• Air suspension raises and lowers much more quickly and is more consistent in properly "remembering" saved GPS locations for raising.
• Previously my automatic homelink opened my garage door about 30% of the time. I programmed the Plaid in the exact same way and it is over 95%.
• I had a metal roof in the P90D. The alcantara headliner was nice but the glass roof is way better. Kids love it. It is tinted super dark so that except in pretty bright light you cannot really see out. That will be nice in the summer I guess but your view is definitely lessened by it. Electrochromic roof would be really nice and cost effective for such a large piece of glass I am sure. McLaren and Porsche can do it, why not Tesla?
• The car is slower to auto present handles and unlock than the P90D. It often waits when I am right beside it even when I am using the keyfob. P90D would do it 10 feet away or so and as a result you never had to wait on it.
• The blacked out pieces that were chrome previously are a huge upgrade obviously.
• You can feel that wider bodywork when pulling into your garage if you are used to an older, slightly narrower car. Be careful.
• The coat hooks and lighted vanity mirrors are nice.
• The usage of magnets throughout the car to latch things is welcome and elegant.
• The glass distortion at the bottom of the glass in the rear hatch is worse but doesn't really bother me. People that complain about that have never tried to see out the rear of a Lotus.
• The separation of the underfloor areas in the rear trunk is nice so items placed in the side cubby and not rolling into the main central cubby and vice versa.
• My radar detector works much better at detecting forward facing signals. My previous windshield must have had a coating even though I thought only earlier models had that.
• As has been discussed numerous times, the auto wipers are ok but the wipers on the AP1 are far better with a dedicated rain sensor as opposing to the approach of using the cameras in the newer cars. Just use the stupid rain sensor like everyone else does.
• The inductive phone chargers are really handy as are all of the USB C outlets.

Those are all of the stream of consciousness comparisons that I can come up with at the moment. Hopefully it helps someone. I am sure that I am leaving stuff out but the improvements over the older cars are vast and I couldn't be happier.

I've had my S for about a month now and couldn't agree more with your comments. Only difference is the passenger side door must be slammed to close. Checked for mobile service in my area and they are coming out Thursday. I do hope it can be resolved.

 

[DBV1]

I've had my S for about a month now and couldn't agree more with your comments. Only difference is the passenger side door must be slammed to close. Checked for mobile service in my area and they are coming out Thursday. I do hope it can be resolved.

Interesting. Passenger side door on my S is the same way. Let us know what you find out.

 

[donsmith]

Oh wow, this is such a great post. Thank you very much. I have a 2016 90D and I love it. I made all the retrofit upgrades, Self Driving computer, and the MCU and it did make a difference. But the one thing that I am missing now is the range. How much more range are you having in real life when compared to your 2016 90D?

I have 2017.5 s100 and now 2022 s LR and such a spoy on review. Improvements are well worth the upgrade. Waiting for UI tune-up. Can't believe how awkward it is. Love the new S.

 

[Solarwind]

There aren't enough of these threads so I figured I would post one more. I have had my 2016.5 P90D for close to 4 years now and it has been the best non-exotic car that I have owned. I loved it so much that I picked up a 2022 Plaid a few weeks ago. While the new Plaid is impressive in its own right, it is even more so to me because Tesla has truly improved on so many little things from the older Model S cars that an owner that is new to the brand wouldn't appreciate. There are definitely some steps back but it is almost all positive from where I sit. Here is my nonexhaustive list:

View attachment 759750
(left: 2022 Plaid, right: 2016.5 P90D)

• Regen is so much better in every way. It is significantly stronger in all situations and I haven't even tried track mode yet which cranks it up further. The ability of the motors to regen to a stop now instead of only going down to 5 MPH is amazing. I never use the brakes aside from the odd situation in which I have to stop more quickly than anticipated due to some external factor. Also, I haven't read this anywhere else, but the low temp lack of regen is gone. Recently on my old car regen was severely reduced anytime the temp dropped much below 60F and around freezing forget about it. I have driven the Plaid in temps down to 15F or so and have not yet experienced reduced regen due to cold weather. I don't preheat the car but it is garaged at night. Regardless, that is a much welcomed change.
• The new audio system is truly among the best, and might be the best, OEM system I have ever heard. Huge upgrade.
• Fit and finish and perceived quality of the interior is so much better.
• Exterior styling changes make a big difference coming from an old car. The casual observer likely couldn't tell the difference in the same way normal people cannot tell a difference between a new Porsche 911 992 and a 10 year old 991.
• Responsiveness of the new MCU or whatever it is called now is vastly better than the MCU1 but that goes without saying. The utility of the refreshed instrument cluster display is a step back. It is useless compared to the old display in that it lost most of the additional information and all of the customizability of the old screen. It is obvious that its implementation is an afterthought so that Tesla can streamline the functionality between the 3/Y and refresh landscaped MCU in the new S/X as much as possible. Everything is done on the main screen now even though we still have an instrument cluster screen. Would you like to accept a phone call/check energy usage/check your TPMS/see music information/etc? Too bad, you will be using the main screen. So much wasted potential.
• Yoke is a pain in parking lots but otherwise not so bad. It is nice in that you can somewhat rest your hands on top of the tops of the nubs while cruising. I almost prefer it in some instances now. Until I have to make a big turn.
• Capacitive buttons are much worse than the yoke itself. I have gotten used to the blinkers are almost prefer them now. Obviously the horn is unusable now. Also it is very difficult to use the scroll wheels to change music tracks in that it is difficult to move it to the right to skip tracks without also pushing it in and pausing the music. The dedicated audio buttons were so much better in that regard.
• New doors/door handles feel so much more sold when opening/closing the doors.
• Car still makes lots of crazy noises while sitting in the garage but they are different. The operation of the heat pump is louder than the old resistive heat. Performance has been about the same for me.

View attachment 759752
(left: 2016 P90D, right: 2022 Plaid)

• Trunk opens and closes more quietly and is so much quicker.
• No red brakes for a Plaid unless you buy the (still unavailable) CCB upgrade for $20k is silly. The upgrade cost itself is crazy too. Almost any other prestige manufacturer that offers CCBs as an option such as Porsche charge $10k or so for them. $20k is absurd.
• The brakes themselves are better than my P90D. Front calipers are larger. I wish that the rear wasn't a floating caliper as it is an inferior design to the old fixer calipers in the rear.
• For street driving the brakes in stock form are just fine. I have never had any problems with them even after slowing quickly from high speeds. The feel is good but supposedly some brake hardware was changed for 22 as noted in some of the other threads. I am sure they are inadequate for track driving but why someone would want to track an almost 5,000 lb luxury sedan is beyond me.
• Suspension is like butter. I thought the P90D was comfortable and it is but the Plaid is next level.
• The in cabin storage is so vastly improved. It has a big effect upon daily livability. I travel a fair amount and live out of my car some days. This is a huge benefit.
• Obviously the range improvement is massive.
• The headlights seem much better but this may be placebo as I believe them to be the same units right? They are definitely aimed better from the factory. I had the aim my other headlights way up on the P90D. No adjustments needed now.
• When I got my old car AP2 was still in its infancy and inferior to AP1 as far as ping ponging in its lane and whatnot. Those days are obviously long gone. On the interstate for my usage there isn't much difference between the two. AP3 or whatever it is now is better but not by much. On smaller roads such as rural highways that have sharper turns, more elevation changes, etc, the new AP is a revelation. On those roads I would not use AP1 because, in my usage, it was unsafe and had constant disengagements. The disengagements still happen but are much more infrequent and it negotiates the roads so much better. That has been impressive. I don't have FSD and am uninterested. I didn't buy a Plaid to be driven around.
• NVH is much improved. The car is significantly quieter while cruising.
• The struts that open the frunk are ridiculously overpowered. The front hood is violent when it opens, laughably so.
• The frunk is way smaller. The rear trunk feels about the same even though I believe it is slightly smaller.
• The seats are way more supportive. Ventilated seats are to die for.
• Back seat room is improved pretty significantly.
• My 3 year old absolutely loves having his own screen in the back seat so he can watch paw patrol. It is annoying that the only way for him to have sound on those videos back there to my knowledge is to have it playing over the entire car. Hopefully in a future update the sound can be separated into zones with media content from the screen in the back only played in the back seat.
• Straight line performance is obviously silly. From a dig is faster than the P90D but not a world different in that doing repeated launches in either car begins to make me feel queasy. I am a lightweight. The big difference for me is the acceleration from a roll, especially at lower states of charge. It is a different ballgame.
• I don't mind shifting on the screen one bit. It guesses correctly 80% of the time.
• Seeing all of the cameras when backing up and the new blindspot camera when the blinker is on is really nice. We really need a 360 view like Elon promised years ago. The blindspot camera implementation could be so much better. In going back to the theme of the underutilized gauge cluster, it would be so much better if the image were displayed there so it is directly in your line of sight. If Kia has figured this out I bet Tesla can too.
• Air suspension raises and lowers much more quickly and is more consistent in properly "remembering" saved GPS locations for raising.
• Previously my automatic homelink opened my garage door about 30% of the time. I programmed the Plaid in the exact same way and it is over 95%.
• I had a metal roof in the P90D. The alcantara headliner was nice but the glass roof is way better. Kids love it. It is tinted super dark so that except in pretty bright light you cannot really see out. That will be nice in the summer I guess but your view is definitely lessened by it. Electrochromic roof would be really nice and cost effective for such a large piece of glass I am sure. McLaren and Porsche can do it, why not Tesla?
• The car is slower to auto present handles and unlock than the P90D. It often waits when I am right beside it even when I am using the keyfob. P90D would do it 10 feet away or so and as a result you never had to wait on it.
• The blacked out pieces that were chrome previously are a huge upgrade obviously.
• You can feel that wider bodywork when pulling into your garage if you are used to an older, slightly narrower car. Be careful.
• The coat hooks and lighted vanity mirrors are nice.
• The usage of magnets throughout the car to latch things is welcome and elegant.
• The glass distortion at the bottom of the glass in the rear hatch is worse but doesn't really bother me. People that complain about that have never tried to see out the rear of a Lotus.
• The separation of the underfloor areas in the rear trunk is nice so items placed in the side cubby and not rolling into the main central cubby and vice versa.
• My radar detector works much better at detecting forward facing signals. My previous windshield must have had a coating even though I thought only earlier models had that.
• As has been discussed numerous times, the auto wipers are ok but the wipers on the AP1 are far better with a dedicated rain sensor as opposing to the approach of using the cameras in the newer cars. Just use the stupid rain sensor like everyone else does.
• The inductive phone chargers are really handy as are all of the USB C outlets.

Those are all of the stream of consciousness comparisons that I can come up with at the moment. Hopefully it helps someone. I am sure that I am leaving stuff out but the improvements over the older cars are vast and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Solarwind]

Thank you for the great post. I have very similar experience except I have more complaints. I have driven my 2014 P85D 130K miles. Ordered the Plaid Dec 1 picked it up the 22, so it is a 2021, I have 2500 miles on the new car.
Things I like and am impressed with most you have mentioned. The power awesome! The charging speed, nearly 4 time as fast as the old car sitting side by side at charge station. The interior looks and fit and finish great.
The exterior fit and finish sucks. The hatch has a 1/16" gap on left and 1/2" gap on the right. The hood / fronk has a gap tampering from about 1/8" to 1/2" in front, on the left side, right side gap is even. Car looks like it could of been wrecked but there are no rattles. The charge door doesn't close properly . The paint has two spots that appear to be embedded dirt. When we picked the car up the weather was awful and SC was 400 miles. My guess is the paint was not full cured. The paint is also prone to chips, much worse then the old car and the flared wheel wells really take a beating from the front wheels. Tesla has protection on them and it works but it doesn't go far enough up.
Things that have gotten worse. definitely the instrument panel has gone south, not even a odometer, the energy meter is very hard to see and has no reference numbers. The usage information gone, is only available in the trips menu. You mentioned wipers but I found the auto dimming which worked flawlessly on the old car useless on the new one, at least the button is handy for manual operation. The new car would not connect to wifi. Tesla could not help, my internet provider finally got it connected showing a weak signal, the old car never a problem and full signal strength, same location.

 

[Solarwind]

Wow, thanks for the in-depth comparison, @phaphaphooey ! I’ll be trading up from a 2017 75D so it will be an even bigger upgrade for me.

I’ve already been compiling an exhaustive list of all the upgrades I can look forward to, but you included a few I hadn’t heard about, so that’s exciting!

It’s interesting to hear about your Homelink improvements. Mine is really weird - it works 99% of the time automatically when arriving home from down the street but often needs numerous presses to close the door when I’m in the garage or right outside in the driveway. I heard that LED light bulbs in the opener might cause interference, so I’ll have to test that theory (would correlate to my experience since it usually screws up while the opener’s light is still on, shortly after opening the door).

I’m glad to hear about the stronger regen and lack of reduced regen in the cold! I was hoping that would be the case with the new octovalve system!

I’m curious if you’ve noticed any difference in the speed at which the app connects to the car. That’s one of my last annoying issues with my user experience. Sometimes it’ll take 30+ seconds to connect to the car or the preconditioning operation will fail and I’ll have to restart the app. Maybe the newer/faster computer helps with this?

That really sucks about the lack of customization of the instrument cluster. I didn’t know that. Hopefully that’s something that they will add with a future software update (along with adding the blind spot camera in there too).

Do you have more details on the upgraded brake hardware? Is this just compared to previous generation models (2020 and older), or even compared to the 2021 refresh models? I hadn’t heard about this.

 

[Solarwind]

I have the 2014 and the Plaid both on my app at the moment. The P85D takes about 5 seconds, the plaid about 20 seconds

 

[phaphaphooey]

Oh wow, this is such a great post. Thank you very much. I have a 2016 90D and I love it. I made all the retrofit upgrades, Self Driving computer, and the MCU and it did make a difference. But the one thing that I am missing now is the range. How much more range are you having in real life when compared to your 2016 90D?

It is hard to truly say since I just got the car and it is in the dead of winter but the range is significantly higher. The heat pump certainly helps with the consumption when it is cold.

 

[phaphaphooey]

Thank you for the great post. I have very similar experience except I have more complaints. I have driven my 2014 P85D 130K miles. Ordered the Plaid Dec 1 picked it up the 22, so it is a 2021, I have 2500 miles on the new car.
Things I like and am impressed with most you have mentioned. The power awesome! The charging speed, nearly 4 time as fast as the old car sitting side by side at charge station. The interior looks and fit and finish great.
The exterior fit and finish sucks. The hatch has a 1/16" gap on left and 1/2" gap on the right. The hood / fronk has a gap tampering from about 1/8" to 1/2" in front, on the left side, right side gap is even. Car looks like it could of been wrecked but there are no rattles. The charge door doesn't close properly . The paint has two spots that appear to be embedded dirt. When we picked the car up the weather was awful and SC was 400 miles. My guess is the paint was not full cured. The paint is also prone to chips, much worse then the old car and the flared wheel wells really take a beating from the front wheels. Tesla has protection on them and it works but it doesn't go far enough up.
Things that have gotten worse. definitely the instrument panel has gone south, not even a odometer, the energy meter is very hard to see and has no reference numbers. The usage information gone, is only available in the trips menu. You mentioned wipers but I found the auto dimming which worked flawlessly on the old car useless on the new one, at least the button is handy for manual operation. The new car would not connect to wifi. Tesla could not help, my internet provider finally got it connected showing a weak signal, the old car never a problem and full signal strength, same location.

Reading stuff like this before I picked mine up made me scared but so far so good for mine. I am sorry your experience is not the same. I printed out the checklist from the Plaid pickup thread and was prepared to reject the car but the panel gaps/paint/etc have been great so far. The front bumper is ever so slightly misaligned but it isn't noticeable unless you literally measure the tolerances on either side. That is it as far as exterior blemishes go. The paint was in good condition and has been good so far. I have the 19s as I wanted better ride/faster acceleration/more range and as a bonus they seem to not be blasting the rockers as much since the tires are more narrow.

I have a piece of trim on the dash that doesn't line up with the adjoining piece of trim on the passenger side door but I wouldn't have noticed that had it not been brought up on the checklist.

I am still waiting on my mats and cargo cover which is slightly annoying but eh, its Tesla. If everything went smoothly this would be Lexus or something.

I too have the passenger door slam problem. Seems that everyone does.

I have noticed the slightest wind noise at interstate speeds coming from the front little glass triangle on the passenger side front door window.

Still happy as can be pretty much.

 

[cassiri]

Went from 2015 P85D to 2021 Plaid. Agree with all above except I am not impressed with the suspension. I'm hoping software will address it, but my old car was more comfortable somehow. Setting to comfort on the Plaid just makes it bouncy not smooth.
Also the front seats are a step back from Raven in comfort and worse than my old next gen in terms of holding you in place. The air conditioning structure underneath has made them too firm on the bottom and a lack of adjustability is disappointing.
Those are the only real gripes. Everything else is a big step up.
Even the yoke is good/fun. I wouldn't trade it for a regular wheel now.

 

[MrKool]

Wait the new model S has heat pump instead of resistive heat?

 

[DBV1]

Went from 2015 P85D to 2021 Plaid. Agree with all above except I am not impressed with the suspension. I'm hoping software will address it, but my old car was more comfortable somehow. Setting to comfort on the Plaid just makes it bouncy not smooth.
Also the front seats are a step back from Raven in comfort and worse than my old next gen in terms of holding you in place. The air conditioning structure underneath has made them too firm on the bottom and a lack of adjustability is disappointing.
Those are the only real gripes. Everything else is a big step up.
Even the yoke is good/fun. I wouldn't trade it for a regular wheel now.

Agree with you on the bouncy suspension. When I had Tesla look at mine, they said it was normal. Hope that somehow Tesla has a remedy in the future.

 

[2101Guy]

Wait the new model S has heat pump instead of resistive heat?

I thought that in 2021 and beyond, ALL teslas had heat pumps

All Tesla Vehicles Now Have Efficiency-Boosting Heat Pump

After giving the refreshed Model S and Model X a heat pump, Tesla gave all its vehicles this component to improve their energy efficiency on cold days.

insideevs.com

 

[MrKool]

I thought that in 2021 and beyond, ALL teslas had heat pumps

All Tesla Vehicles Now Have Efficiency-Boosting Heat Pump

After giving the refreshed Model S and Model X a heat pump, Tesla gave all its vehicles this component to improve their energy efficiency on cold days.

insideevs.com

not even sure if this is a good thing or bad my 2020 had excellent heating and cooling but all the updates seem to have fix for heat pump or cold weather improvements hopefully they fixed most of the bugs on model 3 test bed

 

[SteveSchweer]

There aren't enough of these threads so I figured I would post one more. I have had my 2016.5 P90D for close to 4 years now and it has been the best non-exotic car that I have owned. I loved it so much that I picked up a 2022 Plaid a few weeks ago. While the new Plaid is impressive in its own right, it is even more so to me because Tesla has truly improved on so many little things from the older Model S cars that an owner that is new to the brand wouldn't appreciate. There are definitely some steps back but it is almost all positive from where I sit. Here is my nonexhaustive list:

View attachment 759750
(left: 2022 Plaid, right: 2016.5 P90D)

• Regen is so much better in every way. It is significantly stronger in all situations and I haven't even tried track mode yet which cranks it up further. The ability of the motors to regen to a stop now instead of only going down to 5 MPH is amazing. I never use the brakes aside from the odd situation in which I have to stop more quickly than anticipated due to some external factor. Also, I haven't read this anywhere else, but the low temp lack of regen is gone. Recently on my old car regen was severely reduced anytime the temp dropped much below 60F and around freezing forget about it. I have driven the Plaid in temps down to 15F or so and have not yet experienced reduced regen due to cold weather. I don't preheat the car but it is garaged at night. Regardless, that is a much welcomed change.
• The new audio system is truly among the best, and might be the best, OEM system I have ever heard. Huge upgrade.
• Fit and finish and perceived quality of the interior is so much better.
• Exterior styling changes make a big difference coming from an old car. The casual observer likely couldn't tell the difference in the same way normal people cannot tell a difference between a new Porsche 911 992 and a 10 year old 991.
• Responsiveness of the new MCU or whatever it is called now is vastly better than the MCU1 but that goes without saying. The utility of the refreshed instrument cluster display is a step back. It is useless compared to the old display in that it lost most of the additional information and all of the customizability of the old screen. It is obvious that its implementation is an afterthought so that Tesla can streamline the functionality between the 3/Y and refresh landscaped MCU in the new S/X as much as possible. Everything is done on the main screen now even though we still have an instrument cluster screen. Would you like to accept a phone call/check energy usage/check your TPMS/see music information/etc? Too bad, you will be using the main screen. So much wasted potential.
• Yoke is a pain in parking lots but otherwise not so bad. It is nice in that you can somewhat rest your hands on top of the tops of the nubs while cruising. I almost prefer it in some instances now. Until I have to make a big turn.
• Capacitive buttons are much worse than the yoke itself. I have gotten used to the blinkers are almost prefer them now. Obviously the horn is unusable now. Also it is very difficult to use the scroll wheels to change music tracks in that it is difficult to move it to the right to skip tracks without also pushing it in and pausing the music. The dedicated audio buttons were so much better in that regard.
• New doors/door handles feel so much more sold when opening/closing the doors.
• Car still makes lots of crazy noises while sitting in the garage but they are different. The operation of the heat pump is louder than the old resistive heat. Performance has been about the same for me.

View attachment 759752
(left: 2016 P90D, right: 2022 Plaid)

• Trunk opens and closes more quietly and is so much quicker.
• No red brakes for a Plaid unless you buy the (still unavailable) CCB upgrade for $20k is silly. The upgrade cost itself is crazy too. Almost any other prestige manufacturer that offers CCBs as an option such as Porsche charge $10k or so for them. $20k is absurd.
• The brakes themselves are better than my P90D. Front calipers are larger. I wish that the rear wasn't a floating caliper as it is an inferior design to the old fixer calipers in the rear.
• For street driving the brakes in stock form are just fine. I have never had any problems with them even after slowing quickly from high speeds. The feel is good but supposedly some brake hardware was changed for 22 as noted in some of the other threads. I am sure they are inadequate for track driving but why someone would want to track an almost 5,000 lb luxury sedan is beyond me.
• Suspension is like butter. I thought the P90D was comfortable and it is but the Plaid is next level.
• The in cabin storage is so vastly improved. It has a big effect upon daily livability. I travel a fair amount and live out of my car some days. This is a huge benefit.
• Obviously the range improvement is massive.
• The headlights seem much better but this may be placebo as I believe them to be the same units right? They are definitely aimed better from the factory. I had the aim my other headlights way up on the P90D. No adjustments needed now.
• When I got my old car AP2 was still in its infancy and inferior to AP1 as far as ping ponging in its lane and whatnot. Those days are obviously long gone. On the interstate for my usage there isn't much difference between the two. AP3 or whatever it is now is better but not by much. On smaller roads such as rural highways that have sharper turns, more elevation changes, etc, the new AP is a revelation. On those roads I would not use AP1 because, in my usage, it was unsafe and had constant disengagements. The disengagements still happen but are much more infrequent and it negotiates the roads so much better. That has been impressive. I don't have FSD and am uninterested. I didn't buy a Plaid to be driven around.
• NVH is much improved. The car is significantly quieter while cruising.
• The struts that open the frunk are ridiculously overpowered. The front hood is violent when it opens, laughably so.
• The frunk is way smaller. The rear trunk feels about the same even though I believe it is slightly smaller.
• The seats are way more supportive. Ventilated seats are to die for.
• Back seat room is improved pretty significantly.
• My 3 year old absolutely loves having his own screen in the back seat so he can watch paw patrol. It is annoying that the only way for him to have sound on those videos back there to my knowledge is to have it playing over the entire car. Hopefully in a future update the sound can be separated into zones with media content from the screen in the back only played in the back seat.
• Straight line performance is obviously silly. From a dig is faster than the P90D but not a world different in that doing repeated launches in either car begins to make me feel queasy. I am a lightweight. The big difference for me is the acceleration from a roll, especially at lower states of charge. It is a different ballgame.
• I don't mind shifting on the screen one bit. It guesses correctly 80% of the time.
• Seeing all of the cameras when backing up and the new blindspot camera when the blinker is on is really nice. We really need a 360 view like Elon promised years ago. The blindspot camera implementation could be so much better. In going back to the theme of the underutilized gauge cluster, it would be so much better if the image were displayed there so it is directly in your line of sight. If Kia has figured this out I bet Tesla can too.
• Air suspension raises and lowers much more quickly and is more consistent in properly "remembering" saved GPS locations for raising.
• Previously my automatic homelink opened my garage door about 30% of the time. I programmed the Plaid in the exact same way and it is over 95%.
• I had a metal roof in the P90D. The alcantara headliner was nice but the glass roof is way better. Kids love it. It is tinted super dark so that except in pretty bright light you cannot really see out. That will be nice in the summer I guess but your view is definitely lessened by it. Electrochromic roof would be really nice and cost effective for such a large piece of glass I am sure. McLaren and Porsche can do it, why not Tesla?
• The car is slower to auto present handles and unlock than the P90D. It often waits when I am right beside it even when I am using the keyfob. P90D would do it 10 feet away or so and as a result you never had to wait on it.
• The blacked out pieces that were chrome previously are a huge upgrade obviously.
• You can feel that wider bodywork when pulling into your garage if you are used to an older, slightly narrower car. Be careful.
• The coat hooks and lighted vanity mirrors are nice.
• The usage of magnets throughout the car to latch things is welcome and elegant.
• The glass distortion at the bottom of the glass in the rear hatch is worse but doesn't really bother me. People that complain about that have never tried to see out the rear of a Lotus.
• The separation of the underfloor areas in the rear trunk is nice so items placed in the side cubby and not rolling into the main central cubby and vice versa.
• My radar detector works much better at detecting forward facing signals. My previous windshield must have had a coating even though I thought only earlier models had that.
• As has been discussed numerous times, the auto wipers are ok but the wipers on the AP1 are far better with a dedicated rain sensor as opposing to the approach of using the cameras in the newer cars. Just use the stupid rain sensor like everyone else does.
• The inductive phone chargers are really handy as are all of the USB C outlets.

Those are all of the stream of consciousness comparisons that I can come up with at the moment. Hopefully it helps someone. I am sure that I am leaving stuff out but the improvements over the older cars are vast and I couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the thoughtful evaluation. I received my Model S LR in December. Like you, I love it with one exception….. the suspension is punishingly harsh. You are violently shaken back and forth by normal undulations in the road, and punched by every bump and pothole. My wife won’t ride in it as it brings on migraine headaches. So, I was intrigued by your description of the ride as “like butter“. I am not alone… a number of other TMC members have the same problem. A common complaint is that the ride in “sport” mode is EXACTLY the same as in “comfort “… there is no perceptible difference. Our problem is how to convince Tesla service that there is something wrong with our cars. It would help if you could elaborate, in objective terms, on the ride. For instance, is the ride obviously different when you switch modes? Can you see any difference in the suspension details like g forces? So far, service is telling us that the suspension is operating normally! Anything you can add to help us would be greatly appreciated. Steve

 

[EvolutionTeʂla]

A follow-up on the Homelink issue… I replaced the LED lightbulbs in my garage door opener with fluorescent bulbs and, sure enough, it fixed all of my Homelink issues. Works perfectly every time now!

 

[Daniel454]

A follow-up on the Homelink issue… I replaced the LED lightbulbs in my garage door opener with fluorescent bulbs and, sure enough, it fixed all of my Homelink issues. Works perfectly every time now!

FYI, they make LED bulbs specifically designed for garage doors, Lowes usually has some 100W Daylight versions in stock.

I was able to import a replacement control board from Europe for my garage door openers, they use different frequencies across the pond and it not only put it in a range outside the (non garage specific) LED light interference but increased overall range as well.

 

[EvolutionTeʂla]

FYI, they make LED bulbs specifically designed for garage doors, Lowes usually has some 100W Daylight versions in stock.

Thanks for the info, that’s great to know! I’ll have to pick up a couple of those (I do miss the nice bright daylight LEDs I had in there before).

 

[Proppilot]

The experiences with the Refresh S cars vary tremendously. I received my LR in September and it was not only my first Tesla, I had never even driven one until a week before delivery when the SC loaned me a MYP to have some fun. I have had a couple of SRS issues (3) that were resolved and I have an intermittent radar with a booked appointment but I absolutely love the car. Back in September the FUD and experiences were minimal as regular deliveries were just starting to flow (I received the first in Ontario and third in Canada) and I must be very lucky. Fit and finish are fantastic and the ride is incredible (suspension and handling). I drive about 120 KM a day. I do hope that you all get your issues resolved as the car, when all is well, is sublime. I love the yoke hands down. I came from an M540 and would take my LR all day and twice on Sunday.

 

[HHHH]

Interesting. Passenger side door on my S is the same way. Let us know what you find out.

Mine does this too, had mobile service come out and adjust, didn't fix it.