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Finally took a big gulp out of the Kool Aid
- Thread starter rraj2k81
- Start date
kaimanson
Member
Test drive is key, one of the reason legacy stealerships always make sure you test drive the car, so that you fall in love with the car. I placed an order for a M3 RWD after driving a M3 LR and ride on a MYP, mainly because it is within my budget. I read about the standard audio and the slow acceleration compared with the LR. finally I was able to test drive one recently at the Aventura FL store, and I can confirm I'm happy with my choice (RWD). Research is also an important fact, if you can't test drive, at least visit a supercharge station and chat with those owners willing to share there thoughts, check your local Facebook tesla group. Enjoy the MS!
Your Tesla wheels are 255/45/19. If you had lower profile tires, like what you had on your S4, it would make your steering more responsive, noticeably quicker.
12Pack
Member
To the OP - does your 2011 B8 S4 have electric steering then? I think that's the year they first got them.
Fact is - there is no electric steering system that can match hydraulic for feel. They are all just various level of crap in that regard so far, including Porsche and Ferrari. I also have a performance car with hydraulic steering and one with no assist at all. I'd never consider a car with electric steering to be a driver's car anyway. But then that's not why I have the Tesla - its a relaxed daily driver / family hauler with effortless straight line pace.
Fact is - there is no electric steering system that can match hydraulic for feel. They are all just various level of crap in that regard so far, including Porsche and Ferrari. I also have a performance car with hydraulic steering and one with no assist at all. I'd never consider a car with electric steering to be a driver's car anyway. But then that's not why I have the Tesla - its a relaxed daily driver / family hauler with effortless straight line pace.
Yeah, tires are next in my list of upgrades. I want to go 20s with some summer performance tires. But with a heavy car, I'm not sure if I want to do low profile though. One of the reasons why I didn't get the 21s.
But I do like how the 19s with the Aero covers look, and it goes well with the overall look of the Model S.
So, I am trying to decide between the two options.
Yeah, my B8 has electric Steering as it comes with Audi Drive Select with Dynamic Steering mode. With Dynamic mode, the steering stiffens, and the feel becomes very direct and has a lot of feel for me.
But I agree this is not a track type driver vehicle. This is more a relaxed daily driver/hauler, and that is 90% of my use case. I just wish they could tune the steering to tighten it up a little. I mean they did a really good job with the M3 steering.
I do believe that if they were to make a standard steering for the Model S, it would improve the steering/driving feel of this car. I am considering getting one of those aftermarket steering wheels for the S. Will see.
So have driven close to 6500KM since I got the S and this car is making me appreciate it and enjoy it a bit more than I had hoped I would.
One of the biggest reasons is, that after a couple of SC visits, all the interior creeks and squeaks are gone to the point where the interior feels tightly put together and feels nice being in the car. The ANC still does nothing about road noise, but the audio takes care of this.
There is still an outstanding issue, where I have a rubbing/squeaking noise coming from the suspension every time I go through bumps or elevations slowly. SC diagnosed it to the battery skid plate which is on order for a replacement. Hopefully this will eliminate all the noises from the car.
I have always believed that this is a Grand Touring type vehicle and does this very well. So commuting, road trips and being stuck in traffic feels less stressful. Not sure if it's just a Model S thing, but I can appreciate it with this car especially with AP engaged. My initial complaints about the seat are not there anymore. Even though the seat is not deep enough, or the bolsters are not curvy enough, for cruising they are comfortable. My S4 seats are still much better for spirited driving and feel more comfortable, but I can live with these seats.
This is also where the yoke comes into its element and the only time, I can appreciate it. For HWY driving/cruising the yoke just works and feels very natural. Between the giant front windshield, the yoke, cruising with this car, especially now during fall makes you enjoy that front view.
That doesn't mean I like the yoke; it is still a solution for a problem that does not exist. Outside of HWY driving/cruising, the yoke actually makes the car feel bigger than it is and makes driving the car feel clumsy.
With the recent update to the navigation which includes congestion indication and alternative routes, I can actually drive with the Tesla navigation without having to rely on Waze or Google Maps.
Even though this car is winning me over, there are things that need improvements
1. Tesla needs to figure out a better way to activate the horn. The horn button is atrocious for emergency purposes.
2. The UI is not very intuitive or user friendly when driving. Even though I have setup controls in such a way that I can easily access climate controls and media options, interfacing with the many options is still very unintuitive and clumsy, especially when playing USB media.
I wish when playing folders through USB, when one folder finishes it would automatically play the next folder. Also, I wish it would have an 'Up Next' track and folders choice when playing USB media like it does with all the streaming media platforms (Spotify, Tidal).
There is no quick way to go through your favorite radio stations, unless you go to the full media window. I wish the interface would display your favorite radio stations in one of the minimized/smaller media views.
3. This car needs Drive Modes - Or at least user customizable drive mode profiles. It's a pain to go into the individual settings any time I want to change driving dynamics based on where or how I am driving.
4. While the audio system is loud and clear, it just does not have the warmth (cannot explain this) that I get from the Bang and Olufsen system in my Audi (I have played with all the options with the Audio settings). I also wish the volume control would have more granular increases/decreases. I miss the infinite volume scroll option in my Audi.
5. I find the seat heating is not strong enough even with the highest setting.
One of the biggest reasons is, that after a couple of SC visits, all the interior creeks and squeaks are gone to the point where the interior feels tightly put together and feels nice being in the car. The ANC still does nothing about road noise, but the audio takes care of this.
There is still an outstanding issue, where I have a rubbing/squeaking noise coming from the suspension every time I go through bumps or elevations slowly. SC diagnosed it to the battery skid plate which is on order for a replacement. Hopefully this will eliminate all the noises from the car.
I have always believed that this is a Grand Touring type vehicle and does this very well. So commuting, road trips and being stuck in traffic feels less stressful. Not sure if it's just a Model S thing, but I can appreciate it with this car especially with AP engaged. My initial complaints about the seat are not there anymore. Even though the seat is not deep enough, or the bolsters are not curvy enough, for cruising they are comfortable. My S4 seats are still much better for spirited driving and feel more comfortable, but I can live with these seats.
This is also where the yoke comes into its element and the only time, I can appreciate it. For HWY driving/cruising the yoke just works and feels very natural. Between the giant front windshield, the yoke, cruising with this car, especially now during fall makes you enjoy that front view.
That doesn't mean I like the yoke; it is still a solution for a problem that does not exist. Outside of HWY driving/cruising, the yoke actually makes the car feel bigger than it is and makes driving the car feel clumsy.
With the recent update to the navigation which includes congestion indication and alternative routes, I can actually drive with the Tesla navigation without having to rely on Waze or Google Maps.
Even though this car is winning me over, there are things that need improvements
1. Tesla needs to figure out a better way to activate the horn. The horn button is atrocious for emergency purposes.
2. The UI is not very intuitive or user friendly when driving. Even though I have setup controls in such a way that I can easily access climate controls and media options, interfacing with the many options is still very unintuitive and clumsy, especially when playing USB media.
I wish when playing folders through USB, when one folder finishes it would automatically play the next folder. Also, I wish it would have an 'Up Next' track and folders choice when playing USB media like it does with all the streaming media platforms (Spotify, Tidal).
There is no quick way to go through your favorite radio stations, unless you go to the full media window. I wish the interface would display your favorite radio stations in one of the minimized/smaller media views.
3. This car needs Drive Modes - Or at least user customizable drive mode profiles. It's a pain to go into the individual settings any time I want to change driving dynamics based on where or how I am driving.
4. While the audio system is loud and clear, it just does not have the warmth (cannot explain this) that I get from the Bang and Olufsen system in my Audi (I have played with all the options with the Audio settings). I also wish the volume control would have more granular increases/decreases. I miss the infinite volume scroll option in my Audi.
5. I find the seat heating is not strong enough even with the highest setting.
Have you set up additional driver profiles, with your different settings for driving dynamics??? Does this not somehow address this need?
That's a good point. I can try creating drive profiles via the driver profiles.
I am going to give that a try. Thanks.
The only issue I see with this is having to create multiple driver profiles but maintaining the same steering, seat positions and front screen settings.
I'm not set up a new profile recently, but my memory is that it will start off by using your current settings. So go into your base profile, then create profile 2 off of that. Customize profile 2 with the few changes you need and save it.
Now go back to your base profile. Start the process again and create profile 3. Same drill, customize you want and then save.
Only limitation as I recall is a max of 10 profiles, but it's possible that's changed since I played extensively with setting up various profiles on my mid-2016 MS90D.
Yeah, I am hoping that it retains the settings from one profile to another. Once I give this a try, I will report back.
beatle
Active Member
Did you ever change out your wheels and tires? I went from the stock 19s with LRR MXM4s to 20s with A/S 3+ tires and the difference was night and day. I've taken my car on the Blue Ridge Parkway with both sets. With the range-oriented tires and 19s, the car was kind of wallowy with low cornering limits. With the 20s and the A/S 3+ tires I could really hustle it up the mountain. Everything felt very connected and well planted. For reference my car has the performance plus suspension which I hear is pretty close to the newer adaptive suspension on the refresh.
Not the ideal solution but it achieves what I want.
As you mentioned it does retain all the setting from one profile to the other.
I am planning on going 20s for next summer. But I am glad to hear the 20s tighten the handlings, because I feel like 20s would be the best balance between comfort and sporty performance.
You also have the 19 inch wheels. The Model S is a heavy car so the sidewalls flex a lot before they load up enough on the 19's to make a steering direction change. You can try adding more air to stiffen the sidewalls up a bit to see how that feels. My 85D steering is immediate on the 21's and 50psi of air and I came from driving manual sports cars too.
Edit: didn't see the wheels were already discussed!
Edit: didn't see the wheels were already discussed!
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