I have one of the "freaking joke" cars and I disagree completely with your bad take. Not only is a P3D not even comparable to an S for a plethora of reasons here are just a sample of the things my joke of a car comes with that the latest Teslas DON'T.
I've driven a 2019 and 2020 S and couldn't fathom paying $$$ to upgrade. Same with this iteration. I went with an X because there isn't enough daylight between my S and the newest ones. A bit more range but I lose so much:
1. Real leather (everywhere). Its pretty sweet and has aged really nicely (it keeps getting better actually).
2. Recaro made next-gen v2 seats (still better than any in-house Tesla seat).
3. Alcantara everywhere (no plastic or cloth). Even off-white alcantara headliner that I have isn't offered at all. Combined with the all glass roof, the light headliner is expansive. The material is awesome and looks new 4.5 years later even after mango pouch explosions, etc (kid hauler). Seriously like new and wipes clean with water and some dawn if needed. Mud just wipes out. Can vacuum the dash since it is mostly alcatara.
4. Spring suspension -- I know some people consider it a downgrade but I had the choice to go air and opted for spring. I will say that the latest suspension seems nice and I'm looking forward to it with my LR X but nothing compares to springs.
5. Customizability -- back in the day the S was way more customizable. My wife and I got EXACTLY the car we wanted without paying a dime more for stuff we didn't value. The only option I wish we got was the rear facing seats but I am continually building up the courage to retrofit that myself (sourcing parts is the biggest issue but my service center is willing to either do it for me or source me the parts now). With an X on order, I don't have to bother but it is an awesome feature for older S cars.
6. Free everything. I can't stress how cool it is not to pay for supercharging or premium data. It might not financially be a big savings (though I do rack up miles and $10/mo adds up for data (still, ~$400 after the free first year isn't moving the needle with $90k in).
7. FSD. I've got the same AP hardware and entitled to upgrades to make FSD work. So no matter what that aspect of my car will match the latest ones and that's unique to have acquired for a 4.5 year old vehicle.
There definitely are a LOT of things that have improved (we do get wind noise at highway speed but our car has no rattles or anything, HVAC is acceptable but I believe that is much improved now, and a heat pump would be greatly appreciated) but like deciding between LR v. plaid, my cost benefit hasn't tipped with a "freaking joke" car versus the (apparently) only finally acceptable S being delivered now.
I think your knowledge of the older S cars probably is limited. I wish I could've gotten the yacht floor instead of a center console. That was classy and was dropped before I ordered. I wish they'd bring that option back again but I think the rear HVAC tunnel is in there now.
