Get Amped Tour: Dallas, Texas 8/18-19

[jerry33]

The trouble comes when a reviewer grades subjective items. All of the readily measured elements of the Model S are excellent. The styling, however, is excellent if you like it, and many of us do. Likewise, some like the "minimalist" interior, while others decry the "spartan" lack of pockets and bins.

That's certainly correct. The subjective parts of a review are subjective.

Statements like, "there's too much chrome" tell me about the author, but nothing new about the car.

That's true too. However, other than the a few points such as the orange peel in the rain gutters (which really surprised me given the finish on the more visible parts), the difficult rear exiting, the outside mirror adjustment (which might not turn out to be a problem), and the complexity of the steering wheel buttons. There wasn't anything that hasn't been said a number of times in other reviews and most likely reading another "acceleration was amazing" review wouldn't add anything to your knowledge about the car either. The time in the car was really just too short to have anything but subjective impressions.

 

[jerry33]

At least for the moment, I'm not intentionally nitpicking. I'm honestly curious what alternatives for street legal, general public sedans you consider more "aerodynamic" and "modern" than the Model S from an exterior styling perspective.

Perhaps I was just expecting something that didn't look like yet another boring Jaguar clone. Jaguar hasn't changed it's basic style since the 1960s. I think we can leave this as one where we agree to disagree. If you ask me which car looks better: Jaguar or Prius, I'd say the Prius looks far better. I'm probably in the minority on this point but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.:smile: And truly, the Model S does look better in person than in pictures--even though I think it could be improved.

 

[pete8314]

Perhaps I was just expecting something that didn't look like yet another boring Jaguar clone. Jaguar hasn't changed it's basic style since the 1960s. I think we can leave this as one where we agree to disagree. If you ask me which car looks better: Jaguar or Prius, I'd say the Prius looks far better. I'm probably in the minority on this point but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.:smile: And truly, the Model S does look better in person than in pictures--even though I think it could be improved.

This is an interesting discussion. I probably don't agree that the Prius looks better, but I do agree that the Model S is like a collage of a few 'premium' brands, so perhaps lacks a unique identity, that, ironically, most of the premium brands have. With Audi & BMW, you can tell what they are just from the headlights. BMW has had a varient of it's 'kidney' grill for ever. Like you say, Jag's have a certain (ealderly, IMHO) look to them. In profile, I don't think the Model S is an iconic design. I think the front 'grill' could be a lot better, more like the prototype, pehaps. But, the point of saying all of this, is that cars are starting to look the same becuase of all the rules and regulations around crash and pedestrian protection. It places tremedous limitations on any car designer to create something truely unique. Plus, Elon has said before that the car needs to apeal to a wide, if somewhat well-off, audience. A conbination of Aston, Jag and Ford will certainly do that. I, personally, would like it more if it was more futeristic, more like the first concepts, but no manufacturer has ever bought out a final model that has all the features and looks of the concepts, becuase it's impractical (safety), most likely expensive, and the marketing people will veto the 'radical' elements.

So, all in all I think it's a pretty good compromise (though less chrome would be nice )

 

[kcveins]

This is exactly why I enjoy (mostly) the forums - reasonable discussion and with some degree of disagreement, but without anyone getting hostile and defensive.

 

[jerry33]

This is exactly why I enjoy (mostly) the forums - reasonable discussion and with some degree of disagreement, but without anyone getting hostile and defensive.

+1. It would be pretty boring if everyone thought the same thing.

 

[brianman]

cars are starting to look the same becuase of all the rules and regulations around crash and pedestrian protection.

That's part of it. The other part is that prioritizing aerodynamics highly adds another set of constraints. I guess we'll have to wait for another street legal sedan with a cd <= 0.25 to have any options besides Prius and Model S to evaluate.

Jerry, are there any other street legal sedans with excellent aerodynamics that come to mind that fit your thinking of 'modern' styling besides the Prius?

 

[jerry33]

Jerry, are there any other street legal sedans with excellent aerodynamics that come to mind that fit your thinking of 'modern' styling besides the Prius?

Well, there's also the new style Honda Insight but that's really just a Prius clone as far as the body is concerned. There may be others, but I don't follow every car made so there could be some exotics. The Pontiac Aztek is almost there. For an SUV it's really modern looking. I might have been tempted to purchase one if it was made by someone other than GM.

For years, the best production aerodynamic cars were the ID and DS series. Note that there were some cars that reported a lower cD than then ID/DS but mostly they only measured airflow over the body shell, not the underneath. Citroen measured the entire car. However, Citroen was limited by the design tools available in the 1950s. (The original ID was first sold in 1955 if I recall correctly.) Much like the Model S, the bottom of the car was flat except for the tailpipe and also like Elon Musk, Andre Citroen told his engineers to design the very best car. What's interesting is that many of the design and mechanical elements that these cars had are still only available on the highest end cars and some are still not available on any car, such as inboard disk brakes and centre point steering. The inboard disk brakes keep road salt and water off of the disks, allow the disks and pads to be very large, and lower the unsprung weight of the car. Both ride and tire wear are improved. Centre point steering allows the centre of the SAI to always be at the centre of the tire--regardless of the suspension position. This improves tire wear and makes steering easier. (Suspension geometry that has to work around the brakes only has centre point steering at one suspension position.)

 

[DrDave]

That's certainly correct. The subjective parts of a review are subjective.



That's true too. However, other than the a few points such as the orange peel in the rain gutters (which really surprised me given the finish on the more visible parts), the difficult rear exiting, the outside mirror adjustment (which might not turn out to be a problem), and the complexity of the steering wheel buttons. There wasn't anything that hasn't been said a number of times in other reviews and most likely reading another "acceleration was amazing" review wouldn't add anything to your knowledge about the car either. The time in the car was really just too short to have anything but subjective impressions.

What's the big deal with some peel on an interior surface? It's not exposed, and 99% of people could care less. This is still a car that is trying to be produced on a large scale, and in a hurry, so what if the reflection of the rain gutter doesn't match the hood or doors, when there are a lot of other things Tesla should be worried about. I only ask b/c this is the second time you've mentioned it in a post.

 

[jerry33]

What's the big deal with some peel on an interior surface? It's not exposed, and 99% of people could care less. This is still a car that is trying to be produced on a large scale, and in a hurry, so what if the reflection of the rain gutter doesn't match the hood or doors, when there are a lot of other things Tesla should be worried about. I only ask b/c this is the second time you've mentioned it in a post.

I wasn't saying it was a big deal, I was just saying that I noticed it. I thought that the paint application procedures sould have eliminated it over the entire surface because they are robotic and not manual.

 

[jerry33]

but I think it's very minor indeed.

So do I.

 

[William13]

Jerry33, I think you are still mourning the loss of Aptera. I am.

However, I am currently driving my 2004 Prius again with my daughter off to college. It is fun, but not refined. This is noticeable after driving a Malibu for 3 years. The even less refined Aptera would not be tolerable after driving the Tesla.

 

[pete8314]

A few random photo's from the event today...

 

[agileone]

Did the White above had a pano roof or a black roof. Anyone has a picture of white with black roof ?

 

[pete8314]

Did the White above had a pano roof or a black roof. Anyone has a picture of white with black roof ?

It was the pano roof.

 

[W.Petefish]

Silver had a body color roof as did blue. Brown and white were both performance and had pano roof.

I tend to disagree with jerry on getting in and out of the Model S. I thought it was a breeze, granted you need to follow similar procedure to getting in and out of other high-end cars as well.

The styling on the model s is not in any conventional sense related to other cars. (although this is coming from the eyes of a science geek.) Mind you that I didn't say that there weren't similarities.

The touch screen was more responsive than in LA. (as alluded to the fact that they went through several FW revisions before getting to dallas.) I think that for most browsing 3G will work great. One of the reps said that 4G would be a future HW upgrade. The Touch screen is running a Tegra 3 and the dash is running a Tegra 2.

I even had a chance to see how the model s plugs in. (although it was raining when all of us were scrambling to the garage while it was coming a flood outside.)

Some people were hinting at the fact that Texas was a major leg of the tour. (I overheard that a bunch of reservations came in while in Texas.)

TM also has some of the video that I had taken during the event. (maybe future promo material.)

 

[pete8314]

Some people were hinting at the fact that Texas was a major leg of the tour. (I overheard that a bunch of reservations came in while in Texas.)

TM also has some of the video that I had taken during the event. (maybe future promo material.)

When I was checking in, there were 2 sets of people that were 'sent by XXXX' ( I don't recall the name) - basically they were trying to get a test drive without having booked, or having a reservation. From the conversation between them and the Tesla folks (who didn't seem to impressed), it wasn't the first time it had happened (this was Sunday). There were a few other people hanging around outside, again, not reservation holders, trying to score a back-seat ride (I had a full load for my drive).

I noticed the GoCam in the White performance model.

 

[bobw]

I resemble that remark. No, I'm not a reservation holder. I didn't get a ride, but I didn't have my heart set on one.

I did get to sit in the back of the white car while it was on static display. I looked out the pano roof, and I got a good long look at the touch screen while the Tesla rep demoed it for a reservation holder.

It's a very pretty car. I didn't care for the brown, but the white and silver were OK and the blue looked great.

Tesla has improved the touchscreen UI immensely. It's not nearly as busy as earlier versions. It's much less distracting.

Thanks again to William for the ride Friday night at the Dallas Makerspace.

 

[stephenpace]

(I overheard that a bunch of reservations came in while in Texas.)

Elon has said for a while now that Tesla doesn't have a demand problem, but outside of the Tesla faithful, few seem to believe him. If these events are any indication, it was clear that if they had a few 'spare cars' at the test drives, they could have sold them on the spot. Of course, you can't do this in Texas at the moment, but it seems that more than a few 'riders' went home and placed orders. When you can place an order and get exactly the car you want in a month, watch out...

 

[pete8314]

Elon has said for a while now that Tesla doesn't have a demand problem, but outside of the Tesla faithful, few seem to believe him. If these events are any indication, it was clear that if they had a few 'spare cars' at the test drives, they could have sold them on the spot. Of course, you can't do this in Texas at the moment, but it seems that more than a few 'riders' went home and placed orders. When you can place an order and get exactly the car you want in a month, watch out...

True. From what I could tell (I'm not a Texas native!), there was some well-monied people at the event (not res holders), along with us normal folk. Irritatingly, during the pre-drive briefing, one of the tables chatted (loudly) through the entire thing. I assume they were res holders, but I got the impression that it was a fairly trivial purchase for them. Either way, disrespectful to just chat through a presentation. The Tesla folks were nothing but professional though.

 

[Krugerrand]

As word spread about the tour, it only stood to reason that non reservationists were going to start showing up and try to beg, borrow, or steal themselves a ride...especially for 'certain' (emphasis on that word) well-heeled people who are used to getting what they want.

I think it's all good and simply shows how compelling the car is. It bodes extremely well for reservations and demand to continue to climb. That's one major point naysayers have had all along...that Tesla could never sell cars after early adopters. Clearly that's been put to bed. Next!