FlashBack: Roadster first impression video by Drivers Republic

[wiztecy]

Wish there was a video section for the Roadster section.

Anyways, came across this Drivers Republic video the other day about their first impressions on the Tesla Roadster when it was released. I really like this guy, he's actually very honest, smart, articulate, and understands cars pretty well by feel. He noticed two things on the Roadster, one was the horrible braking. That the tiny Elise brakes on the Roadster were struggling to stop the Roadster from 80MPH, something that was nothing for the Elise to do. Second was handling, that the weight has made the car less agile compared to the Elise but he understood that. I'm sure that if he drove at night he would have also said that the halogen headlights are just horrible, beyond horrible! Curious what his impression would have been if he had the CarboTech brake pads and the Nitron/Bilstein adjustable suspension installed. He did have the pure excitement of what the future should will and should turn out to be. A true automotive enthusiast to say the least.

 

[Jackyche]

I find it amusing that early on, pretty much all the Roadster reviewers comment on how "silent" the car is. And how did they record his voice while driving with the top down without the 90db of wind noise?

 

[AltPowr]

That's Chris Harris - he does most of the driving on the /Drive videos on YouTube, and they recently got picked up on television as well. Yeah, I love his driving reviews, he is never afraid to hang the tail out in a car on the track, or even on a mountain road, which just looks insanely scary to me.

 

[ecarfan]

It's fun to watch that video, which must be at least 6 years old, and see how blown away Harris was by the Roadster. There is one major point that Harris failed to describe: the pleasure and simplicity of "one pedal" driving. He talked briefly about Regen braking but he did not point out how regen greatly reduced the amount of time your right foot has to spend on the brake pedal and how it makes the driving experience simpler and more direct.

Although he only had the car available to him for three hours, I'm sure he quickly came to appreciate the beauty of one pedal driving, but he did not convey it in the video.

To his credit, he clearly did grasp the fundamental advance the Roadster represented.