Highland test drives

[Oxid8ter]

It certainly doesn't correctly anticipate the direction you want to drive in. I pulled out of a parking space in a car park and pulled up to the car in front. I stopped and expected the car the reverse back when I next applied power. It didn’t - it would have just moved forward and hit the car in front.

I feel this has been misrepresented/badly explained by Tesla. It's not always on, it only predicts the first time you get in the car. There is a Rory Reid review on Auto Trader's YouTube where he demonstrates how it works quite well l.

I think (even though the buttons likely are not better) after having stalks X amount of years it's going to take some getting used to. The going for the stalks is going to be muscle memory and as it's changed you need to develop a different muscle memory.

Ambient lighting is a "meh" nice to have to me, but at least you can turn it off.

Fair review though.

 

[spdpsba]

Fair review though.

I doubt that!

 

[Duple]

I had a test drive of a M3 Highland this morning in the UK, it was only a RWD so no ambient lights or decent sound system.

It definitely feels an improvement over the previous generation. I found under heavy acceleration that their was a weird vibration coming through the steering wheel though, but I'm glad the actual steering wheel extends out further than the older one, certainly felt more comfortable,

The stalkless indicators were generally ok, but I found on large roundabouts trying to indicate off proved to confuse the system as I clicked right very quickly after left it tried to put both indicators on and gave the wrong one?

There were a few being handed over to new owners, the Ultra Red with the bigger alloys looks very nice!

 

[lfc200]

I had a test drive of a M3 Highland this morning in the UK, it was only a RWD so no ambient lights or decent sound system.

It definitely feels an improvement over the previous generation. I found under heavy acceleration that their was a weird vibration coming through the steering wheel though, but I'm glad the actual steering wheel extends out further than the older one, certainly felt more comfortable,

The stalkless indicators were generally ok, but I found on large roundabouts trying to indicate off proved to confuse the system as I clicked right very quickly after left it tried to put both indicators on and gave the wrong one?

There were a few being handed over to new owners, the Ultra Red with the bigger alloys looks very nice!

Thought all highlands had ambient lighting?

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I had a test drive of a M3 Highland this morning in the UK, it was only a RWD so no ambient lights or decent sound system.

It definitely feels an improvement over the previous generation. I found under heavy acceleration that their was a weird vibration coming through the steering wheel though, but I'm glad the actual steering wheel extends out further than the older one, certainly felt more comfortable,

The stalkless indicators were generally ok, but I found on large roundabouts trying to indicate off proved to confuse the system as I clicked right very quickly after left it tried to put both indicators on and gave the wrong one?

There were a few being handed over to new owners, the Ultra Red with the bigger alloys looks very nice!

Not wanting to sound critical and it’s for everyone really, comments such as ‘improvement over the previous generation’ would be much better if you say what you’re referring to, a 2022 M3 is a definite improvement over a 2019 US built M3 so if you’re comparing to your existing older M3 it’s less impressive than a later one.

Still good to hear it’s better than something

 

[Pagemakers]

Thought all highlands had ambient lighting?

They do. Must have been turned off or in auto mode.

 

[HCassidy]

I test drove a Highland RWD this morning as well. Coming from a Model 3 2021 Long Range.

Firstly, it only had 13 miles on the clock and as such the Autopilot hadn't finished calibrating. Until calibration is done the automatic driving direction detection cannot be enabled. The feature is a beta option and could not be enabled on my drive.

It definitely had the ambient lighting, although in daylight you basically cannot sea any dark colours. I did notice the silver strip that goes with the LEDs reflects off the windscreen. Going back to my car I noticed the dash does reflect but not as much.

The steering felt markedly lighter. It was on Standard steering mode and was probably 25% lighter than my car. Don't know if this is due to it being on 18inch Aero's vs 19inch Sport wheels that I'm used to.

The best way I can describe the noise isolation improvement is that you can still hear the road noise, but dulls out the higher frequency rumble. Again this could be due to the tyres.

I tried to reach for the indication stalk probably 2 or 3 times before realising it was on the button. You have to make sure you press the left side of the button though, as to the right will not activate the indicators. Near the end I even flashed a car to turn into a drive and it felt natural using the button. The auto-cancelling indicators were very good and seemed better than my car.

Autopilot is activated using the right scroll wheel pressing twice (if you set it to double press that is), but kept getting the error message as car hadn't calibrated.

The steering wheel has been re-profiles and on the top half, the thumb "knurles" are sharper and didn't feel as comfortable to hold when driving with an elbow on the door card.

Not sure but the border around the screen seemed a bit smaller but not noticeable. Ryzen processor is definitely a nice upgrade.

Camera's all have richer colours. Don't have the compression "blocky" artefacts and refresh rate seemed higher.

Interior camera position has changed slightly and view is not longer cut off by the headliner.

Any other questions let me know.

 

[Transformer]

Just concerned if I keep my car I have no warranty from March.

Tesla offers an Extended Service Agreement before the original warranty expires. Look in the phone app.

There are third party warranties available and TMC threads about them.

But all the P which I have driven have been like that, and all the Non-P I have driven have had some loss of traction, skittery-ness, and lack of sure-feet in the wet. None of those with the P.

Due to different tires?

 

[pete34]

Got my test drive tomorrow morning. I’ll be potentially moving from a 3P so my expectations will be very different to yours.

The one I tried was seriously fast. 3P must be seriously fun! I like the instant acceleration of the EVs compared to ICE. it's pleasantly obnoxious and I feel I am bringing a gun to a knife fight ;-)

 

[pete34]

I wonder if they restrict the acceleration of test drive cars? It wasn’t in chill mode

I don't think so, the car was plenty fast and, while I have not experienced "Chill mode". full acceleration was anything but chill.

 

[starharbour]

I had a test drive of a M3 Highland this morning in the UK, it was only a RWD so no ambient lights or decent sound system.

It definitely feels an improvement over the previous generation. I found under heavy acceleration that their was a weird vibration coming through the steering wheel though, but I'm glad the actual steering wheel extends out further than the older one, certainly felt more comfortable,

The stalkless indicators were generally ok, but I found on large roundabouts trying to indicate off proved to confuse the system as I clicked right very quickly after left it tried to put both indicators on and gave the wrong one?

There were a few being handed over to new owners, the Ultra Red with the bigger alloys looks very nice!

I took delivery yesterday and also notice the vibration over 60mph. Have reached out to Tesla to understand why.

 

[Duple]

Thought all highlands had ambient lighting?

I was under the impression it was only premium interior cars, this how Tesla made out anyway. They had one in the show room with it on and it did look cool.

 

[Duple]

Not wanting to sound critical and it’s for everyone really, comments such as ‘improvement over the previous generation’ would be much better if you say what you’re referring to, a 2022 M3 is a definite improvement over a 2019 US built M3 so if you’re comparing to your existing older M3 it’s less impressive than a later one.

Still good to hear it’s better than something

I’ve driven 2019 US and 2023 Shanghai. Definitely felt better than both.

 

[Stuart1714]

Just completed a 30 min test drive of a RWD. I’m coming from a 2019 3P and the short test drive wasn’t long enough for my purposes so having a longer drive again mid week.

I had a test drive from the new Tesla location next to the council house yesterday, and I too found the 30 minute drive insufficient. I wanted to get it on to the motorway to see if the cabin noise was less. I’m going to see if I can arrange a longer test drive on Friday.

I’m also coming from a pre-heat pump 2020 M3P, one of the last to be shipped from Fremont to the UK, so although it felt quieter at low speed, I’d expect that in comparison to mine just because of the 18” tyres without any improvements.

 

[Pagemakers]

Hopefully the ambient lighting will have a brightness control and not just on/off

 

[starharbour]

I was under the impression it was only premium interior cars, this how Tesla made out anyway. They had one in the show room with it on and it did look cool.

No all of them have it

 

[starharbour]

Hopefully the ambient lighting will have a brightness control and not just on/off

It’s on off and auto
And you can choose colour of course

 

[Oxid8ter]

I took delivery yesterday and also notice the vibration over 60mph. Have reached out to Tesla to understand why.

If you Google it there is a thread on here about a 2022 Y having the same thing. Consensus on that thread is that it's tyre alignment. I imagine at the factory they just stick a tyre on the wheel and the wheel on the car without any balancing etc. so If mine is the same I'll raise a service request and get them to fix it because, to me, that comes under "getting the basics right".

 

[starharbour]

If you Google it there is a thread on here about a 2022 Y having the same thing. Consensus on that thread is that it's tyre alignment. I imagine at the factory they just stick a tyre on the wheel and the wheel on the car without any balancing etc. so If mine is the same I'll raise a service request and get them to fix it because, to me, that comes under "getting the basics right".

That’s great thanks for looking into it. Annoyingly I’d have to take the 1 day old car to the service centre which is an hour away but guess I’d rather do that then deal with a vibration. Was thinking initially maybe it’s bc it’s so new and needs
To be driven a bit but maybe not. Will see how it is today and if still there I’ll schedule the appt

 

[Durzel]

Just concerned if I keep my car I have no warranty from March.

Re the performance I was in the RDW which has a 0-60 in 5.8 sec compared to the AWD 4.2. Think the performance is 3.8 so it’s not that far off.

After driving the car I think the biggest concern is the vision only system. I’m sure I’d get used to/accept the indicators.

Aside from anything else I’ve been told Tesla are going to notify people next week about what is happening with the extended warranty options. That’s what Marsh (parent company of Helvetia) told me.