Big car....

[Wol747]

Living in Australia I am fortunate to have, in the main, plenty of space around a car. (Except over Spit bridge in Sydney, where I swear the 3 lanes are each narrower than a bike).

The M S is a big car - how do folks in the UK find it as regards normal driving?

 

[gangzoom]

Very easily . Our X is our family hack car, its taken every where. 45k miles in, never had an issue with size, washed it last weekend not even a single parking dent!!

 

[squarepeg77]

Model S feels pretty big for me - my last car was a Prius and S is huge in comparison.

I find it fine in normal driving and actually doesn’t seem too big in terms of handling. But I am careful when manoeuvring (poor turning circle, long bonnet) and super cautious in multi-storey car parks.

Even in normal supermarket car parks the S is hanging over the front / back of the parking bay slightly and uncomfortably close to other cars. I try and park out of the way...

 

[Wol747]

>>Even in normal supermarket car parks the S is hanging over the front / back of the parking bay slightly and uncomfortably close to other cars. I try and park out of the way...<<

Thanks, folk. Having moved out here some 15 years ago I did wonder how it behaved in the Old Country with narrow lanes, small parking spaces etc. The turning circle was a worry: I had a Honda CR-V until last week which has a very small and intuitive turn, my wife's Integra turns like a battleship and from the look of the M S it doesn't appear to be much different!

Then there's the ride height - some of the underground parking garages in Sydney have quite extreme turns and level changes from steep slopes to flat.

I guess it's a first world problem....

 

[iconic_tb]

I find my S to be quite large for UK roads, especially in older towns where you have narrow roads and cars parked left right. Also there were some places around here that imposed width restrictions at their parking entrance (e.g. IKEA Tottenham). Quite frankly it was 1cm from each side with mirrors folded on S. They have recently made them wider so all good now but still I find it a bit too large. Switching to 3 next week.

 

[Wol747]

I find my S to be quite large for UK roads, especially in older towns where you have narrow roads and cars parked left right. Also there were some places around here that imposed width restrictions at their parking entrance (e.g. IKEA Tottenham). Quite frankly it was 1cm from each side with mirrors folded on S. They have recently made them wider so all good now but still I find it a bit too large. Switching to 3 next week.

Interesting!

I've just received my delivery pickup date - it says it's a Model 3 so I suppose I'll be within my rights to take one and get a refund!

 

[Lokolo]

Theres a 3 and an S that park in my station car park and the S overhangs and just about fits. But I would be concerned about parking next to it, cars either side will struggle to open their doors.

The 3 looks fine.

 

[Mark_T]

The S is only about 4" wider than the 3 and the 3 is the same width as a Jaguar XE so it is not exactly narrow either.

I've had no issues with my S, you just have to be more careful around width restrictions and multi-storey car parks, but none of my other recent cars were small either so it is not exactly a new feeling for me.

 

[LukeT]

It's a big car but not unusually so. My previous car was a mondeo which is about the same size. We also have a VW Transporter, similar width (and probably length too) again.

I doubt you'd find an area of the country where you're more affected by narrow lanes than here in Devon. A smaller car is obviously a different beast in that scenario but if you're already used to a big car you'd be OK with an S I think.

In places like multi storeys the height isn't going to be a concern but how much the rear wheels cut in on a tight bend might be. You do have to take care.

Nose does overhang parking spaces a little but using the camera to back right in tight helps.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Even the 3 sticks out in the office car park next to the average car.. the S is bigger but not unreasonably so.

I hear there are places the X can't go because it's so big...

 

[Wol747]

Very helpful replies - thanks guys.

 

[Brunel]

Bigger than ideal but 4.5yrs later no major problems. Parking it is probably the easiest of all the cars due to the high quality camera and sensors, except I still struggle to park dead-straight between lines and multi-storey car-parks can be a right nuisance (entrance and pillars). You also drive past an on-street parking space thinking I can get in there and then realise just how tight it is and if you do manage to get it in you worry about the cars in front and behind bumping you when they get out.

 

[cezdoc]

I'd echo the above about width and turning circle - for me this mainly impacts parking: tighter spots can't be used any more and I still get caught out by the length the car needs to parallel park (auto park helps though). I too moved from a Prius which was narrower and shorter. My S is on coils and I haven't noticed a particular issue with ground clearance. If you have air suspension you can set it to high and you should be fine.

The other thing I'd note is that the doors are quite thick - the internal arm rests (with no storage!) mean that you have to open the door a reasonable amount before a gap that even skinny me can squeeze through. Summon can help with this (but then I worry what drivers in adjacent parking spots will do). The fact that the windows are frameless can also help getting in and out of a tight door opening.

That said I'm 4 years in and managing fine, I don't think the MS is any worse than many other big cars out there, and smaller than a (UK-sized) pickup truck for example.