Model S Shows Its True Colors (Photos)

[MikeK]

Waiting for someone to start crying about the body gaps in 3... 2...

1... Nah.

Thanks, George, these are super helpful.

One observation for folks looking at the two whites: The solid white lighting angle is just a tiny bit different -- you can see that the car is casting a little bit more of a shadow at the rear, while the pearl looks like it was closer to direct ahead/overhead. So, the highlights are a bit muted on the side of the solid white car, and I don't think that's all because of the paint. (The pearl probably does highlight a bit more, though.)

The same is true on the green -- the side towards the camera is a little bit in shadow, so it doesn't show the same highlights as some of the other colors.

No criticism intended here -- just pointing out a subtle difference that could influence perception if somebody isn't aware of it.

 

[doug]

I put a direct link to the Flickr set in the second post and embedded the pics, sorting them by similar colors. The post is a wiki, so someone else can put in the official color names if he or she wants.

 

[Adm]

Waiting for someone to start crying about the body gaps in 3... 2...

Well as a matter of fact: The frunk lid fit at the nose cone is very different on the different cars. Fire engine red looks very good, but Sig red and blue are ... well... not so good. I suspect this can be adjusted with the locking mechanisms of the frunk, but it looks sloppy at best now.

 

[ddruz]

These photos are great! But it would also be very helpful if Tesla would post similar pictures of all the colors with the standard 19" wheels. After all that's what most people will be getting and the car colors do compare differently with different wheels.

 

[Right_Said_Fred]

These photos are great! But it would also be very helpful if Tesla would post similar pictures of all the colors with the standard 19" wheels. After all that's what most people will be getting and the car colors do compare differently with different wheels.

I think pictures with all cars with the dark grey performance wheels would be an even better idea, because you can then see if that dark grey color matches with your preferred exterior color. The 19" wheels are silver, like the 21" in these pictures, so matching colors is less of an issue.

Thank you George and the Tesla-team for taking and posting these pictures. A great help, also for us in Europe (The Netherlands) who are anxiously waiting for news on pricing and delivery planning :wink:.

 

[sp4rk]

Thanks George, for really trying, but I feel, no criticism intended, (and having been, decades ago, a professional photographer), that the photos suffer from what is I think called, , "subject failure". (Not "S" failure.)

The problem is that it would be better if ...

1) All cars were placed next to each other, so a comparison could be made.

2) More importantly, the cars should have been photographed in a studio with "tent" lighting or just a neutral (white) background.

As it is, all colors are subject to influence of the GREEN grass.

Further, candidly, I was "waiting" for the red, and now that I have seen the current red, the gorgeous "wine" red, and now see the HOT red; to me it's far too bright. I like subtlety. And that red "screams" or is its tone overly influenced by the green?

Thanks for your time, effort, and I hope my observation is taken as constructive criticism as intended.

 

[J in MN]

NOOO!!! The automatic white balance and exposure settings on the camera completely ruined the pictures!

 

[JakeP]

I cannot stop looking through these images...a thousand words, indeed. Please add more, with the grey performance wheels and the 19" wheels! I have never seen what the grey wheel looks like on the green, apart from my own amateurish photoshop efforts.

I would also love to see shots of the interiors through an open door, though I realize that not every exterior/interior combination has even been manufactured yet, nor will they be until the Sig production completes.

And while I am no photographer and can certainly not comment on the picture quality and influence of surrounding light and shadow...I do feel that these images give a good "real life" impression of a car that will, in fact, always be surrounded by objects of other colors, and a different mix of light and shadow. Shots of all cars under tent lighting with a grey card would be excellent for comparative and monitor-calibration purposes, but this series shows me what they all look like in the real world, under reasonably similar conditions.

Once again, thank you GeorgeB...and keep 'em coming!

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Hi everyone.

I've been watching all the threads about having Model S "true colors" stand up. So yesterday, we photographed all 10 colors of Model S in the same place, in the same lighting, with the same camera, from the same angle. We have posted the images here:

Event Gallery | Tesla Motors

More to come...

Please enjoy!!!

GeorgeB

Thank you George,
you helped me to work out a real dilemma that I had concerning the colour of the Model S of my dreams.

 

[contaygious]

Well as a matter of fact: The frunk lid fit at the nose cone is very different on the different cars. Fire engine red looks very good, but Sig red and blue are ... well... not so good. I suspect this can be adjusted with the locking mechanisms of the frunk, but it looks sloppy at best now.

Noticed this too. The pearl has bigger gaps on the frunk than the white. It actually looks partially open around the lights too. I hope this gets resolved!

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Noticed this too. The pearl has bigger gaps on the frunk than the white. It actually looks partially open around the lights too. I hope this gets resolved!

I think it's a problem of alignment. I heard that first Model S cars had problems of this kind. But I also read that Tesla has worked out the problem.

 

[contaygious]

Hope so it's just that these pictures I assume are of the latest cares right?

 

[Trnsl8r]

Is it just me or does Silver have its suspension on maximum height?

 

[mlascano]

Is it just me or does Silver have its suspension on maximum height?

Now that you mention it, they all look kind of high to me.
I wonder if they raised the supension to get them on the grass and didn't drop it to normal height prior to shooting the pics.

 

[MikeK]

The Silver definitely looks like it's raised on the air suspension.

Hope so it's just that these pictures I assume are of the latest cares right?

I believe that most if not all of the cars in these photos are the familiar Get Amped fleet, so they are early build and have various issues with gap and flush.

At the August event in Palo Alto, three new, recently-produced cars made an appearance. There was a Pacific Blue Performance with a panoramic roof. There was a Black Performance with a panoramic roof, and there was a Silver car with a body color roof.

The Pacific Blue car in these photos has a solid roof, so it is probably the other blue Get Amped car that was at the very first event in Fremont and at many events since then. The silver car has the panoramic roof, so it is probably an earlier car. I think the black may well be the new one -- the interior is the same as the car I saw in Palo Alto. It's hard to tell from this angle but the trunk gap looks tighter and the hood also looks good, but there is a small alignment issue with the chrome trim at the back of the rear door, and the car in Palo Alto had an issue in the same location.

Hot damn the white looks nice with the 21" wheels. Anybody want to trade for 19's?

 

[Todd Burch]

The two best looks, in my opinion, are performance sig red (w/ spoiler and gray wheels) and performance white (spoiler and gray wheels).

Since I'm not getting the performance (anyone want to provide a $10,000 donation to my charitable cause?), I locked in standard dolphin gray. (My wife doesn't want a white car...)

But looking at these pics, I'm wondering if I should switch to white, and then have my 19s powder coated black or dark gray.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Hope so it's just that these pictures I assume are of the latest cares right?

I don't know. Anyway I hope that by next year these problems of alignment will be solved for EU deliveries. We are lucky that in the USA you are so careful for quality and have in this way a better car for EU deliveries.

 

[Jason S]

I don't know. Anyway I hope that by next year these problems of alignment will be solved for EU deliveries. We are lucky that in the USA you are so careful for quality and have in this way a better car for EU deliveries.

EU cars will be very refined. Delayed compared to US deliveries, but think of all the V1.0 issues that'll be solved!

 

[bonnie]

George, thank you for taking the time to arrange for the photos in response to forum members' requests. It IS appreciated.

 

[Jason S]

Now that you mention it, they all look kind of high to me.
I wonder if they raised the supension to get them on the grass and didn't drop it to normal height prior to shooting the pics.

I'd mentioned in an event last year that it would be nice if the suspension stayed at highest level to ease getting in/out of the car. When at its lowest it is a bit larger drop into the seats, but higher is slightly easier.

So I kinda hope they implemented that. :smile: