I also definitely noticed that on my testdrive. Slight roll backwards at the stoplight when i let off the brake. Felt very much like i was driving my manual shift car.
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I also definitely noticed that on my testdrive. Slight roll backwards at the stoplight when i let off the brake. Felt very much like i was driving my manual shift car.
Todd Burch
14-Year Member
I asked and in D.C...They were using the Roadster HPCs with their prototype adapter.
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CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
This is super late as a response, and I see Sandlewood answered it already. I'd just like to point out that comparing an M3 to MS is a bit of a mistake in the first place. MS is in the same class as BMW 5 series, which is much chunkier than the 3 Series is (which M3 is a part of). The proper comparison will come with the new Tesla Gen3 platform in 2015 which is targeted directly at the 3 Series.
Pricewise, M3 is the same price as MS60 is, but it's pretty easy to guess that the Gen3 cars, which start at ~$30k, will have a Performance model that will compete directly with M3 in terms of size, speed and price ($60-$70k). Currently 2012 M3 goes 0-60 in 4.8 seconds and will probably go faster than that in 2015. I doubt Tesla will have trouble matching that.
As to the roar of the engine, and fun of shifting gears.. all I can say is that military guys had a deep love of cavalry charges throughout history, and for many of the same kinematic reasons. When a transition occurs between paradigms there are always many people who will prefer the old way, but eventually a machine gun or old age kills those folks off and most people go with what works best.
For the record, I love gas powered performance cars. I can just see a time rapidly approaching where I wouldn't be caught dead trying to actually race an ICE vehicle against an equivalent EV.
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
As to the seatbelts, I just got forced into riding in the back of a 2011 538i a few weeks ago and I had tons of trouble getting the seat belts to work (exactly as was described in the problem report, I got it locked about halfway out and couldn't get it to unlock for several minutes). And thinking back, I can remember many times when that has been true, and in different vehicles as well. I'd be shocked if most people haven't had similar experiences when getting into a new vehicle. Seat belts are finicky things that fade into the background when you aren't paying attention.
The angles in a backseat are completely different than what they are in the front seat, so anyone getting into a back seat for the first time is going to have a higher likelyhood of locking the mechanism and otherwise having a miserable time getting them to work properly. As to what they look like, that is a separate issue :smile:
The door handle breaking is a known issue at this point. One of the cars was reported to be stopped at Freemont(?) with technicians working on the door handle. So either there is some defect in the mechanism or else one of the test vehicles has a broken handle that has never been fixed properly. Either option seems very credible to me. The whole concept is kinda a bold move from an engineering standpoint. I've broken at least 2 door handles in my life, both of which were much simpler, mechanically, than the door handles on Model S are.
At the same time, it might just be a single defective door handle that hasn't been fixed yet (maybe it doesn't stay consistently broken. As a network engineer, I always hated cranky users who would complain about something and then it would fix itself before I ever got there. Makes it hard to find the problem sometimes).
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
I haven't used photoshop in a couple of years, but here is a quick 1 minute tweak to the photo.
Actually, your line placement was quite accurate to have been done by eye from the original washed out image. I guess it helps to have seen it in real life
As to what caused it.. not sure where it is, but I recall someone posting in a recent thread that some kinda gunk had gotten sprayed on the back of the back seats in one of the cars. So either a.) that comment was referring to this bleached out stain as opposed to "gunk" or b.) some gunk got sprayed and the cleaning products used to clean it left this in its wake. Probably someone can ask some of the Tesla minders what the backstory is.
EDIT: LOL, had to delve into the advanced options to figure out how to remove the extra (unneeded) photo
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CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
It's important to note that every car has by this point had hundreds of test drives and probably thousands of people crawling in and out of it, while also being shipped all over the country. Weird things happen under those conditions that might be very unlikely in normal use.
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
You totally nailed it. I just did a quick adjustment layer in CS3 and adjusted the color intensities to highlight the discoloration. Its real (or at least exists in the image) and your outline is near perfect.
Also, if you look at the back of the front passenger seat there might actually be some discoloration there as well. It's likely an artifact (not real), but the coloring there is anomalous and similar to the known problem area.
If the hypothesis is that the discoloration was caused by a cleaning product being applied to the leather, then the spot on the front seat could have happened if the person doing the cleaning was getting in and out of the back seat and placing a contaminated hand or rag on the front seat while they were shifting around. Or it could just be an artifact
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CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
If you look closely at the adjusted photo (in the heavily scrubbed area in the middle of the main oval, at the bottom edge where the leather meets the trunk material) you can clearly see a spatter pattern that shows up as red in the adjustment, indicating a material being sprayed upwards from the trunk and getting onto the leather. The spatter is heaviest at the bottom center, but there are little red dots all over the heavily scrubbed section. The larger purple section surrounding it was contaminated by the cleaning product (from soaking through the material or being lightly wiped), but not scrubbed I would guess.
Based on the evidence in the photo, it might be fair to wonder whether Matt Hardigree has posted anything on Jalopnik in the last few days. Perhaps this car was used to provide an unofficial "test drive" for a reporter who has expressed a certain amount of concern about whether the press has been allowed to properly "experience" the Model S. And anyways, Detroit wasn't that far out of the way in a trip from the West Coast to Washington DC . . . :biggrin:
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I also asked about the presence of a supercharger at the DC event and they said that they were told that it is illegal for them to bring one and use it in Md., where the event was actually held.
One other interesting thing: Maybe he's on this site somewhere, but someone parked their $400,000 Lexus LFA at the test drive (sorry, no pic. It wasn't electric, so I wasn't interested
I have enough trouble swallowing the idea of driving almost $100K around the streets...I'd die of fear driving around a $400K car!
The LFA was gorgeous!
I had a great time at the event and I took my time with the experience. I got there early and I was really impressed that Tesla didn't just bring out hired folks to walk us around the cars with basic information. The employees were legitimate engineers, sales, production specialists etc. I was able to get all my questions answered about traction control and stability control along with getting the wheel specs from Ted B (Tesla Employee) who emailed me back that night with the information. Super nice folks!
As everyone has said, the car is simply amazing to drive. I drove the green Model S with the 19" wheels since I plan to get the 19-inchers. It pulls like nothing else I have ever been in. I used to race cars and now I race motorcycles. My last race car was a 2003 Mitsubishi Evolution VIII with 420hp/385lb-ft AT THE WHEELS. It had a 2.3l stroker motor and a big 50Trim turbo. It pulled like a scalled cat...but it has nothing on the acceleration feel that you get from the Model S. The other thing that was really enjoyable about the Model S is that you are always in the right gear. Whenever you need power you just press the accelerator and, POOF, instant power. There is no auto-tranny "gear hunt" and no manual tranny requirement for heel-toe downshifting or rev-matching. Just smooth, quiet power everywhere!
I loved the car and it will make my wait until 2013 that much more painfull
Video of Washington, DC Get Amped Course
This is a video of the entire Washington, DC Get Amped course.
The DC drive was about seven miles and took around 15 minutes.
The driver here is a commercial pilot and long-time EV owner and provides a pretty informative commentary throughout.
http://youtu.be/8klIXl6el2k
This is a video of the entire Washington, DC Get Amped course.
The DC drive was about seven miles and took around 15 minutes.
The driver here is a commercial pilot and long-time EV owner and provides a pretty informative commentary throughout.
http://youtu.be/8klIXl6el2k
I must say, I am jealous of someone who can own a roadster, a Karma, and a Model S! A tough life, but somebody has to do it! So, enlighten us as to the comparison between the Karma and the Model S. Having driven an early version of the Karma about a year ago, I would assume that the Model S will be your go to car except when you need to drive more than 300 miles and don't want to have to look for chargers, but tell us yourself.
I had a deposit down on the Karma until EPA said that instead of 50 miles of electric range, I should expect 32, and that when driving on gasoline, I should expect to get 20 mpg! Fortunately, I discovered that Model S would be along in less than a year (still hoping!). Sig Performance 667.
I think part of that surprise wasn't even related to Karma vs. something else, but rather "only electric vehicle" household.
Proof that even the innovators aren't "fully transitioned" on the big picture yet.
Here is a link to some pics of the cars at the DC event. Colors there (and NY) were Silver (sorry, no silver pics), Green, Pearl White, Brown and Sunset Red.
Tesla S - PopPopJohns Photos
Tesla S - PopPopJohns Photos
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Hmm... Any chance that atleast some of the standout pics can be uploaded to the forums here?! For those of us outliers who steadfastly stay away from FB?! Please...
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