All, I took delivery (earlier than expected) yesterday and would like to give some first impressions.
I know this should be it's own thread in a different forum, but I think this thread is the most active of all, so I thought I'd start this here. This is a quick list of thoughts and I will update. Preamble: I have been driving Tesla since 2012 and my last car was a 2018 MX (old MCU).
- Interior fit and finish very nice
- seems more refined than prior MS
- only thing that seems a bit cheap is the cloth portion of the door
- my center console is also malfunctioning. The top sliding door worked for about an hour. Now, it won't stay open or half-open. It just slides all the way shut when you let go of it. Have service technician coming to my house next week
- Doors require a little more oomph to close than I was expecting
- that said, I am coming from MX that has doors that close themselves
- Exterior looks sharp
- Driving experience is amazing. No surprise there. Fast, smooth, corners better than anything I have ever driven
- Software and hardware are great
- huge step up from my MCU MX. Interface good and operating system is snappy and responsive
- Yoke experience:
- So far, I would describe my opinion of the yoke as "tolerant". Simple, 90 degree turns are easy and kind of fun. But in most cases, it requires you to be actively aware of the steering wheel position. It's not hard or terribly awkward, but it requires more mental effort than I would like. I always considered Tesla's to be so easy to drive that they almost drive themselves (no pun intended, and am not referring to FSD. Just referring to the ease of driving). Having the yoke almost negates that experience. In prior Tesla's, running errands and driving kids to and from practice were never a chore. I actually looked forward to driving. So far, I don't quite feel that way. I feel like the driving experience requires more mental energy and work because of the yoke
- If given a choice, hands down I would choose a round wheel
- Stalkless Experience:
- Turn signals:
- Don't want to be heretical, but these are both very bad. As many have speculated here, Tesla took something elementary and made it hard. We all learned around the age of 15 how to use turn signals and we now have to rewire our brains to do something that used to be really intuitive. Is it doable? For sure, but like the yoke, it requires more mental alertness and concentration than it should. Detracts from the joy of driving.
- A lot of people like to point out how Elon and Steve Jobs are great at telling us what we like. We don't always know it until we have it in our hands. That's great for iPhones, but not when it comes to handling a vehicle that is capable of going 200 MPH. Keep it simple and safe.
- Horn:
- terrible design decision, IMO. There is room in the middle of the yoke for a horn. Why not just make it honk? I have had two situations in which a horn was necessary. One of them was a close call, cause my right hand was not exactly where it needed to be to honk the horn. I can see this being a problem.
- Park, Forward Reverse selection
- My car is still "calibrating" (whatever that means), so I can't let it guess my direction yet. Using the screen is fine, but an unnecessary PITA, IMO. I have once swiped down when I meant to swipe up. Fortunately, no cars were behind me.
- Getting in an out of the car is harder than I remember on my old MS's. This is not specific to MS Plaid. It is more a function of my age and the fact that I got used to SUV dynamics.
Overall, the car is awesome, but I lament the amount of mental focus it takes to drive. I will give it more time and update, but I am not 100% certain I will be keeping this car.
Sorry to be so negative, but I think it's important to balance the enthusiasm with reality. All this is one dude's opinion based on 24 hours experience, so keep that in mind.
