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Model X Owner Shares Review of New Model Y

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TMC member WolfieSenior said “Yes please!” when the local service center offered up a Midnight Silver Performance Model Y last week. After spending a bit of time with the car, WolfieSenior posted a detailed review of the new ride and some comparisons to the Model X. Check it out below.

So this is a Model Y Performance with the 21’’ Überturbine Wheels,” WolfieSenior wrote. “Been driving a 2017 Model X P100DL with AP2 and MCU1….so a few differences stood out right away and I figured I’d put them into a thread for anyone interested.Driving:– The size doesn’t feel tremendously different from the X. Smaller obviously, but sometimes you get into a smaller or bigger vehicle than you’re used to and the size difference is striking….definitely not the case here.– Steering feeling is one immediately obvious difference. The Y has almost no dead zone to the steering, so it feels really quick and responsive. Even on the X with steering in Sport mode, there’s a bit of sponginess. I like the actual tactile feeling of the steering wheel itself on the X, there’s a bit more grip and I believe it’s a bit bigger overall. But going back and forth to the X, the steering just feels slower and a touch lifeless in the X. The Y is incredibly fun to drive, in my opinion.– The ride is certainly firmer on the Y. 21″ wheels are certainly a factor. The X currently has winter tires on, but even on 21″ tires it doesn’t feel as firm as the Y. I’m guessing the air suspension is a factor here.– The Model Y performance doesn’t quite have the “pin you to your seat” acceleration off the line as the MX P100DL. Roads are a bit damp, but I don’t think it’s a traction control thing. Feels like the acceleration from a stop takes about a second to really start clipping. The P100DL in ludicrous mode really is ludicrous (even without launch mode), feels much more like a roller coaster launching. The Y is definitely easing you into it more. At about 20mph and above, they’re feeling pretty similar in terms of “punch”, it’s really just from a standstill that it’s noticeable. If the difference in 0-60 times is say 2.9s vs 3.5s, I’d say that 0.6s difference largely happens in about the first 0.6s of acceleration. None of this is unexpected of course, but I was a bit surprised at how different 2.9s vs 3.5s feels.Interior:– I’m really missing that additional screen that’s in the X. I’m guessing the Model 3 style single screen interior takes some getting used to and since it’s a similar interior, the issue has probably been talked to death. The screen looks great in the Y, but not quite as convenient or driver-friendly as the X.– The overall finish and build quality seems really good. No strange air whistling on the highway, no door seals that look slightly mangled like I’ve seen on our X, a really quiet ride overall. The entire vehicle seems like a much tighter build than the 2017 X overall….not sure if this comes down to QC improvements, an easier to build design, or both of those….but they’ve done a really great job with it from what I’ve noticed so far.– Felt like my lower back was getting a bit warmer in the Y seats for some reason. Seat heaters were off, so maybe it has to do with the material. Our X has a cloth interior, so perhaps that breathes a bit more.– The storage is just awesome. The X has tons of storage as well, but the Y really doesn’t feel like a big step down….add in the ability to install roof racks and the Y is really impressive here. I know I’ve moved a few things in the X that probably wouldn’t fit in the Y, but there’s still a lot of real estate in there.– The front wireless phone chargers/pad are great. My Note 8 has a fairly thin rubber case, and that seems to be enough to prevent the Qi charging from engaging (even though it’s fine on other desktop wireless chargers I’ve tried), but it was fine with the case off. The size, position, grip etc is great though….so long as phones don’t get any bigger! The Note 8 just barely fits from top to bottom.– Like the use of magnets on the mirrors and console lids. Feels premium, no cheap clicks and nothing mechanical that seems like it’ll stop working over time.– Homelink missing is a drag. Sounds like it can be added/installed and I’ll probably do that at some point. So odd to be driving around in an insanely futuristic (and still expensive) vehicle and have an old garage door opener from the 90’s sitting in the center compartment! I’m assuming there’s some licensing/cost reason and this was just one of those things that had to go to hit a certain price.– The single piece of glass over the cabin of the Y is really impressive….but there’s an asterisk here…..it’s really impressive if you’re sitting in the back seats! From the driver’s seat, your field of view pretty much ends at the top of the windshield, so you really see zero of that amazing glass in your peripheral vision. The windshield on the X is just striking from the front seat position, it feels like you’re in a helicopter and it’s hard to not be constantly impressed by how open it feels….but obviously that effect is lost in the back seats of the X to a large extent. So I’m torn on this one….the single piece of glass is really impressive…but the X windshield is also really impressive and the overall effect depends on where you’re sitting. Since I’m usually driving, I’m kind of missing that X windshield but wouldn’t take anything away from how impressive the “roof” glass is on the Y.– The optical effect that happens on wet X glass is again, pretty striking. Doesn’t exist on the Y. I’ve had so many people comment on the crazy orange colour that appears with droplets on the X glass, quite a few people have though that it was some kind of custom or after-market thing. Just doesn’t exist on the Y. Taking delivery at the SC yesterday, it was hard not to notice an entire row of Model X’s with their magical orange glass in the rain yesterday.Exterior:– I really dig the look of the Y. The carbon fiber spoiler looks great and the black trim (versus chrome) certainly looks more modern. I do love the adaptive spoiler on our X, I believe those stopped being available about a month after our build date. I don’t know how much the adaptive spoiler on the X really effects performance, but it looks great and it’s one of my favorite differentiating features on the P100D. The Y is a really nice design though, I really like the shape of the lower rear spoiler/lip/diffuser/whatever-its-called around the rear bumper.– I wish I could tow! I use towing on the X fairly frequently. I’ve tried to read up on what the deal is with the Y, if it will ever be something that can be retrofitted (guessing not) or if it’s only going to exist in European markets. Whatever the status of all of that, I’d love to be able to put a hitch on the back.I can’t directly compare to a 3 because I haven’t driven one, and it’s been quite a while since I’ve driven an S, but feel free to ask any relevant questions and I’ll try to weigh in.

See the full post here.