I'm beginning to think you might be right. His bizarre off the wall comments (I'm still shaking my head at the "Supercharger in my bed" comment which undermines much of what "he" previously said) were alone confounding and not something I would expect from a more level headed, unbiased reviewer. But making a basic mistake about the batteries and claiming they overheat?? This can't be a comment from someone who knows anything about the Tesla. And how many of us actually have our full name as a tagline?
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Ask Me Anything -- Motor Trend's Jonny Lieberman Defends Picking the Benz
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I'm beginning to think you might be right. His bizarre off the wall comments (I'm still shaking my head at the "Supercharger in my bed" comment which undermines much of what "he" previously said) were alone confounding and not something I would expect from a more level headed, unbiased reviewer. But making a basic mistake about the batteries and claiming they overheat?? This can't be a comment from someone who knows anything about the Tesla. And how many of us actually have our full name as a tagline?
The moderators have verified that he is indeed the author of the review in question.
jerjozwik
Active Member
Remember that you did ask for this Jonny. 
You gave a slightly negative review, only because the Model S lost, of the very car and company that this is the fan club of. We all love this car and the company and are defending our territory vigorously.
Thanks for coming by and discussing this with us.
You gave a slightly negative review, only because the Model S lost, of the very car and company that this is the fan club of. We all love this car and the company and are defending our territory vigorously.Thanks for coming by and discussing this with us.
Guys, I think some have been pretty harsh with Jonny. Sure, there were some inaccuracies/should have a 240V in his garage/the S550 uses gas and who cares about interior lights that change colours(BTW this is just some of the comments, I don't think it's heinous you don't own a 240V, not like there was that many EV's to review anyways), but the truth remains that the SonderKlass is basically the master of executive sedans. The fact that Tesla is even mentioned in the same sentence as it let alone better in many ways is amazing! If Tesla can be this close to beating a design that has been perfected over a 60 year period after only 11 years(the development of the MS being much shorter), just think what lies in the very near future for Tesla. I'm a huge Tesla fan, shareholder and I'll be buying one towards the end of this summer but it isn't unreasonable to say the S550 is slightly better. And lets face it, range anxiety doesn't disappear immediately upon receiving your car(according to my MS owning friends and some people on here). Finally, look at the inside of the Merc, now that of the S. I like the more open look and feel of the interior of the Tesla, but there is no doubting that a ride in an S-Class is more comfortable than a ride in a Tesla, which is why many S-Class owners sit in the back and have their chauffeur drive it. Bottom line: the MS looks better, performs better, is just cooler but it isn't outrageous to say 60 years worth of fine-tuning and improvements is still king.
Not sure what your point is with this article? I don't think there is anything in this article that demonstrates that the Model S battery overheats? There is a reference to someone who said they had a motorcycle battery overheating, but....
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I asked a similar question on youtube, but here it is again:
If both the Model S and the S550 were contenders for Car of the Year on the same year, would you have picked the S550 over the Model S? And why?
If both the Model S and the S550 were contenders for Car of the Year on the same year, would you have picked the S550 over the Model S? And why?
jerjozwik
Active Member
im not attempting to be rude but..
"Here was a puzzle. I'd expected the car's non-defeatable stability control was going to be our big problem. Instead, we'd run into a protective measure that restricts the battery's temperature. Frankly, I'm surprised, as Tesla's battery is extremely well-cooled, yet the high power rate was overwhelming it nonetheless"
judging by the registration list for this years refuel TT, im going out on a limb by saying few model s owners take their cars to the track. any temperature related issues that in any way reduce performance of a car in a racing environment is grounds for saying "it overheated"
But if you had continued reading, you'd have read that the conclusion was that it was NOT the battery that was overheating, but the MOTOR (apparently it would take at least 1/2 day of nonstop track driving for the battery pack to warm up in temperature to the point where it might even affect performance, something that really isn't going to happen in any real world driving scenario and not even very likely to happen on a track). As the author of that article acknowledged, the battery pack itself is well-cooled.
So if jonny is relying on this bogus article for support (or at least not bothering to read the analysis rebutting any notion that it was the battery that was overheating), then I'm even more dubious about his credentials as an auto reviewer.
I bet if I put my MS on top of a raging inferno, I could get the battery to overheat, but that wouldn't replicate any realistic driving scenario, including track driving (unless we're talking Le Mans nonstop driving for hours and hours on end).
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jerjozwik
Active Member
ok, be dubious. the guy has been doing a fantastic job reviewing cars ever since i first met him near on 6 years ago. granted he has a unique way of doing it but thats what makes me enjoy reading his reviews.
I'm glad you enjoy his reviews, but if the person posting in this thread purports to be jonny himself, his reviews aren't internally consistent or unbiased and this person certainly isn't open to having a reasoned debate about the issue, despite purporting to invite others to have that debate. Which is fine, as long as they were more honest and upfront about it.
I wouldn't have a problem if he/she just said: "This is my opinion, and nothing anyone says is going to make me change my opinion because I think the S550 is the better car and I don't care what anyone thinks. The S550 is better because I said it's better! Now there!" Because that's the way his comments come across in this thread.
And the two cars are "comparable" because...well, because he says they are. No rationale given.
jerjozwik
Active Member
are we talking about car review or this thread?
if car reviews, what are car reviews if not 100% a persons opinion of a car?
if this thread, his opening statement was that he is here to defend his position.
Actually, since we did the test, it's the battery pack.
2013 Tesla Model S P85+ Long-Term Update 4 - Motor Trend
That's exactly my point! He said he was here to defend his position, but whenever his position was challenged, he (whoever this person is) would revert to comments that were inane or non-responsive, akin to just saying "it's my opinion and S550 is just better and I don't need to defend my position -- so there!" So why start this thread in the first place?? Better that he just started off the thread by saying "I'm not interested in trying to defend my conclusion, because my opinion is the only one that counts. The S550 is just better."
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