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Tommy
Member
Thanks; I missed that my first time around the thread....now if we can get some grey leather interior shots I 'll be the proverbial "snug as a bug"
I drove the non-performance, since that is what I am getting. I thought the acceleration was astounding. When I was getting on the highway entrance ramp, I slowed down considerably to give myself some room, and I got the sense that the person behind me was annoyed. Then when I floored it, he disappeared in an instant! I know the performance model is quicker off the line, but the standard is impressive enough!
steve841
Active Member
No I did not .... but it would be tough to compare. And as my buddy pointed out, you can't drive the best and settle for less. Of course, he's good at spending my money.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
Tommy, I took both today, though I'm no photographer so quality may be crap (I used my iPhone). I don't know how to post them from my iPad, so I have to wait to get in front of a desktop.
I did this 'mistake' when I was shopping for a Golf. I drove a GTI and ended up costing myself $7,000 and who knows how much gasoline. But I do admit my car is fun.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Goofiest legal notice ever (IMO):
Not goofy at all.
The notice says clearly 'hey, we can't talk to you about purchasing because your state law won't let us!'. It's not in legalese, it's easy to understand, and it makes clear that if the customer is frustrated that they can't buy in the store or get answers about purchase process, it's not Tesla's fault. (Though the Tesla rep CAN talk about Arizona's goofy law.)
Hopefully stuff like this will be picked up by the local media & cause some laws to get reviewed. And fixed.
Bardlebee
Member
I think when I visited Houston's Galleria here in Texas they had a similar notice. I hope this law is adjusted for this reason.
NigelM
Recovering Member
@Bonnie: shouldn't the posts regarding Arizona's goofy law be moved to one of these two locations?....
Get-Amped-Tour-Scottsdale-AZ-7-13-7-15
Tesla-Stores
Highly valid subject matter, but kinda irrelevant to Florida or Dania Beach.
Get-Amped-Tour-Scottsdale-AZ-7-13-7-15
Tesla-Stores
Highly valid subject matter, but kinda irrelevant to Florida or Dania Beach.
SCW-Greg
Active Member
Great collection of videos! Really helpful, a nice option to stills. Thanks for the time and work posting them up.
Had my test drive yesterday. I chose to drive a Non-performance car because that's what I intend to purchase, and I also did not want to fall in love with the performance upgrade. I must say that I am totally satisfied with the awesome acceleration from the non-performance, 85kwh car. Not counting the battery upgrade, the money I will be saving on non-performance will pay for all of the other upgrades I intend to get (which is almost everything, except for the 21" tires and the kiddie seats).
I took the advice from the Tesla rep and opted for the longer non-highway route. That was a smart move for a few reasons. I reasoned that there was not much point to just go fast and straight, when I could experience the car on winding roads, bumpy roads, hills, etc. The Tesla folks probably knew, but didn't say, that the nearby highways were swarming with State Troopers handing out speeding tickets like candy. However, the surface roads around the Tesla store and the airport were ignored by the ticket givers. The whole event was well staffed, and very well organized. Thank you Tesla Motors! It was great seeing 5 different cars. That helped me make up my mind on color selection.
The Model S is a dream to drive. I knew it would be fast - it was. I knew it would have great handling - it did.
But here's what I didn't expect:
- The cabin is the quietest I have ever heard. Quieter than Lexus. Quieter than Cadillac. etc, etc.
- The air suspension option is a MUST HAVE. It effectively cushions the cabin from potholes, bumps, railroad track crossings, etc., without feeling bouncy. I don't know how that works, BUT I LIKE IT.
- The infotainment software is Crazy Awesome. You will not get a total appreciation for everything that's there until you've been living with the car for at least a month.
VERDICT - The Get Amped 45 day Tour was a very wise move.
Now I know how to configure my car.
I took the advice from the Tesla rep and opted for the longer non-highway route. That was a smart move for a few reasons. I reasoned that there was not much point to just go fast and straight, when I could experience the car on winding roads, bumpy roads, hills, etc. The Tesla folks probably knew, but didn't say, that the nearby highways were swarming with State Troopers handing out speeding tickets like candy. However, the surface roads around the Tesla store and the airport were ignored by the ticket givers. The whole event was well staffed, and very well organized. Thank you Tesla Motors! It was great seeing 5 different cars. That helped me make up my mind on color selection.
The Model S is a dream to drive. I knew it would be fast - it was. I knew it would have great handling - it did.
But here's what I didn't expect:
- The cabin is the quietest I have ever heard. Quieter than Lexus. Quieter than Cadillac. etc, etc.
- The air suspension option is a MUST HAVE. It effectively cushions the cabin from potholes, bumps, railroad track crossings, etc., without feeling bouncy. I don't know how that works, BUT I LIKE IT.
- The infotainment software is Crazy Awesome. You will not get a total appreciation for everything that's there until you've been living with the car for at least a month.
VERDICT - The Get Amped 45 day Tour was a very wise move.
Now I know how to configure my car.
Yes, I really meant that the situation, the legal constraint, is forcing that goofy pretense of not talking about buying the product. In fact, the Design Studios plug in directly to the purchase software, right there on the wall, if I'm not mistaken!
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
Arnold Panz
Model Sig 304, VIN 542
Had my test drive yesterday as well, and agree with DavidM that the event was very well run, and I really appreciated have five different cars to look at, with everything from a tricked out Performance car (actually, two) to a base interior S with the cloth interior (the Sunset Red) and no pano roof.
I chose the Performance and am glad to be getting it, even though I'm sure the standard is sufficient for acceleration etc. The acceleration and quiet were really phenomenal, and hopefully making the wait worthwhile. I agree also on the air suspension that it's a great feature. One great thing that was suggested in our pre-briefing was to aim towards potholes, bumps etc. to test out the suspension and how well it works. (Un)fortunately, Florida roads are generally pretty smooth, so the only opportunity to do this was on the train tracks on the way back into the store, but it really worked wonders there, and I've driven over those tracks many times. I have several speed bumps in my development, and am really going to get great use out of that air suspension.
A note on creep -- as I laid off the accelerator, the car basically slowed down to a "creep" of around 5-7 mph. Once I tapped the brakes the car stopped immediately, and there was no creep thereafter. Pretty cool. My Tesla co-pilot volunteered to switch my settings mid-drive (he said there was only one that you had to be completely stopped to switch -- I think it was the air suspension but could be wrong about that). I much preferred the sport mode with the steering than standard, which felt way to wishy-washy for such a sporty car, and I definitely did not like the lower level of regen. Regular regen worked perfectly, and after 2 minutes I was totally used to not hitting the brake pedal.
I really want to give kudos to Graham, our new store manager in Florida. We must be doing something right, because both Will, and now Maria, have been promoted after gracing us with their presence here. Graham seems like another great Tesla ambassador. He did a phenomenal job of laying out the route -- to the point where we even went up and down a fairly steep hill (almost impossible to find in flat Florida) that really showed off the torque, not to mention all the great turns, and relatively anonymity of the side streets on the route so we could speed up and slow down virtually at will. Here's a photo of the route (I hadn't seen this posted yet):
A couple of other tidbits -- they're going to start producing the 60 kWh battery pack before year end, though somehow as they move through the list, people choosing 85 kWh packs will get their cars earlier in the queue than otherwise. My buddy who was there has a reservation around P4000, and was told he should get his car by year-end (1000 Sigs plus 4000 Rs and Ps = 5000, but with all of the cancelations and upgrades to Sigs, there's plenty of spaces in the P line that they thought he'd be fine -- latest delivery for him would be early January). And apparently Sergey Brin and Larry Page from Google got their Founders cars not too long ago and love them! One of them sent a very nice congratulatory note to Elon. That's good to hear!
Last but not least, the highlight of the event for me was that a very nice guy asked if he could put this gigantic box into the car I was going to test drive before I went out. I quickly realized what it was and blurted "You're South Florida Author!" and started yammering with him about his opportunity console, to which both our wives promptly rolled their eyes at us :redface::tongue: He was extremely nice and obviously I gave him all the time he needed to check the fit of his prototype. I have to tell you -- it looked phenomenal! Those who are unhappy with the storage etc. are really going to love what he's done. My wife is already negotiating to help get his inevitable business off the ground because I think he's going to sell a lot of them :wink::biggrin:
BTW, a couple of Tesla employees took pictures of the model as well -- they were clearly excited to be seeing it in person as well, and were very supportive of SoFlaAuthor's efforts. That was really cool to see! I also cut off his face on purpose in case he didn't want his face all over the internet
Anyway, I'm posting my pictures below, most of which are of the green car, the gray interior and the opportunity console prototype. It was very sunny when I took these, so the car looks pretty good, but the opp console was tough to get a good picture of because of the shadows. There's one surprise at the end -- a prototype of something that an engineer in working on in Palo Alto. I already told the Tesla rep who had it that I want to place an order immediately!
I chose the Performance and am glad to be getting it, even though I'm sure the standard is sufficient for acceleration etc. The acceleration and quiet were really phenomenal, and hopefully making the wait worthwhile. I agree also on the air suspension that it's a great feature. One great thing that was suggested in our pre-briefing was to aim towards potholes, bumps etc. to test out the suspension and how well it works. (Un)fortunately, Florida roads are generally pretty smooth, so the only opportunity to do this was on the train tracks on the way back into the store, but it really worked wonders there, and I've driven over those tracks many times. I have several speed bumps in my development, and am really going to get great use out of that air suspension.
A note on creep -- as I laid off the accelerator, the car basically slowed down to a "creep" of around 5-7 mph. Once I tapped the brakes the car stopped immediately, and there was no creep thereafter. Pretty cool. My Tesla co-pilot volunteered to switch my settings mid-drive (he said there was only one that you had to be completely stopped to switch -- I think it was the air suspension but could be wrong about that). I much preferred the sport mode with the steering than standard, which felt way to wishy-washy for such a sporty car, and I definitely did not like the lower level of regen. Regular regen worked perfectly, and after 2 minutes I was totally used to not hitting the brake pedal.
I really want to give kudos to Graham, our new store manager in Florida. We must be doing something right, because both Will, and now Maria, have been promoted after gracing us with their presence here. Graham seems like another great Tesla ambassador. He did a phenomenal job of laying out the route -- to the point where we even went up and down a fairly steep hill (almost impossible to find in flat Florida) that really showed off the torque, not to mention all the great turns, and relatively anonymity of the side streets on the route so we could speed up and slow down virtually at will. Here's a photo of the route (I hadn't seen this posted yet):
A couple of other tidbits -- they're going to start producing the 60 kWh battery pack before year end, though somehow as they move through the list, people choosing 85 kWh packs will get their cars earlier in the queue than otherwise. My buddy who was there has a reservation around P4000, and was told he should get his car by year-end (1000 Sigs plus 4000 Rs and Ps = 5000, but with all of the cancelations and upgrades to Sigs, there's plenty of spaces in the P line that they thought he'd be fine -- latest delivery for him would be early January). And apparently Sergey Brin and Larry Page from Google got their Founders cars not too long ago and love them! One of them sent a very nice congratulatory note to Elon. That's good to hear!
Last but not least, the highlight of the event for me was that a very nice guy asked if he could put this gigantic box into the car I was going to test drive before I went out. I quickly realized what it was and blurted "You're South Florida Author!" and started yammering with him about his opportunity console, to which both our wives promptly rolled their eyes at us :redface::tongue: He was extremely nice and obviously I gave him all the time he needed to check the fit of his prototype. I have to tell you -- it looked phenomenal! Those who are unhappy with the storage etc. are really going to love what he's done. My wife is already negotiating to help get his inevitable business off the ground because I think he's going to sell a lot of them :wink::biggrin:
BTW, a couple of Tesla employees took pictures of the model as well -- they were clearly excited to be seeing it in person as well, and were very supportive of SoFlaAuthor's efforts. That was really cool to see! I also cut off his face on purpose in case he didn't want his face all over the internet
Anyway, I'm posting my pictures below, most of which are of the green car, the gray interior and the opportunity console prototype. It was very sunny when I took these, so the car looks pretty good, but the opp console was tough to get a good picture of because of the shadows. There's one surprise at the end -- a prototype of something that an engineer in working on in Palo Alto. I already told the Tesla rep who had it that I want to place an order immediately!
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Bardlebee
Member
I would purchase one of those consoles. Though I love the minimalist view of Tesla, a bit more space would be nice. Especially if the console just sat in there and you could remove it by just lifting it or unhooking something.
EDIT: Nice pics by the way and thanks for the descriptions!
EDIT: Nice pics by the way and thanks for the descriptions!
NigelM
Recovering Member
Great pics and thanks for the observations Arnold. I'd like one of those covers in Sig red for my iPhone 4s please!
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