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2020 Model S Performance- Front end feels squirrely at higher speeds!

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Good afternoon.

I just picked up my brand new Model S performance with all the add-ons. I love the car BUT... doing about 85-100 MPH on relatively smooth free way onramps, the front-end suspension and the steering wheel feels pretty loose and disconnected from the road, it actually feels a little bit squirrely. I'm used to driving my Porsche 911 Turbo S and my Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, yes those are high performance cars, but this is too right?. I realize that my German cars will feel different than something like this Tesla, BUT... in this new Tesla, I actually feel like I need to slow down because it doesn't feel good to me at all.

I also observed that if you let go of the wheel and accelerate on the open road, it pulls a little bit to the left and when you decelerate it drifts a little to the right. Is that normal?

Has anyone else had this experience and if so, did you return the car or did they fix it somehow?
 
Good afternoon.

I just picked up my brand new Model S performance with all the add-ons. I love the car BUT... doing about 85-100 MPH on relatively smooth free way onramps, the front-end suspension and the steering wheel feels pretty loose and disconnected from the road, it actually feels a little bit squirrely. I'm used to driving my Porsche 911 Turbo S and my Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, yes those are high performance cars, but this is too right?. I realize that my German cars will feel different than something like this Tesla, BUT... in this new Tesla, I actually feel like I need to slow down because it doesn't feel good to me at all.

I also observed that if you let go of the wheel and accelerate on the open road, it pulls a little bit to the left and when you decelerate it drifts a little to the right. Is that normal?

Has anyone else had this experience and if so, did you return the car or did they fix it somehow?
Something is wrong. I have a 2020 MS Performance, 19" wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires. This is not an nimble car by any stretch (at 5,000 lbs that would defy physics), but the steering is very precise and easy to place exactly where you want and the suspension is very stable. On occasion I have pushed the car, but I have never felt that the suspension/steering was "loose" and the car doesn't pull side to side on acceleration or deceleration. My MS does not handle like my Lotus but for a large, heavy sedan it is pretty impressive. Sounds like you have something loose. Be as specific as you can describing when you experience the problem and how exactly it feelsl and make an appointment to have it checked. And stupid suggestion - check your tire pressure.
 
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Hi George,

Thank you for the feedback. I was hoping to hear that there might be something wrong with this one and that they don't all feel like this. I'm going to take one of my friends out for a drive as well, to see if he feels what I felt and how he would best describe it too. Thank God that Tesla allows 7 days or 1000 miles to take the car back if need be. Also, the friendly girl at the Tesla store in Mission Viejo, CA is going to let me come back down there and drive the one I originally drove and see how different that one feels, compared to the one I just signed up for.

Another thought I had, when I picked it up there was a message saying that the car is in some kind of configuration mode, which lasted about 30 minutes or so. You don't think that something in that initial 30-45 minutes of driving it could have caused an issue? Maybe this is is something that can be reset and re-configured? (grasping at straws, I know... I just really want to love this car man. I don't want to have to give it back but I will if I need to)

Jeff
 
Jeff, I hope you find that your car has an easily fixable problem, and it does sound like there is a problem. I have never felt the handling and steering were anything other than stable. Sports car handling, no. Very stable and controllable large sedan, yes. Post your impressions after re-driving the one you took for your test drive.
 
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It will not carve sweepers like a 911, but it still should feel good.
You can set your adaptable shocks to firm handling and that might make it better.
You could also have an alignment issue that is showing up in the corners.

Porsche makes some of the best feeling road cars on the planet. Might just be that in your case, the Tesla will not give the same ultra confident feedback. It is part of the Porsche/BMW/Mercedes/Ferrari DNA>
Those cars use ultra high performance sticky tires that also help impart that feeling.

Might also be somthing that will get more refined in the upcoming Plaid chassis development.
 
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Performance model do you have 21” wheels/tires? My car has been close to the max speed and never felt unstable. Sounds like you’re an observant driver, maybe just getting used to a different car? Have you tried changing steering selection? Ride height? Not sure what the options are new performance models. Hope you find a solution.
 
Good afternoon.

I just picked up my brand new Model S performance with all the add-ons. I love the car BUT... doing about 85-100 MPH on relatively smooth free way onramps, the front-end suspension and the steering wheel feels pretty loose and disconnected from the road, it actually feels a little bit squirrely. I'm used to driving my Porsche 911 Turbo S and my Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, yes those are high performance cars, but this is too right?. I realize that my German cars will feel different than something like this Tesla, BUT... in this new Tesla, I actually feel like I need to slow down because it doesn't feel good to me at all.

I also observed that if you let go of the wheel and accelerate on the open road, it pulls a little bit to the left and when you decelerate it drifts a little to the right. Is that normal?

Has anyone else had this experience and if so, did you return the car or did they fix it somehow?

Hi,

I would check out your wheel alignment as there has been many Tesla owners including myself that have picked up their car brand new and the car was veering to one side. You probably are thinking that a company like Tesla would not let that slip from a QA and QC perspective but when your solely focused on moving units out the door, unfortunately other departments suffer from lack of resources. To add on, I took my car back to Tesla for a wheel alignment and after I noticed there was still something funny, despite having to pay out of pocket, I took the car to a independent shop for a second opinion. Of course, Tesla's specs were way off from what it should have been...... From my personal opinion, its hard for me to trust Tesla SC now a day.

Note, I would request a print out of the wheel specs where ever you have your car aligned.

Good Luck and I hope this resolves your issues.
 
I find the steering quite good for a non - European/Japanese car, but there are occasions where it almost feels as if the autopilot is having a go at steering. Just a slight and temporary deviation from the desired line - hardly noticeable.
 
Hi guys! Thank you all for sharing your input on this. I have my driving settings set as sporty as possible (lowest suspension setting all the time, sport mode for steering and suspension dampening).I also connected to wifi and found that there are no software updates available.

After going back to Tesla and driving the one I originally drove, I found that its handling characteristics are similar to mine at high speeds (what I would refer to as a little bit squirrely, they kind of wander, don't they?). However, that car I just drove today does NOT pull to the left on accelleration, the way mine does (although I will admit, that condition with mine is a slight pull). I also observed on my drive down to the Tesla dealer (in my car) that once I get over 90 MPH there is a butt massage kind of vibration (feels like a wheel balancing issue on the rear wheels, since it's not causing a shimmy at the steering wheel). So now I need to find a reputable tire place with a good balancing machine to confirm whether or not they are out. I have learned that a going to Tesla for any kind of service review will take weeks. I only have a few days left on my return policy.

I find that I am going to have to make a decision pretty darn quickly... not having any fun with this experience at the moment. This is a lot of money and we don't seem to be off to the smoothest start!

Thanks for chiming in guys, wish me luck.
 
OK, kind of disturbing that you experienced the same symptom on both cars. It may be that I just haven't pushed my car that hard but I do think something is wrong with yours. I haven't experienced any of your symptoms. I'm a sample of one (semi-worthless), however, I owned and ran an auto repair shop for 25 years and road tested a lot of cars before and after repairs. I'd like to think I'm overly sensitive to what is going on with a car. Based on your description I would suggest something in the rear of the car is loose. Think of the rudder of a boat. The rear can easily "steer" the car and would certainly lead to a pull on accel and decel and to a loose feeling from the side loading "doing about 85-100 MPH on relatively smooth free way onramps". I would start looking for something loose and shifting in the rear suspension if you brought the car to me with your description of the problem. The real question is do you really want to deal with it. It's a brand new car and it should not be up to you to deal with finding out what is wrong. I'd be tempted to return it if your sales person can't get it into service immediately. Keep us up to date on whatever you find.
 
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I’d say alignment but also, Tesla isn’t Porsche. Handling/feel will never be up to 911 standards even under best of conditions.
My opinion? Model S isn’t the right car for the original poster. May be best to await the roadster or plaid model S
 
Something isn’t right. I’ve had my car up to 155 and it always feels planted. I’ve been over 90 and my car stays. Doesn’t veer at all.

my old p85 had a major alignment issue after having a drive unit replaced. It felt off and would pull to the right. Tesla couldn’t fix it so I took it to a shop in Bellevue and it was much better.