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Comparison: VIN 15k P85+ vs VIN 62k S85

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In a loaner S85 today so thought I'd write up some differences I noted, good & bad, compared to my older P85+.

My P85+ is a July '13 car. No parking sensors, no autopilot HW. 11k miles. With it being a "+" it has 21" wheels and air.
Loaner S85 has all the latest HW. 1k miles. Also had 19" wheels and coils.

Both cars have software 6.0, so I was not able to test adaptive cruise on the loaner. Temp was 37F and roads were dry.

Things I liked about the S85:


  • Door sills look nice and high class. My older car didn't come with it.
  • Dash trim above screen is even. Mine is a bit crooked.
  • No balloon squeal during heavy acceleration.
  • New turn signal stalk location is an improvement.
  • Speed assist mostly works. It displayed "20 mph" in school zones even when they were not active, though.
  • Parking sensors worked and they haven't annoyed me yet.
  • Acceleration was perfectly adequate. During normal driving it didn't feel any less powerful than my P85+. Only noticed the difference when I floored it.

But there were also things I didn't like:


  • Steering was totally numb and way too light even in "sport" mode. Part 19" wheels I guess, but also lack of + package? Did not care for the steering at all.
  • New column and controls look cheaper. Hard to put my finger on it why that is. Maybe the block off plate on the turn signal for the buttons Tesla doesn't use? Also the park button isn't as nice as the old one.
  • The new electro-mechanical brakes have less feel and were over-boosted for me.
  • At certain speeds there was a low frequency humming/thrumming noise. Due to coils, maybe? Or tires?
  • Also at certain speeds there was what sounded like gear whine. The bad part was the noise came at steady speeds.
  • Is the seating position higher in the new cars? I felt more like I was sitting ON the car rather than IN it.

So a mixed bag for me.
 
In a loaner S85 today so thought I'd write up some differences I noted, good & bad, compared to my older P85+.

My P85+ is a July '13 car. No parking sensors, no autopilot HW. 11k miles. With it being a "+" it has 21" wheels and air.
Loaner S85 has all the latest HW. 1k miles. Also had 19" wheels and coils.

Both cars have software 6.0, so I was not able to test adaptive cruise on the loaner. Temp was 37F and roads were dry.

Things I liked about the S85:


  • Door sills look nice and high class. My older car didn't come with it.
  • Dash trim above screen is even. Mine is a bit crooked.
  • No balloon squeal during heavy acceleration.
  • New turn signal stalk location is an improvement.
  • Speed assist mostly works. It displayed "20 mph" in school zones even when they were not active, though.
  • Parking sensors worked and they haven't annoyed me yet.
  • Acceleration was perfectly adequate. During normal driving it didn't feel any less powerful than my P85+. Only noticed the difference when I floored it.

But there were also things I didn't like:


  • Steering was totally numb and way too light even in "sport" mode. Part 19" wheels I guess, but also lack of + package? Did not care for the steering at all.
  • New column and controls look cheaper. Hard to put my finger on it why that is. Maybe the block off plate on the turn signal for the buttons Tesla doesn't use? Also the park button isn't as nice as the old one.
  • The new electro-mechanical brakes have less feel and were over-boosted for me.
  • At certain speeds there was a low frequency humming/thrumming noise. Due to coils, maybe? Or tires?
  • Also at certain speeds there was what sounded like gear whine. The bad part was the noise came at steady speeds.
  • Is the seating position higher in the new cars? I felt more like I was sitting ON the car rather than IN it.

So a mixed bag for me.

Interesting. My July '14 P85+ has been in the service center for a few days, and I have a recent S85 loaner with the autopilot hardware. I'd echo many of your observations, and add a few of my own.


  • The driver assist features seem to work as advertised. It picks the correct speed (I've not drive through a time-dependent school zone though), and displays the warning sign on the driver's display when the speed limit (+offset) is exceeded. I guess I drive close to or slightly over the limit pretty much all the time. I found the constant nagging pretty distracting, so I turned it off. The lane departure vibration is pretty subtle, and useful if you stray too close to the lines. I've left that function on.
  • I do like the new stalk positions. That feels more natural to me than the turn indicator below the cruise stalk in my P+.
  • The new electromechanical brakes seem overly aggressive at low speed. A couple of times, bringing the car to a complete standstill resulted in a solid "jerk" even though I was not standing on the brake pedal hard. I guess that's consistent with your over-boosted observation.
  • The S85 seems overall more "noisy" -- more road noise, more gear whine...

A mixed bag for me too. While I could not try the TACC (firmware 6.0 in the S85 loaner), I don't believe I would spring for a new car with the driver assist hardware. I really love my P85+. Call me an old-timer, but I simply love driving, in full control of the vehicle. I still have a 4-year old 6-speed V8 hard-top convertible BMW M3 in the garage, which gets a solid run from time to time when my wife "steals" the Tesla.
 
yes and I don't like the higher seats at all.
They've been raised a few times, I believe. My 25k sits higher than the Sigs I've sat in, and reports here say the newest seats are even higher than that. We've been on a steady upwards march.

Your seating position comes into play, though, too. That makes direct comparisons difficult. The farther back you sit, the higher your minimum seat height. Or at least that's how it is on mine. I sit slightly closer than I'd prefer so I can sit lower.
 
Interesting... I've been planning on having next-gen seats retrofitted when (and if) possible. But if they make me sit higher than I'm having second thoughts. The loaner didn't have next gen seats though, so I don't know how high they sit?

I lowered the seat all the way and still didn't like the seating position.

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how about car smell? the '14 loaner I had smelled very different than my car.
I kind of disliked the new smell of the ionizer system (at least that was my guess at what makes the car smell funny a bit?)
almost smelled like a spa or ozone-ish

Thanks for mentioning that! Yes, when I first got in it I thought it smelled weird. Not bad, just weird. I didn't particularly like it, but maybe if I got used to it I'd like it more.
 
I had my passenger seat replaced late last year due to a 'bad' spring and the new P seat is still just as low as the old one was... which made me wonder if maybe the rail was changed? I would have thought that a new seat would sit higher but it didn't. (it does have a pocket in the front like my drivers seat! not sure when they made passenger seats w/ pockets? )

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Thanks for mentioning that! Yes, when I first got in it I thought it smelled weird. Not bad, just weird. I didn't particularly like it, but maybe if I got used to it I'd like it more.

I kind of didn't mind the smell(thought it was like being in the lobby of a spa) until my wife started complaining, then I got my car back and it smelled so much better
 
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I love threads like this. Thank you :) I have no desire to upgrade to a D between all the quirks, autopilot nanny BS, and loss of the frunk. Doesnt sound like the new cars are dramatically better in overall quality that the 2013's.