N. Virginia Owners - Does a D matter or is RWD ok?

[Lee_B]

Hi,
This is primarily for the NoVa owners but anyone feel free to chime in. I am debating whether to get a D or RWD Model. To get things out of the way I am not independently wealthy; cost DOES matter to me. I bought this car primarily for no gas and reduced maintenance. I am giving up performance, luxury, and some nice Audi only features. I am coming for a 2013 Audi S6 and as much as I love Audi the cost of ownership is outrageous. I have 90K on my car and have had to replace a Catalytic converter and engine mounts out of warranty. To be fair I bought the car in Europe and drove the hell out of it ; hence the high miles. Nevertheless, 85K is always my car price point and I am not trying to exceed it now. Right now I have a 60D spec out with Prem, Sunroof, Next Gen Seats, and EAP. I didn't get upgraded radio because both radios (standard and UFHS) are awful but one is awful for free. The coils were fine on my multiple test drives and could tell the difference between air and coils. So my question is do I want or need the "D". Right now I have it and have until Monday to make a last minute change. My build date is Feb 16.

 

[zambono]

If you come from the S6 you are going to want the 90D so that performance is similar. I can't comment on snow since my car hasn't really seen any yet. You can skip the Air, and skip the 21's. You might want to reconsider the UHFS, unless you don't mind tearing up the interior of a new car. If you don't open sunroofs much you can get the all glass and save a little. I have the sunroof and it adds creaks and rattles which the service will look at someday, but I do open it as much as I can.

 

[Nick B]

Well I think that having the D is a nice option to have but not a must have. I drive my P85+ in the winter here in Montreal and I have not had any problems. The traction control is very efficient and the car is heavy (which helps a lot with traction). However the D option would be easier to resell over time then a non D car.

 

[Lee_B]

Thanks. Zambono - I want to but cannot in good conscious pay 100k for a car. I know that I lose in performance but 90% of my driving is the 30-60 mph or 30-50 mph acceleration.

Nick - True. The trade off is that AWD vehicles cost more to insure and that offsets over time. The thing is I haven't had a RWD car since 2006. I traded my M3 for a 4.2 A6.

 

[kort677]

having owned both a rwd tesla and an awd tesla it is my opinion that the ride quality of the awd version is far superior to the rwd one. this is only one man's opinion, but if I was to buy another tesla it would have to be a awd car.

 

[Chasedrgc1223]

Hi,
This is primarily for the NoVa owners but anyone feel free to chime in. I am debating whether to get a D or RWD Model. To get things out of the way I am not independently wealthy; cost DOES matter to me. I bought this car primarily for no gas and reduced maintenance. I am giving up performance, luxury, and some nice Audi only features. I am coming for a 2013 Audi S6 and as much as I love Audi the cost of ownership is outrageous. I have 90K on my car and have had to replace a Catalytic converter and engine mounts out of warranty. To be fair I bought the car in Europe and drove the hell out of it ; hence the high miles. Nevertheless, 85K is always my car price point and I am not trying to exceed it now. Right now I have a 60D spec out with Prem, Sunroof, Next Gen Seats, and EAP. I didn't get upgraded radio because both radios (standard and UFHS) are awful but one is awful for free. The coils were fine on my multiple test drives and could tell the difference between air and coils. So my question is do I want or need the "D". Right now I have it and have until Monday to make a last minute change. My build date is Feb 16.

I say go for the D. They handle much better as they feel more planted, and I think you'll want that if you're coming from the S6. Definitely get Air Suspension, though, as the ride is harsh without it. I highly suggest a 90D for you.

 

[Lee_B]

I know - 18K though for a sec and some range. that's a lot for a lil IMHO. hard for me to justify an extra 200 a month and higher premiums

 

[Nicola_Won]

I received my showroom 70D end of December and the reason I went for a D and not RWD is the handling. I test drove the 90D and the 60RWD and when you put your foot down it fishtails a bit and is frightening as hell. The D holds to the ground and gives you absolute control. If you have an Audi S class, you'll want the D otherwise you'll assume the tesla doesn't handle well. The sales rep said he thinks Tesla are to phase out the RWD option. Not sure how much of that is rumour though. Get rid of the sunroof and go all glass to save instead. Be mindful though if you want to install a whisper bar to mount bikes/skis - you'll need the panoramic sunroof for that.

 

[kort677]

I know - 18K though for a sec and some range. that's a lot for a lil IMHO. hard for me to justify an extra 200 a month and higher premiums

maybe you should shop around for insurance quotes, when I went from my rwd '14 to an awd '15 my rates were essentially the same if not a few bucks lower.

 

[_jal_]

I borrowed a AWD w/air for 24 hours. It as very very nice. I leased a RWD with coil and it is very nice. I still consider this endeavor a high risk proposition so I kind of didn't want to put too much $$ out there. We've had some snow here in Chicago and the RWD handled just fine and I still have the Good Year all weather tires on! I went into the deal thinking I'd only do the AWD and air suspension, but its SO EXPENSIVE! So I got the plain old 60! The SC said I'm the only one of those they have seen! It's awesome though. I got the pano roof and premium package though (so I have the luxury of the automatic tailgate ). I'm going to put the $15k or whatever I saved toward my miles over the lease

 

[jrreno]

Our stats are in the signature. We have been very happy with the ride quality in all those miles. One reason I love the rwd is the extra room I have in the frunk. On our travels that extra space come in very handy and it keeps items out of sight.

 

[zambono]

Our stats are in the signature. We have been very happy with the ride quality in all those miles. One reason I love the rwd is the extra room I have in the frunk. On our travels that extra space come in very handy and it keeps items out of sight.

But you are in Florida and OP is concerned about the weather in the mid atlantic. If I was in FL I wouldn't bother with the D, other than the increased performance

 

[Lee_B]

That's where Im at. I wont pretend I wont miss 15k

 

[Lee_B]

maybe you should shop around for insurance quotes, when I went from my rwd '14 to an awd '15 my rates were essentially the same if not a few bucks lower.

The insurance isn't an issue but from my experience AWD costs more to insure than RWD vehicles.

 

[Pezpunk]

i'm in northern virginia. in my opinion, AWD is the only way to go! it makes a humongous difference in poor conditions, which can hit pretty abruptly around here. it was 68 degrees yesterday and we are supposed to get an ice storm tonight?

it makes a huge difference, even just in the rain.

my prior car was a Challenger, and that thing was downright treacherous in any adverse conditions. my P100D has yet to show a hint of slippage, and i drove from Bristow to Alexandria and back during that 2 inches of ice and snow we had a couple weekends ago (i'm sure there are upstate new yorkers ready to scoff at two inches, i know it isn't much, but depth isn't really the issue in terms of traction). i was very glad i wasn't driving a RWD car!

 

[mediocreguy]

I've been very pleased with my S60 RWD - 5K for 8 miles of range and 0.3 seconds of 0-60 was not worth it - but it depends on your priorities. I felt 2.5K for the UHFS was worth it - it sounds great to me. The power and acceleration of even the base RWD model is really awesome - I like the feeling of being "pushed". I haven't driven an AWD model, but others have stated the AWD gives a feeling of been "launched". I haven't experienced any of the slippage issues that have been noted by others - the traction from standing start is constant and smooth to me. I also felt the RWD without air suspension was a simpler vehicle - with less to mechanical stuff to break over time. I think you'll be pleased with either model - good luck on your purchase.

 

[Travis Denardo]

@Lee_B I have a S85 RWD Classic (Pre-AP). I've owned it just less than a year (CPO from Tesla). This last week was the first time I was able to try it in the snow/ice with the 2" snow storm we had.

I can say the car did very well in the snow covered roads in my neighborhood with some small hills. The traction control kicked in several times in half a mile. The main roads were clear by the time I ventured out that night.

Where it did not succeed was when I was backing into the garage. The driveway was cleared, but the melt began to freeze. My driveway is rather steep at nearly a 30deg+ angle. It took a couple of trys, and I was afraid to give it the running start I normally would in drive because of control, so that could have been the problem. I only made it about 90% of the way and the wheels were just spinning, and traction control stopped them completely.

The car was perfect when I decided to pull in the garage with a bit of a running start, it did it with ease and minimal wheel spin.

If you don't have any big hills to go up, I know there are some in this area, the RWD will be fine. I'm coming off an Acura TL AWD Manual Trans, which did rather well in snow. I do notice the "fishtail" on hard turns and acceleration, but it's still fun.

It's ultimately up to you, but if you don't have any big hills, or don't care about the extra performance and handling, RWD is fine. If I had the money, I would have chosen AWD.

 

[andrewket]

I previously had a P85+ (RWD), and two D's since. If money is a major factor, RWD will serve you just fine in NoVA. Take the $ you save and put it into tires; it will likely have more of an impact. Having said that, I do like the feel of the D's better, and not just in the winter. These cars have a lot of power, and having 4 wheels working for you is better than 2 if you like to drive spiritedly.

 

[JCLeonard]

Our stats are in the signature. We have been very happy with the ride quality in all those miles. One reason I love the rwd is the extra room I have in the frunk. On our travels that extra space come in very handy and it keeps items out of sight.

Disclaimer: I do not own a Tesla, yet. We live in Minnesota where the winters are cold and the snow is plentiful.

IIRC, the frunk is the same size on all models now. The current generation of RWD models does not have the larger frunk like prior generations: The Incredible Shrinking Frunk

This is how I proved to my wife that her AWD Subaru not necessarily "better" than a RWD car fitted with proper winter tires. I factored those winter tires/wheels into the cost of buying our Leaf:

 

[kort677]

The insurance isn't an issue but from my experience AWD costs more to insure than RWD vehicles.

like I noted in my post, that has not been my experience.