HW4 and Center Horn on 2023 Model S?

[lbowroom]

I was in the market for a while and evaluated I5, MSP/MSLR, Lucid, and EQS. I narrowed down to I5 and MSLR. On my wife's final test drive she had 2 separate situations where I needed my horn to prevent an accident potentially and I hit the middle of the wheel instead of that button.

That was a dealbreaker for us, and we went with the I5.

Not judging anyone for their decisions, but this stupid little thing turned out to be a key differentiator for us.

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

 

[asterothe]

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

Someone was getting to my lane without checking their blind spot in highway and if I had no place to escape there would be a crash. I desperately hit the center from muscle memory.

 

[sorka]

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

Agreed. And totally unrelated to the discussion of horn placement.

 

[terranx]

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

That’s fair. I do think the horn position is atrocious and makes it basically not having a horn at all… but I accepted it since I truly rarely use the horn. In the 16 years I’ve been driving, I’d be surprised if I’ve used it more than 16 times.

 

[dsm363]

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

You'd need to set up a parallel universe to find out how many accidents a horn avoided. But sure, people use their horn maybe more than needed but what did moving the horn to a tiny button different than their prior 12 years of cars and the 99% of other cars gain? It's objectively better and praised by all who drive it?

 

[sorka]

You'd need to set up a parallel universe to find out how many accidents a horn avoided. But sure, people use their horn maybe more than needed but what did moving the horn to a tiny button different than their prior 12 years of cars and the 99% of other cars gain? It's objectively better and praised by all who drive it?

That's exactly what they do in "The Peripheral" (Amazon).

 

[aerodyne]

That's exactly what they do in "The Peripheral" (Amazon).

I used the horn loud and long once in the 85D, when I was cut off on the freeway for no reason.

Led to a very scary road rage incident.

The best reason to find the horn now is to record incidents on Tesla cam.

 

[mm9351]

As many have reported, I really dislike the horn button location and consider it a design flaw, or better said, oversight. However, I hardly use the horn and try to avoid it since it can lead to further aggressive behavior (I live in NY). Remember the friendly tap on the horn that you would use to say "hi" when passing a neighbor's house? It simply can't be done on the Model S refresh. Would love to see an OTA update that would restore the horn to the center wheel hub, then create a new shortcut or function for the original horn button. This would be a great holiday update.

 

[lbowroom]

As a reminder, open palm or 4 fingers covering that spoke activates the horn too without having to look for the button. For you frequent horners, you’ll adapt faster than the rest of us.

 

[sorka]

I used the horn loud and long once in the 85D, when I was cut off on the freeway for no reason.

Led to a very scary road rage incident.

The best reason to find the horn now is to record incidents on Tesla cam.

The best reason is to notify the driver of another vehicle that is about to hit you when they don't know it and using the horn lets them know and prevents the accident.

 

[iggy33]

Not that I like the horn placement…. but I think that people way over use the horn to express anger at driver mistakes, not to actually avoid one. Did the delay in finding the horn cause 2 accidents on your test drive? If not, your horn wasn’t needed.

No. It didn't cause an accident. I don't want to be dramatic. Just saying that it was a little scary as one of the times in particular, the horn was needed to alert someone that she was there.

Again, its probably a minor thing for most people. But, we used it as a differentiator. Personally, I think when you get to the Model's S's price range and competition, the car really is getting way behind from a design and tech perspective. Yes, the battery, speed, and charging is fantastic. But, Telsa has really done very little innovation over the past few years with the tech. I'm lumping the horn in with that...

 

[dsm363]

As many have reported, I really dislike the horn button location and consider it a design flaw, or better said, oversight. However, I hardly use the horn and try to avoid it since it can lead to further aggressive behavior (I live in NY). Remember the friendly tap on the horn that you would use to say "hi" when passing a neighbor's house? It simply can't be done on the Model S refresh. Would love to see an OTA update that would restore the horn to the center wheel hub, then create a new shortcut or function for the original horn button. This would be a great holiday update.

I’ve thought that as well. All cars should have a pedestrian/softer horn to let people know you are there. And then the regular horn.

 

[lbowroom]

I’ve thought that as well. All cars should have a pedestrian/softer horn to let people know you are there. And then the regular horn.

Where would you put the polite horn button?

 

[terranx]

Where would you put the polite horn button?

Polite horn button where the existing one is and real horn in the center would work.

 

[dsm363]

As a reminder, open palm or 4 fingers covering that spoke activates the horn too without having to look for the button. For you frequent horners, you’ll adapt faster than the rest of us.

But they put it back in the center for the Cybertruck and the Model 3. Makes no sense since moving it away from the center is an improvement in every way from what some here are saying. The problem is of course when you are turning the wheel or yoke. That target moves. Yes, this update is an improvement over the small button but it clearly was a fix due to people complaining about the bad design (just like the round steering wheel came back).

Where would you put the polite horn button?

Where the current horn capacitive button is. The louder horn back to the center where it was for over a decade on the Model S. And what Elon promised all cars had the hardware since Nov 2021 just waiting on software update.

 

[aerodyne]

Where would you put the polite horn button?

You can change the horn sound in the latest update. It will follow the stock horn

For example:

BEEP! ( Stock horn)
Well, Excuuuuze, me! (a la Steve Martin)

 

[lbowroom]

But they put it back in the center for the Cybertruck and the Model 3. Makes no sense since moving it away from the center is an improvement in every way from what some here are saying. The problem is of course when you are turning the wheel or yoke. That target moves. Yes, this update is an improvement over the small button but it clearly was a fix due to people complaining about the bad design (just like the round steering wheel came back).


Where the current horn capacitive button is. The louder horn back to the center where it was for over a decade on the Model S. And what Elon promised all cars had the hardware since Nov 2021 just waiting on software update.

I don’t think anyone said moving it was an improvement in every way

 

[dsm363]

I don’t think anyone said moving it was an improvement in every way

There are a few here who have said it’s great and everyone else just needs to adapt. Not a problem at all with the new horn location. They use their horn once a year if ever so don’t see why it bothers others.

 

[sorka]

Where would you put the polite horn button?

How about where the current horn is? The center horn is for the automatic try-to-prevent-crash loud horn. The tiny one off to the right is one quiet not so urgently needed horn that you can take an extra second to locate.

 

[sorka]

Polite horn button where the existing one is and real horn in the center would work.

Whoops. Maybe I should read through all the current replies before replying with a duplicate idea