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Ok, I guess I don't see it. I don't see Elon letting them cripple the Perf's acceleration for a vague undefined concern "driver capability". Stopping wheel spin, sure, but wheel spin is bad for acceleration anyway. Punching the Perf in my test drive I could feel the traction control trying to ride that optimal ragged edge of not letting the tires spin.
Now, for energy usage, maybe, but not out of a desired to save energy since that seems pointless on a Perf, but to protect the battery itself from excessively rapid discharge. If a higher discharge rate is theoretically possible, I suppose it'd be possible to configure a "launch" mode that damaged the battery.
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
What a "launch mode" in an EV will do is to save the split second that it takes for your foot to go from no application of the accelerator pedal to full application of the pedal. There may also be other optimizations that can be done to improve launch traction specifically (which normal TC may not do as well).
I have wanted to put this sort of stuff into an EV since college. I didn't have the funds or specific knowledge to do it. I'll explain the concept below.
Yes they rev up to maximum torque then use clutch slip (a much better faster easier thing to control) to dictate torque to the wheels. This allows you to put torque out to the wheels just below their spin point. ICE traction control (and well pretty much all traction control) also will apply brakes to slipping wheels as there is no real way to slow them quickly. ICE's don't respond that quickly and a spinning tire won't slow as fast (with load taken off) as it will with a brake. And not to mention if you take load off the drive train all the other wheels stop pushing.
With an EV you get a few really novel things. First a way to slow the wheels quickly without the brakes (regen). You get constant torque, and quick and easy torque modulation, so no need for a clutch mechanism. And you get a much faster better way to monitor 'wheel spin', which I go over in my concept. And you also get a numeric value for when 'wheel spin' occurs! So they don't cripple acceleration at all, they cripple torque/power to EXACTLY the right value. And to be clear I don't know if Tesla does this. I would imagine they do something along these lines. If they don't I think they should. And I have only concepted this, never actually put it into practice. And my concept was with a motor per wheel, but it could easily be applied to a standard drive system.
-- Some interesting notes about my concept --
When you are putting power into an electric motor the power put out by the motor, that is consumed, is easily monitored by the voltage and current of the electricity going into it. This can easily be monitored, and can be monitored and changed in real time with almost no lag.
The torque of the motor is very easily modeled with just current and voltage readings. It is also VERY accurate. If you add a tachometer you get even better results, but this device isn't as fast responding as current and voltage.
When a wheel begins to slip, the motor stops putting out power (because torque goes very low), and thus the current through the motor drops as well. Thus you can determine, by looking at an ammeter, when a wheel begins to slip, or any induction motor goes to 'no load' situation, almost instantaneously. This happens even before the wheel start so significantly accelerate.
If you assume that a tire has x traction. Where x is a measurement of force (which corresponds to a specific torque of the motor) you can easily determine that threshold. Then you set up your supply voltage and current to be whatever such that your motor torque ends up being 99.8% (or whatever number here that produces good results) of threshold. That way you are effectively putting out torque at exactly your tire threshold.
I am not an expert on tires by any means. I would imagine that they can put out a fairly constant force regardless of speed, but this could be adjusted for if need be. This also requires a fairly consistent road surface, although your system could respond to less sticky road situations, it would have to periodotically test for higher levels of grip.
With independent motors for wheels you can set up electronic 'differentials' such that each wheel supplies its maximum torque. You could infinitely adjust them, instantaneously, on the fly based on conditions.
I was originally thinking of this for a 4WD hill/rock climber. But quickly saw its applications for racing and other maximum grip applications.
EDIT: At a drag strip you could do your first run, and tell the computer to 'remember' all the data. Then on your second run you wouldn't even need to go above threshold once.
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Tesla sales rep mentioned to me that he sells a lot of Roadsters to Porsche 911 drivers if they get to test drive the Roadster on a rainy day. The Roadster's traction control excels in wet conditions where ICE acceleration is severely hampered by the low reaction times of conventional TC + brakes + ICE. He said, the Porsche drivers usually are blown away. :smile:
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
Just had my test drive last weekend. Overall experience is similar to what most other people are saying: exciting! Below are a few data points from my test drive:
1. The turn signal control position is a bit off, lower than most other cars. But I figure this is something not hard to get used to.
2. We tried to find how to enable wifi on the car, so that we can go online with iphone hotspot. Unfortunately, we did not figure this out. The staff does not seem to know this feature.
3. We did actually pair our iphone with the car via bluetooth. The setup was very easy. In the test drive, one friend actually called in, and we were able to answer the call using the touch screen. Again, it worked out very intuitively. The voice quality is also good.
1. The turn signal control position is a bit off, lower than most other cars. But I figure this is something not hard to get used to.
2. We tried to find how to enable wifi on the car, so that we can go online with iphone hotspot. Unfortunately, we did not figure this out. The staff does not seem to know this feature.
3. We did actually pair our iphone with the car via bluetooth. The setup was very easy. In the test drive, one friend actually called in, and we were able to answer the call using the touch screen. Again, it worked out very intuitively. The voice quality is also good.
wi-fi is already installed in the car, but is not active
till now all internetconnection is via 3g
wi-fi possibility will be activated in one of the next updates of the software in the car
updates are delivered via the 3g connection for now
;-)
welcome in the forum
till now all internetconnection is via 3g
wi-fi possibility will be activated in one of the next updates of the software in the car
updates are delivered via the 3g connection for now
;-)
welcome in the forum
CapitalistOppressor
Active Member
Welcome to TMC!
Posting about your Model S test drive has to rank among the greatest first posts on the site :tongue:
In other news, more reviews seem to be trickling in from Canada. Maybe Tesla is trying to tide over the Canadian sigs with some local reviews
Tesla aims to shock motoring world | canada.com
Drove the performance s at dania Miami today. It squeals the tires and traction control so fast! I have already ordered the non performance version so it is rather redundant however. I think I will be happy with the non performance version...especially since the tires will last much longer
from my Samsung galaxy s3
from my Samsung galaxy s3
Chas F
Model S 60kWh #P6396
I too drove the performance S at the Dania store yesterday. Met ElSupreme and had a brief talk as I watched him make his final choice to go 'big'. Enjoy my friend.
I'm not going to go over what has already been said. Great car of course, handling, technology, looks,....all awesome. After reading these forums and watching YouTube videos for over a year, I didn't think anything could surprise me. I didn't even hit the cruise control once by mistake instead of the turn signal. Everything went exactly as I had imagined it....until I hit the accelerator.
I had my wife and 2 friends in the backseat along for the ride and warned them to get ready as I pushed it to the floor. But it was I who was unprepared. Wow! No exaggeration, I literally felt as if I were going to pass out as the blood rushed from the front of my face to the back of my head! It's one thing to read others describe the feeling of being in a rocket and another to actually experience it. I expected a similar experience to the fastest ICE cars I ever riden, but this was different! Almost scary. I now know the non-performance will be more than enough for me but boy, was that a ride!
The main purpose of this drive was to finalize my configuration and move on to signing my MPVA. I'm going with the 40Kw batt, black, tan leather, matte obeche trim, air suspension, Pano roof, 19" standard wheels. The real undecided was the Tech Package. After seeing the features first hand and finalizing on the 40 Kw package, I decided to go with the Tech Package as well. I've finally seen the light (Xeon, that is).
After dinner, I had to fill up my SUV after a full day of driving. Gas is somewhat cheaper in Orlando and I take premium, so it was a new record for me: $82! Funny, I didn't even flinch this time because I now have this feeling that I have a finite number of tank fills left. It feels good!
Now off to a week long cruise to cap off a great week. I'll be the one sporting an umbrella drink and a big Tesla grin!
I'm not going to go over what has already been said. Great car of course, handling, technology, looks,....all awesome. After reading these forums and watching YouTube videos for over a year, I didn't think anything could surprise me. I didn't even hit the cruise control once by mistake instead of the turn signal. Everything went exactly as I had imagined it....until I hit the accelerator.
I had my wife and 2 friends in the backseat along for the ride and warned them to get ready as I pushed it to the floor. But it was I who was unprepared. Wow! No exaggeration, I literally felt as if I were going to pass out as the blood rushed from the front of my face to the back of my head! It's one thing to read others describe the feeling of being in a rocket and another to actually experience it. I expected a similar experience to the fastest ICE cars I ever riden, but this was different! Almost scary. I now know the non-performance will be more than enough for me but boy, was that a ride!
The main purpose of this drive was to finalize my configuration and move on to signing my MPVA. I'm going with the 40Kw batt, black, tan leather, matte obeche trim, air suspension, Pano roof, 19" standard wheels. The real undecided was the Tech Package. After seeing the features first hand and finalizing on the 40 Kw package, I decided to go with the Tech Package as well. I've finally seen the light (Xeon, that is).
After dinner, I had to fill up my SUV after a full day of driving. Gas is somewhat cheaper in Orlando and I take premium, so it was a new record for me: $82! Funny, I didn't even flinch this time because I now have this feeling that I have a finite number of tank fills left. It feels good!
Now off to a week long cruise to cap off a great week. I'll be the one sporting an umbrella drink and a big Tesla grin!
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Well, it's not a FIRST drive, but it's a first DRIVE, if you get my drift. I started this morning in San Diego/Clairemont in the BGC, south on the 5 then east on the 94, which is a nice, windy road up into the hills, usually with not too much traffic. Left at Campo, then Sunrise Highway (Scenic route S2) through Mount Laguna to Julian. Had a nice chicken pot pie at the Julian Grill for brunch.
Here's a nice photo (taken by a guy who sits on the 94 near Campo, so it's commercially available):
I started with a not-quite-full standard charge. Range showed as 200/170 (that is, 200 ideal, 170 estimated based on driving; I use this convention below). By the time I got to Mount Laguna, I'd done about 90 miles (a little over half way) and it showed 65/35. Now I'd have been really worried at this point if I hadn't done the drive in the Roadster before... so I knew I'd get a lot of that back going downhill. Mount Laguna is at about 6,500 feet, from effectively sea level at home. When I stopped for lunch about 15 miles later at Julian (5000'), it showed 60/58.
From Julian I headed north briefly to intercept Winola Road. It's extremely tight, fun curves, and avoids the ridiculous traffic on the main road out of Julian. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a rolling roadblock, and discovered that you can't use cruise control below 25. Rejoined the main highway (78/79/67) for about 10 miles. At Witch Creek the range showed about 55/130.
Then turned left onto Old Julian Hwy, which is perhaps my favorite piece of road, since it's beautiful, nice surface and a nice combination of straights, sweeping curves, and tight curves. It's also a favorite of motorcycles, which is always a giveaway of a nice road. I got in with a bunch of about 8 high performance bikes, two were new Ducatis, and others I didn't recognize. Once there was no traffic in front of the bikes or me, we pretty much matched performance for the length of the road, until it comes into the back of Ramona. I think the guy on the Ducati bringing up the rear was surprised when I stayed a constant distance behind him. I think we might have gone over 55 once or twice. I wasn't thinking about range during this part of the drive.
I tried to take a short cut through the suburbs of Ramona, and blew it. The Google Maps interface definitely isn't as good as dedicated drive mapping software. When you zoom out (to see the big picture), the street names become too small to read. Anyway, after the blast on the Old Julian Hwy, and getting lost, I started to worry about range (finally, you say ). I dialed in the home address, and the map said 35 miles. Range said 39/50. This is now getting a bit close for comfort. Back onto the 67, Scripps Poway Parkway, 163, Balboa, I stayed behind every big slow SUV/pickup I could find. Even a couple of carlengths back I've discovered that the drafting gains are worth it, and no-one gets angry at you for driving too slowly, since there's a bigger target in front.
I made it home with 10 miles to spare, never having needlessly driven much below the speed limit. I know from Roadster experience that if I'd really gotten into trouble, all I had to do was take (well chosen) surface streets at 40mph or below and I could have stretched a lot further. There are also chargers at Santa Ysabel (just down the mountain from Julian) that I laughed at as I passed, and a charger at work about 10 miles closer than home that I could have used if I got desperate. There is also a Nissan dealer in Poway I think. So at no point was I actually anxious about range. For new electric drivers, I highly encourage you to get out and experiment.
Final trip meter reading: 161.7 miles, 52.9 kWh, 327 wH/mile. Note that this almost exactly agrees with the 170 mile estimated that I started with and 10 miles left at the end. What a car! The drive took about 3.5 hours, not counting brunch, and I had a blast.
Here's a nice photo (taken by a guy who sits on the 94 near Campo, so it's commercially available):
I started with a not-quite-full standard charge. Range showed as 200/170 (that is, 200 ideal, 170 estimated based on driving; I use this convention below). By the time I got to Mount Laguna, I'd done about 90 miles (a little over half way) and it showed 65/35. Now I'd have been really worried at this point if I hadn't done the drive in the Roadster before... so I knew I'd get a lot of that back going downhill. Mount Laguna is at about 6,500 feet, from effectively sea level at home. When I stopped for lunch about 15 miles later at Julian (5000'), it showed 60/58.
From Julian I headed north briefly to intercept Winola Road. It's extremely tight, fun curves, and avoids the ridiculous traffic on the main road out of Julian. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a rolling roadblock, and discovered that you can't use cruise control below 25. Rejoined the main highway (78/79/67) for about 10 miles. At Witch Creek the range showed about 55/130.
Then turned left onto Old Julian Hwy, which is perhaps my favorite piece of road, since it's beautiful, nice surface and a nice combination of straights, sweeping curves, and tight curves. It's also a favorite of motorcycles, which is always a giveaway of a nice road. I got in with a bunch of about 8 high performance bikes, two were new Ducatis, and others I didn't recognize. Once there was no traffic in front of the bikes or me, we pretty much matched performance for the length of the road, until it comes into the back of Ramona. I think the guy on the Ducati bringing up the rear was surprised when I stayed a constant distance behind him. I think we might have gone over 55 once or twice. I wasn't thinking about range during this part of the drive.
I tried to take a short cut through the suburbs of Ramona, and blew it. The Google Maps interface definitely isn't as good as dedicated drive mapping software. When you zoom out (to see the big picture), the street names become too small to read. Anyway, after the blast on the Old Julian Hwy, and getting lost, I started to worry about range (finally, you say
). I dialed in the home address, and the map said 35 miles. Range said 39/50. This is now getting a bit close for comfort. Back onto the 67, Scripps Poway Parkway, 163, Balboa, I stayed behind every big slow SUV/pickup I could find. Even a couple of carlengths back I've discovered that the drafting gains are worth it, and no-one gets angry at you for driving too slowly, since there's a bigger target in front.I made it home with 10 miles to spare, never having needlessly driven much below the speed limit. I know from Roadster experience that if I'd really gotten into trouble, all I had to do was take (well chosen) surface streets at 40mph or below and I could have stretched a lot further. There are also chargers at Santa Ysabel (just down the mountain from Julian) that I laughed at as I passed, and a charger at work about 10 miles closer than home that I could have used if I got desperate. There is also a Nissan dealer in Poway I think. So at no point was I actually anxious about range. For new electric drivers, I highly encourage you to get out and experiment.
Final trip meter reading: 161.7 miles, 52.9 kWh, 327 wH/mile. Note that this almost exactly agrees with the 170 mile estimated that I started with and 10 miles left at the end. What a car! The drive took about 3.5 hours, not counting brunch, and I had a blast.
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Ok, I am finally ready to post my first drive review. It wasn't any more (the actual drive) than your standard dealer test drive. This was a little bit of a let down to me, but I wasn't really expecting more. Also I went on two test drives, one was really short, and the 'real' one was 40 minutes after I had it scheduled. I was a little annoyed, my wife was very annoyed. But it isn't like we had something else we wanted to do while we were there so it wasn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I also was pretty much dumbstruck the moment I turned into the parking lot, when I first saw the Model S parked out front. I didn't get half the things I wanted to done, or half the questions I wanted to ask. But all in all it was a great trip.
When I first got to the store there was a 'no show' to test drive the car, so they got us the waivers, and got us into the car. As we were pulling out of the spot the people who were supposed to drive the car showed up, so I was on a short loop. First the door handles are way cool. Then the carbon fiber dash, hit me. It is so good looking, and not even close to being tacky, in the way that carbon fiber can be awesome and tacky at the same time. In the parking lot the car was eerily silent. I couldn't trust the backup camera (too weird for me right now) and used the mirrors, even though I had great coverage of everything behind the car. The rear view mirror, being frameless looks great, but visibility out the back window was weak. With the camera this shouldn't be a problem, once you start trusting it. I drove out of the parking lot, and wow this car is smooth. It just feels nice driving. Not jerky or rough, but not boat-like and mushy either. I was also comforted with the seating height, as I drive as close to the ground as possible. I was worried about the battery height making the seat height taller than I wanted. I felt close to the ground after lowering the seat. The road outside of their parking lot was wavy and rough. The suspension did an ok job dealing with it. But didn't make a sound. The railroad crossing was really smooth. I didn't notice wind/tire noise until I was about 40mph. And the winds were gusting 20-30 mph so I doubt my experience was normal. In fact the HVAC fans on "3" were way louder than the car was. Truly a different class. We ended up winding through the Bass Pro Shops parking lot then to a 0-60 stretch. I wimped out and eased on the accelerator to about 70% max, I'd do the full deal next time. WOW. It was smooth and effortless. I eased off about 50mph. And back to the store we went.
At this point we milled around the store a bit. I talked with Chas F for a bit (nice meeting you). Looked at their color samples (they were shipped two green ones, and no brown ones) in the sun. The green was the big winner with me and my wife. The blue was just a little dark for out tastes in the sun. It looked great in the showroom (the green also looked darker in the sunlight for some reason to us also). I showed my wife around the Beta they have there. It did have really poor fit and finish, while the demo car was at least as nice as my mom's 5series. The pano roof did not work on the Beta, and it had no USB ports to test my WMA music.
Then we went to a Starbucks to talk about plunking down money, and what options we wanted. After convincing my wife that prices won't plummet (same car for half in 4 years type thing) on electric vehicles she thought getting the large battery was worth it, and was slightly intrigued that it may actually slow down my driving on trips, as I normally drive 80 or 20 over whatever is greater (interstates only, and generally not in urban areas with high traffic). I also had to tell her the rear child seats could be added later :scared: (we have no children and got married about 2 months ago, more than 3 seems like a lot). And I had to promise never to buy a motorcycle :crying:, which was already a de facto rule anyway.
We went back to the store. Got there about 10 minutes before our test drive window. But somehow 2 groups of people went on test drives before we got our real shot (the first group most likely did the short loop). After 40 minutes of waiting, and me checking out 1 of the 2 Model Ss waiting for delivery (a sweet black, black rimed S) we finally got our ride. By this time I was slowly pushing through my daze. I opened the pano roof and closed it. I stared directly at the sun through it, it is really dark glass. I also plugged in my WMA (lossless and lossy) audio files (CAKE - "Satan is My Motor" and "The Distance" and other CAKE) and both played. And went on the test drive. This time I went to the driving settings and got them the way I think I will want them. Did the full test drive, but switched with my wife halfway. The first part was the 0-60 stretch, but sadly there was a Broward county sheriff sitting there. So I did a 0-20 (the speed limit) but he wasn't paying attention anyway . I went over an overpass, which the car did without slowing down or exerting any noticeable effort. There were some twisty bits, and the car handles them really well. It felt small like my GTI or my dad's TT. And felt like it cornered flatter than either of them. I produced a little more tire noise cornering (which was very little) than I was expecting (which was none), but I imagine this is normal, but general car noise normally drowns this out. The car drives so nicely over all. It is a much more luxurious ride than anything I have ever been in, except maybe an elevator. In fact that is the closest thing I could compare the drive and acceleration feel to. When I parked to swap drivers with my wife I pulled way closer to the concrete stop than I was expecting. About a foot closer than I was expecting. I sit with the seat all the way down, and sit fairly far back, so the hood is basically not visible (same as in my GTI). It was much longer than I was expecting. Anyway my wife gets in adjusts all her seats and mirrors and I turn on creep for her (after she requested it). She was a little weirded out because the car was moving and not making any sound. Anyway by the time she was pulling out of the parking lot she had a pretty good grin (but she won't admit it). She drove all the way back and parked it. She liked it, but didn't see why I liked it SO much.
We went in. I thanked the sales people, and did one last "This carbon fiber alone is probably worth $15,000?!" to the wife, as a joke. Got the eye roll.
A couple of other notes (some I have put elsewhere):
Some things I didn't check:
Like I said up top. I was in a daze the first moment I saw the S parked out front. It took me until yesterday afternoon before I realized how awesome the car really was. It exceeded my expectations driving, and blew them away on interior and fit and finish. And it looks better in person as well. And I had some really high expectations. I am so glad I am getting my car.
I finalized my order in the store (on my own PC):
Green
Pano Roof
19" wheels
Textile Interior (my wife and I both prefer cloth over leather, and one of the sales people did also)
Piano Black interior
85kWh standard
Tech package
Studio Sound (because I really wanted it)
Air Suspension
Parcel Shelf (because what is another $250 really?)
Single charger
When I first got to the store there was a 'no show' to test drive the car, so they got us the waivers, and got us into the car. As we were pulling out of the spot the people who were supposed to drive the car showed up, so I was on a short loop. First the door handles are way cool. Then the carbon fiber dash, hit me. It is so good looking, and not even close to being tacky, in the way that carbon fiber can be awesome and tacky at the same time. In the parking lot the car was eerily silent. I couldn't trust the backup camera (too weird for me right now) and used the mirrors, even though I had great coverage of everything behind the car. The rear view mirror, being frameless looks great, but visibility out the back window was weak. With the camera this shouldn't be a problem, once you start trusting it. I drove out of the parking lot, and wow this car is smooth. It just feels nice driving. Not jerky or rough, but not boat-like and mushy either. I was also comforted with the seating height, as I drive as close to the ground as possible. I was worried about the battery height making the seat height taller than I wanted. I felt close to the ground after lowering the seat. The road outside of their parking lot was wavy and rough. The suspension did an ok job dealing with it. But didn't make a sound. The railroad crossing was really smooth. I didn't notice wind/tire noise until I was about 40mph. And the winds were gusting 20-30 mph so I doubt my experience was normal. In fact the HVAC fans on "3" were way louder than the car was. Truly a different class. We ended up winding through the Bass Pro Shops parking lot then to a 0-60 stretch. I wimped out and eased on the accelerator to about 70% max, I'd do the full deal next time. WOW. It was smooth and effortless. I eased off about 50mph. And back to the store we went.
At this point we milled around the store a bit. I talked with Chas F for a bit (nice meeting you). Looked at their color samples (they were shipped two green ones, and no brown ones) in the sun. The green was the big winner with me and my wife. The blue was just a little dark for out tastes in the sun. It looked great in the showroom (the green also looked darker in the sunlight for some reason to us also). I showed my wife around the Beta they have there. It did have really poor fit and finish, while the demo car was at least as nice as my mom's 5series. The pano roof did not work on the Beta, and it had no USB ports to test my WMA music.
Then we went to a Starbucks to talk about plunking down money, and what options we wanted. After convincing my wife that prices won't plummet (same car for half in 4 years type thing) on electric vehicles she thought getting the large battery was worth it, and was slightly intrigued that it may actually slow down my driving on trips, as I normally drive 80 or 20 over whatever is greater (interstates only, and generally not in urban areas with high traffic). I also had to tell her the rear child seats could be added later :scared: (we have no children and got married about 2 months ago, more than 3 seems like a lot). And I had to promise never to buy a motorcycle :crying:, which was already a de facto rule anyway.
We went back to the store. Got there about 10 minutes before our test drive window. But somehow 2 groups of people went on test drives before we got our real shot (the first group most likely did the short loop). After 40 minutes of waiting, and me checking out 1 of the 2 Model Ss waiting for delivery (a sweet black, black rimed S) we finally got our ride. By this time I was slowly pushing through my daze. I opened the pano roof and closed it. I stared directly at the sun through it, it is really dark glass. I also plugged in my WMA (lossless and lossy) audio files (CAKE - "Satan is My Motor" and "The Distance" and other CAKE) and both played. And went on the test drive. This time I went to the driving settings and got them the way I think I will want them. Did the full test drive, but switched with my wife halfway. The first part was the 0-60 stretch, but sadly there was a Broward county sheriff sitting there
. So I did a 0-20 (the speed limit) but he wasn't paying attention anyway . I went over an overpass, which the car did without slowing down or exerting any noticeable effort. There were some twisty bits, and the car handles them really well. It felt small like my GTI or my dad's TT. And felt like it cornered flatter than either of them. I produced a little more tire noise cornering (which was very little) than I was expecting (which was none), but I imagine this is normal, but general car noise normally drowns this out. The car drives so nicely over all. It is a much more luxurious ride than anything I have ever been in, except maybe an elevator. In fact that is the closest thing I could compare the drive and acceleration feel to. When I parked to swap drivers with my wife I pulled way closer to the concrete stop than I was expecting. About a foot closer than I was expecting. I sit with the seat all the way down, and sit fairly far back, so the hood is basically not visible (same as in my GTI). It was much longer than I was expecting. Anyway my wife gets in adjusts all her seats and mirrors and I turn on creep for her (after she requested it). She was a little weirded out because the car was moving and not making any sound. Anyway by the time she was pulling out of the parking lot she had a pretty good grin (but she won't admit it). She drove all the way back and parked it. She liked it, but didn't see why I liked it SO much.We went in. I thanked the sales people, and did one last "This carbon fiber alone is probably worth $15,000?!" to the wife, as a joke. Got the eye roll.
A couple of other notes (some I have put elsewhere):
- The steering wheel is great! The buttons seemed to be a little cheap but not bad in anyway. I like my GTI ones better.
- The seating position is great. And the seats felt very nice also.
- There is plenty of room in all 5 seats. Headroom in the back is cramped, only if you lean back which I only really do if tired/sleeping. But not unacceptable (I only saw pano roofs).
- The pano roof is dark. Really dark. Stare directly at the sun dark.
- Pearl white shows dirt. There were puddles on the road near the store. And well the car was really dirty from them.
- The 17" screen has some seriously dense pixels. I was concerned about resolution on the screen, but not anymore.
- The 17" screen, in night mode, can get really dark. I don't imagine it will be a problem at night.
- I have no problems with the cup holders. They are placed as well as my GTIs and much better than my dad's TT. They hold stuff well.
- Without the 'chin cubby' there would be no practical place to put sunglasses, RFID gate cards, or chapstick/blistex. With it all would be placed in there no problem (maybe not large Oakley like swept sunglasses).
- Panel gaps were tight on the doors. Close on the hood. And fairly distant on the rear hatch (which seems common for trunks/hatches). There was noticeable paint variation on the edges that varied the gaps (but within a mm here). The passenger door/door gap was slightly greater at the bottom (~3.5mm visual measurement) than the top (~2.0 mm visual measurement). But not noticeable from about 3 feet away. They all looked good, with the trunk looking larger but consistent and still good. My hatch panel gaps are about double the width of the other panel gaps on my GTI.
Some things I didn't check:
- I didn't open the glovebox (I tried on the Beta but it didn't work). I don't keep that much crap with me in my car but I don't know how big it is.
- I didn't check true acceleration, but I got 'enough'.
- I didn't check how to mess with the headlights/foglights.
- I didn't check the washer fluid spray (it was empty, or didn't work).
- I didn't check the rear hatch motorized open and close.
Like I said up top. I was in a daze the first moment I saw the S parked out front. It took me until yesterday afternoon before I realized how awesome the car really was. It exceeded my expectations driving, and blew them away on interior and fit and finish. And it looks better in person as well. And I had some really high expectations. I am so glad I am getting my car.
I finalized my order in the store (on my own PC):
Green
Pano Roof
19" wheels
Textile Interior (my wife and I both prefer cloth over leather, and one of the sales people did also)
Piano Black interior
85kWh standard
Tech package
Studio Sound (because I really wanted it)
Air Suspension
Parcel Shelf (because what is another $250 really?)
Single charger
steve841
Active Member
Yeah I was there Saturday from about 1:30 - 2:30 and from about 3:15 to 4:45. With two driving excursions. I was wearing jeans and a blue/green collared shirt. With a black Tesla hat. I'm about 6' with black hair.
I didn't take any real pictures. But here is one of me.
I didn't take any real pictures. But here is one of me.
