My 2 pence after my test drive

[Jagdipa]

I just had my first test drive last week (M3 SR+), and thought I would put some of my opinions on here - just want to know what people think.

1. The car is awesome and drives excellently. The acceleration is nothing like I've experienced before.
2. I wish it looked more like the Model S. For this price, I was hoping it would look more . . . Badass.
3. Not having the speed infront of the wheel is going to take some getting use to. I wish someone would create their own heads up display using raspberry pi and the Tesla API.
4. The autopilot is good, but I had a problem with it on the motorway. It warned me about no hands on the wheel, so I put my hands back on. I don't know what I did, but it started giving me warnings. I was on the motorway and didn't want to take my eyes off the road to read the warning, so I took back control. I wish it would say the warning out load.
5. On the motorway again, no one was ahead of me and it decided to undertake some slow cars hogging the middle lane. Not very safe.
6. The back seats are uncomfortable for a 5 foot 11 man. The floor really is too high.

I'm still going to join the club I want to get the M3 LR blue and the first thing I'll do it take off the wheel covers and put in the black wheel nut kit!

 

[Uncle Paul]

The Autopilot needs to confirm you have a hand on the wheel. You need to occasionally give it a tiny turn to make the torque sensor satisfied that you are there. Just holding the wheel will not do it, you need to input some small correction. Otherwise the warnings will continue. Warnings start out subtle, then get more insistent. Then beeps.

 

[Twiglett]

for #5 - don't forget that its up to you to make sure the car doesn't do anything illegal. AP is there to keep you in the lane and not hit the car in front, almost everything is yours to do
Using the centre display takes a little getting used to, but pretty soon you start to love being able to see road though the steering wheel. Going back to an old style car will seem weird.
Yes, the hands on the wheel isn't about them just touching the wheel, its rotational force that's needed.
A simple trick is to apply a really light turning force, just enough so you can feel what AP is doing. If you can feel what its doing, it can register you being engaged. With some practice you'll soon learn just how light a touch it needs and you'll have AP nag free driving.

[edit]
Almost forgot - welcome to TMC

 

[Glan gluaisne]

3. Not having the speed infront of the wheel is going to take some getting use to. I wish someone would create their own heads up display using raspberry pi and the Tesla API.

There are several aftermarket options to do this, some better than others, and a lot comes down to personal preference. Some are discussed in this thread, from about this post onwards: 48.26 UI Changes - thumbs up or down?

4. The autopilot is good, but I had a problem with it on the motorway. It warned me about no hands on the wheel, so I put my hands back on. I don't know what I did, but it started giving me warnings. I was on the motorway and didn't want to take my eyes off the road to read the warning, so I took back control. I wish it would say the warning out load.

5. On the motorway again, no one was ahead of me and it decided to undertake some slow cars hogging the middle lane. Not very safe.

Warnings, phantom braking events, etc are all part and parcel of Tesla life. I can't say that I'm used to them, even after over a year of ownership, but I have learned to adapt, by not using either AP or TACC on anything other than a motorway or very good dual carriageway, always being on the lookout for trigger events that will make the car throw a wobbly (lorries, especially curtain siders, seem to be one pretty regular cause), and always being ready to press the accelerator to override a false emergency braking event (or else risk being rear-ended).

Most of the time, when not using either AP or TACC the car is great, but there are some things that take a bit of getting used to and some things that frankly shouldn't exist on a car at this price point. The performance, though, never ceases to cause a big grin.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

#5 AP will stop you undertaking, unless you override it with the accelerator pedal. If you override it will continue to undertake future cars too, until you disengage AP.

When you next re-engage AP it will default back to not undertaking again.

 

[Dilly]

On our test drive we couldn’t find how to turn the radio off !! We know now...
There are lots of little idiosyncrasies. You’ll get used to them.
You’ll get used to the speedo in no time
You’ll never tire of the acceleration
I like that it’s unassuming in design.
i look like an old fart in a family saloon. Leaving boy racers in hot hatches for dead is a hobby I enjoy

 

[Jagdipa]

I must admit, I did look forward to being at the front of every red light

 

[GRiLLA]

3. There are various Chinese options for #3 after about a day you'll be fine with the position of the speed.
4. You need to provide slight pressure on the wheel, you'll get used to it.
5. It doesn't, must have missed something

 

[Mr H]

With Autopilot i find that just resting my right hand on the lower right of the steering wheel is enough to stop the nags and don't forget to use a referral code when you order for 1000miles of free supercharging, there's one in my profile if you need one

 

[DenkiJidousha]

On our test drive we couldn’t find how to turn the radio off !! We know now...

How? I’ve just turned the volume down to mute which isn’t quite the same thing.

 

[Dilly]

How? I’ve just turned the volume down to mute which isn’t quite the same thing.

That is it. Or just press the left scroll wheel

 

[Twiglett]

How? I’ve just turned the volume down to mute which isn’t quite the same thing.

Just select a different source, something other than radio.
So choosing phone, spotify or USB for instance - if you select one that automatically starts playing at least you can pause it.