Happy Monday Everyone! Got my Plaid Friday afternoon and drove it a good deal over the weekend. Figured I'd post my initial impressions:
Overall:
This is hands down the best car ever made. It's like Tesla built a time machine and went forward to 2055 and brought this car back with them. The combination of performance and technology is truly mind blowing.
Performance:
Otherworldly. For those of you like me who haven't owned a Tesla before, nothing prepares you for what this car can do. The best way I could describe it to my dad was that it is like driving a life-sized slot car. Unlimited acceleration. One of my other cars is a 50th anniversary 911. I drove that briefly yesterday. It felt like a dinosaur. What's most amazing about this car is that it's so approachable. I was afraid of it at first thinking it was going to eat my face off, but just driving around normal, it is incredibly civilized. Then, when you make the conscious decision to bury the accelerator a little... There goes your face.
Quality:
Near Flawless. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, but this particular car is basically flawless. I spent a good hour going over the car trying to find something wrong with it. Panel gaps? As close to perfect as one could hope for. Paint flaws? None. Overspray? there was a drip of red paint on the driver's door handle when extended. I'm confident I can get that off. On the inside the seat bolsters have the "wrinkles" along the seam of the bolsters like most do. The driver's airbag has a slight "worm" in it as most do. There are couple places where gasket seal around the door isn't perfectly flush. My car arrived from CA with a cracked windshield that the local Dallas service center insisted on replacing before giving me the car. Perhaps they took extra care in prepping the car before delivering it to me? I don't know, but the overall quality of this particular car exceeded my expectations.
Exterior Looks:
If you want to peacock, buy RED. This thing is a head turner. Received a ton of complements on it over the weekend and caught plenty of people pointing at it on the road. You know the car looks good when you catch people speeding up to get a look at it. The black accents work so well on the red paint. Makes the car super aggressive looking. I think it's the color to go with that complements the car's performance most. (though admittedly I'm a little biased.)
Interior Looks:
The combination of Cream and Carbon Fiber is epic. I was surprised by how light the cream interior was. It's more of an off white than tan. The carbon fiber trim is incredibly nice. It looks/feels "expensive" and is the perfect complement to the black piping on the seats. If you're on the fence or tempted to accept a wood car, hold your ground. the CF is so worth it with the cream interior. FWIW, the SA that delivered my car said it was the best looking build for a new model S he'd seen. He was in love with it. I agree with him.
Technology:
This should go without saying but the amount of tech in the car is just comical. The center screen is stunning and incredibly responsive. I've had no issues navigating thought all the UI. It's pretty intuitive and easy to get through. For whatever reason, it took over 100 miles of driving to get the cameras to calibrate. Maybe I wasn't doing enough highway driving. It had gotten to the point where I thought something was wrong with the cameras but all the calibration finished yesterday afternoon while on a major highway.
The Yoke:
I don't see what the big deal is. It's "fine". Took me a day to acclimate to it, but it's pretty second nature now. Is it better than a wheel? Nah. Is it worse? I don't know, marginally? Does it add to the "damn this car is ridiculous" nature of the car? Absolutely. The only complaint I have about the yoke are the turn signal buttons. They are awkward. I have brushed them numerous times while reaching for the thumb wheel. Historically, I'd say I very good with signalling on the road, signalling probably 95% of my lane changes/turns. With the buttons, I got lazy real quick. It was just easier to change lanes than to mess with the buttons. Oh, and the horn button is the worst. I had someone blow a red light friday night nearly hitting us. I slammed that airbag with my hand so hard. I can't imagine ever getting used to having to press that little button.
TLDR:
I waited 6-months for this car and felt the same frustration that most of you have with regards to the wait and lack of communication from Tesla. All that frustration went away the moment I drove the car. This thing is incredible and seriously the best car I've ever driven. (to the point that the 911 will be going up for sale). I've gotten a taste of what the future of cars is and I like it, a lot. I can't imagine ever purchasing a non-EV at this point. I hope all of you have as good of luck with your cars as I had with mine.
