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Model S Refresh: Relatively fatiguing when actually driving long distances?

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I know, it sounds click-baity, but I was honestly surprised how sore I was after driving long distances in my new car. Has anybody else found it uncomfortable to actually drive (i.e., no autopiloting) long distances with the yoke?

I spent my first weekend with a new 2022 Model S putting it through the fire: I drove it back and forth across the state (~250 miles each way). I didn't use autopilot on the way down, and I used it just a little on the way back (I was excited to enjoy actually driving the car!). Both times, I arrived with very sore shoulders, tingly hands, and bad headaches. I've never been so fatigued and in pain after driving that route (and to be clear, it's not like I'm normally driving a Lexus--usually the car I drive is very light, has a stiff suspension, has barely any climate control, and has very short gears with an audible engine. While I arrive tired, I'm usually feeling so good and having so much fun that I want to turn around drive another several hours in it).

While I'm getting used to the half-wheel shape of the yoke, I realized that it was the yoke's vertical handles that were literally being a pain:
- The yoke's handles' cross sections are deep and thin, not round like the rim of a wheel. Holding them reminds me of holding a vertical bar of soap (in terms of shape, not because they're actually slippery)
- The yoke's handles are perfectly vertical and don't have any ergonomic bulges or finger indents to help naturally keep your hands in place

I realized that I was keeping a tight grip around the handles so as to prevent gravity from pulling my hands down (even when I tried keeping my thumbs on top to try and anchor them down). Additionally, because of the deep yet thin nature of the grip, there's an uneven pressure put on your hands into your palm and mid-fingers (as opposed to if it was a round cross section, where pressure would be distributed evenly around your hands, palms, and fingers). This was cutting bloodflow to parts of my hands, and after a few hours of tightly gripping, my shoulders and neck muscles got sore, which in turn gave me the bad headache....

I'm aware of the following solutions, but I'm not crazy about them:
- Use autopilot (but I'd like to hope we can drive the car long distances without autopilot and not get punished for it)
- Rest your hands on the top of the bottom bars (while this is a bit more relaxing, I don't really like the control you get and I'm not convinced this isn't dangerous should the airbag go off)
- Keep Advil in the center console

Has anybody else experienced fatigue after long trips without autopilot? If so, did it get better over time? Are my hands just designed wrong? Or am I just holding the yoke wrong (just like my iPhone)?? Or does everybody just use autopilot on long trips?
 
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Try adjusting your seat height and distance towards front, so you can rest right arm on armrest while comfortably holding bottom right round corner of the yoke. Lower the yoke and extend it towards you so that corner can be held without raising arm off of the armrest (but make sure you can still turn yoke without it getting stuck on leg). I’ve found this to be best position for long trips on highway (with and without AP active). You can save this driver seat profile for longer trips, and create others for driving where both hands at 10-2 on yoke are more appropriate (e.g., curvy roads and cornering).
 
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We did a little over 1000 mile trip in our model S plaid and it was very comfortable and the only thing that could’ve made it any better would’ve been that thing that slides out underneath your legs don’t know what they call it. Taller people know what I’m talking about and want to see it is all the way back it just gives your legs a little bit more support.
 
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Just did two 400 miles round trips, found it very relaxing, but the position due to the Yoke is very different that what I setup with a normal wheel.
My yoke is much lower than a normal wheel. I can grab the yoke at the proper place and have my elbows resting on the side rests.
(I’m 6’5 don’t know if that is a factor).
 
I'm aware of the following solutions, but I'm not crazy about them:
- Use autopilot (but I'd like to hope we can drive the car long distances without autopilot and not get punished for it)
- Rest your hands on the top of the bottom bars (while this is a bit more relaxing, I don't really like the control you get and I'm not convinced this isn't dangerous should the airbag go off)
- Keep Advil in the center console

Has anybody else experienced fatigue after long trips without autopilot? If so, did it get better over time? Are my hands just designed wrong? Or am I just holding the yoke wrong (just like my iPhone)?? Or does everybody just use autopilot on long trips?
The answer is yes and this was covered fairly well in this thread:

I would add "convert to a wheel" in your list of solutions. I did and while I still long for turn signal stalks, I find I really enjoy driving the car now. IIRC, weren't you in that thread?

Here is one of my posts from the above thread with a picture of my Hansshow wheel.
 
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I've got a 11/13 built S85 and find it to be the most relaxing road-tripping car I've every driven thanks to its long wheelbase, aerodynamics, sound insulation, lack of an ICE, air suspension, and driving seat position. I've driven 350K miles in my old VW Golf TDI with street/track coilovers, sway bars, but it does a have a 12% taller 5th gear set. While I find the seat and seat position comfy, the noise and vibration from the engine makes long drives a little tiring. While the TDI can go over 700 miles on a tank of fuel, the ~170mi range (I rarely Supercharge beyond 80%) in my old Tesla requires me to stop and charge for 20-50 minutes where I can rest my eyes, stretch, and/or nap. I find that I get to my destinations a few hours later but that I'm more refreshed than when I drove ICE vehicles.

From your description, it sounds like you need to find a more comfortable seating position and to relax more. Make sure you're not driving towards the sun and to drink water from time to time. You may also appreciate some higher profile touring tires as well.
 
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Thanks all for the info and suggestions--as strider points out, there's already a thread about this that has a lot more information (I remember being part of it but had forgotten it also focused a lot on fatigue with the yoke):

Try adjusting your seat height and distance towards front, so you can rest right arm on armrest while comfortably holding bottom right round corner of the yoke. Lower the yoke and extend it towards you so that corner can be held without raising arm off of the armrest (but make sure you can still turn yoke without it getting stuck on leg). I’ve found this to be best position for long trips on highway (with and without AP active). You can save this driver seat profile for longer trips, and create others for driving where both hands at 10-2 on yoke are more appropriate (e.g., curvy roads and cornering).
I've tried a bunch of different positions, including pulling the yoke all the way back, but having multiple profiles is a great idea--thanks!
I don’t have a refresh S, but my current 2018 S and previous 2016 have been very comfortable on long trips.
Yeah, I don't remember having the same issue after spending a weekend with a P100D.

In Controls -> Pedals & Steering, check what steering setting you are using. I prefer Comfort, but I could see Standard or Sport as being more fatiguing.
I made sure I was in comfort mode. I think it might also be I'm holding on too tightly as I'm still not completely comfortable driving the car yet?

Just did two 400 miles round trips, found it very relaxing, but the position due to the Yoke is very different that what I setup with a normal wheel.
My yoke is much lower than a normal wheel. I can grab the yoke at the proper place and have my elbows resting on the side rests.
(I’m 6’5 don’t know if that is a factor).
I've been trying to find a position where I can rest my elbows on the rests--I think I might have to lower my seat a bit more, but it sounds like that's a good way to go.

The answer is yes and this was covered fairly well in this thread:

I would add "convert to a wheel" in your list of solutions. I did and while I still long for turn signal stalks, I find I really enjoy driving the car now. IIRC, weren't you in that thread?

Here is one of my posts from the above thread with a picture of my Hansshow wheel.
I was in that thread, correct. Rereading the original post, I actually forgot (or missed) that he also mentions the poor ergonomics and the fatiguing nature; for some reason I must have been focusing on the half-circle nature of the yoke instead.

How has the Hansshow been working for you, @strider ? I'm still trying to get myself to like the yoke and will try the great advice the others have posted on here (I was hoping to not have to modify the car), but....if I go to a wheel, I think the Hansshow is at the top of the list. Though I do have some concerns after doing more research on it:
- It sounds like you have to do your own splicing for the heater to work...I suppose I could find the part number for the heater wiring harness and get another one so I don't have to cut the original part, but I was hoping for a more plug-and-play installation. Did you do the splicing with yours to get the ehater to work?
- It sounds like some of the fit and finish at certain angles isn't great on the Hansshow...From the front it looks great, but how does yours look from the side? Do you have any issues or concerns with it?
- What type leather did you get to match the existing car's leather? I assume you got the matte carbon fiber, which matches the stock trim?
 
How has the Hansshow been working for you, @strider ? I'm still trying to get myself to like the yoke and will try the great advice the others have posted on here (I was hoping to not have to modify the car), but....if I go to a wheel, I think the Hansshow is at the top of the list. Though I do have some concerns after doing more research on it:
- It sounds like you have to do your own splicing for the heater to work...I suppose I could find the part number for the heater wiring harness and get another one so I don't have to cut the original part, but I was hoping for a more plug-and-play installation. Did you do the splicing with yours to get the ehater to work?
- It sounds like some of the fit and finish at certain angles isn't great on the Hansshow...From the front it looks great, but how does yours look from the side? Do you have any issues or concerns with it?
- What type leather did you get to match the existing car's leather? I assume you got the matte carbon fiber, which matches the stock trim?
I said this in one of the many yoke threads, but I found that my shoulders would be tight after driving with the yoke. I attributed it to either being uncomfortable with the yoke (holding on too tight as you mentioned) or I hadn't found the right adjustment of seat and yoke position. But I switched to the wheel about 9 days in (I ordered it before I got my car - I was able to drive a friend's MS and I knew I would be getting rid of the yoke) and have had no issues with comfort.

I didn't take pictures along the way but I definitely did not splice anything. I'm pretty sure I just plugged in the heater wires into the electronics that I moved over from the yoke.

I think it looks great. I did trim some excess leather that was tucked down into where the electronics goes. It was preventing the electronics from going all the way in and looked funny. Just have some small sharp scissors and you will easily be able to see where you need to trim. I got matte CF and nappa black leather. This picture from their site is my exact order:
6d4df6aa267415d7745becde690dcaa9.jpg


You can see the plug for the heater wires in that picture. Note that only the leather part will be heated. Also in that picture, you can see the leather on the left and right sides where the electronics would go, the leather looks a little floppy there. That is was I was talking about above. You will need to trim that a bit and also make some relief cuts (cut an arrow shape towards the outside of the wheel so when the leather is pushed down it doesn't fold over itself). It sounds harder than it is. It will be obvious when you look at it. Removing the electronics from the yoke is the scariest part. After you remove the screws that hold the airbag mount it is just pressed in so you work it out a little bit at a time all the way around. I used a "spudger" which is a plastic flat-blade screwdriver that I picked up from iFixit for some project or another. You could use an actual flat-blade screwdriver, just wrap some painters or masking tape around the blade so you don't slide up the leather when you are prying.

Here's a side pic:
PXL_20220706_201816564.jpg
 
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Thanks again for all the great pics and information. Regarding the splicing, apparently that was only the first generation of these wheels that required that--everybody else I've talked to says it was just plug and play for them.

I'm looking at the options now, and I think I'm going to get one....at least as soon as I figure out what they're asking here (not that I guess it matters, considering the two options): :D
1657141946792.png
 
Thanks again for all the great pics and information. Regarding the splicing, apparently that was only the first generation of these wheels that required that--everybody else I've talked to says it was just plug and play for them.

I'm looking at the options now, and I think I'm going to get one....at least as soon as I figure out what they're asking here (not that I guess it matters, considering the two options): :D
View attachment 825494
Ha! I think they are trying to tell you that you will have to transfer the electronics and airbag from your yoke.
 
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Why would you not use Autopilot 🤦‍♂️
I (normally) love driving cars--why have a 1000 hp rig and let the car have all the fun by driving itself? 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Though I understand your point: it does feel like this car was designed to make you not want to drive. And EVs tend to not be very engaging or exciting to drive in general (other than flooring them, and even then, it's over in an instant); even the Plaid has shown me that fast does not necessarily equal fun. But I'm trying (and hoping) to find ways of making EVs fun since the industry seems to be moving that way.

When I'm older, hate driving, and need to get to my dialysis appointments quick, I'll be happy to use Autopilot. Until then, I want to have fun driving as often as possible.
 
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