Was at Menlo today and stumbled on this beauty in the service bay. me: "Whoa - whose is THAT and where did they get that airdam and fog combo?" tech: "That's ours - it's a potential new upgrade for roadsters. what do you think?" me: :love: "I think it Rocks! I want the first one, as soon as it's available!" Just so you know, from what I was told, this is apparently not yet green-lighted by mgt. Consider this unofficial or "exploratory" for now. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that's a 1.5. Apparently this will fit all roadsters (?). Look closely - this car is testing two upgrades... not clear if they'll be available separately or if it's a bundle. The HID headlight cluster has a new brighter Xenon DRL unit. Technically not a DRL as it is switchable (at least in U.S.) - comes on at that first click, the parking-lights setting in a normal car. can see that in some of these pics. You could drive it with just those new DRL's and (optionally) the fogs on. (yeah, i know, probably not legal... whatever. Was a really cool look that way.) No, sorry, no price known, no estimate I could get out of the techs. No date, no probability, nothing. but they did let me take some pics, so i'm guessing that means it's fairly likely to come out? or maybe they just want some more comments on it. FWIW, I have the HID upgrade in my 2.0 sport, and while I couldn't put them side-by-side, that new in-cluster point Xenon light is freaking bright! seemed brighter than whatever I have, even with my upgraded cluster. seemed more "bluish" too. and I couldn't remember if the one I have comes on with parking lights or not. Wish I had more details, but the best news for me was that despite all that's going on at Tesla, there are still resources being applied to some nice upgrades for Roadster owners! Enjoy... --josh (sorry for the low-quality pics... just had my iphone available!)
Damn... i just know someone's going to ask if I noted the VIN on this car. I should have thought of that, but I didn't. If anyone's going to Menlo to pick up or drop off a car for service, try to see this car and get the VIN. Guys like TEG like tracking stuff like that!
Looks fantastic, but I'd rather see a CF rear diffuser & tail light combo first... I don't see that exact grill fitting a 2.5 though.
Tesla just dropped the CF front lip and rear diffusor from Model S Performance. Check George Blankenship's blog entry: So why would they want to add CF to the Roadster in similar location?
Given the difficulties Tesla encountered with the CF diffuser chipping on the Performance Model S (which led them to pull that CF element), I wonder how well the CF on this airdam will hold up?
Maybe it was just a cost reduction issue or they thought Model S customers would be less likely to tolerate the damage to the diffuser than Roadster customers. Looks nice though.
How well does that weave match that of the CF on the rollbar? What I find interesting and actually refreshing about this is that it's a 1.5 only upgrade.
I've seen it in person. It matches the weave on the front bumper for those of us who got the cf upgrade (well, not counting any scrapes -- that's on me). It will be fine.
The Roadster already has a CF lip Volker...for those of us who added the CF exterior option, the lower front lip matches the roll bar. My Roadster is a daily driver...I've never had an issue with the front lip...
I like the look of it - it moves the 1.5 style front nose into the design family of the 2.0, 2.5, and the Model S.
Yes the 2.0 and 1.5 have the same nose. You can't really tell them apart from the outside, the wheels are the best clue that it may not be a 1.5
Put some paint armor on it! Sign me up for the fog lights - that's definitely useful in the Bay Area.