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Observations after three test drives

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I have now completed three test drives. P85 about two months ago. Then, this week, I drove an S85 and then a P85 back to back. I thought I would share some thoughts with the board.

Pano roof - sat in the rear seat of a non-pano and then a pano. I see the head room problem now (I am only about 5' 9"). I am not a sunroof guy and typically order cars without. However, I will likely go pano on my build because of the rear seat headroom issue. Just an FYI for those going the same direction for the same reason, if the back seat passenger leans all the way back, he/she will hit the back of the pano roof frame before the headrest. Yes, there is much more room directly above one's head. However, one will hit their head on the back frame of the pano if one leans back all the way (almost unnatural though).

S85 vs P85 - as some have mentioned in this forum, the main difference here is how much lighter the P85 feels. That is the only way I can explain the difference. The S85 is plenty fast from 20+, however it feels like you are moving more weight. The P85 is just stupid quick - as many of you know. Unfortunately, the roads were a little wet from some earlier rain and I really could not get on the throttle as I wanted. From a dead stop to 60mph, the wheels just couldn't hold traction with the torque on either car.

Handling - my first test drive was on springs. The last two had air. I did not detect a big difference regardless of ride height. I may save some money here. However, after coming out of an M5 (and several other German cars), the Model S handles just fine compared to the Germans. I am not saying it is excellent, but it is really good. I have no complaints.

Cyclone wheels - these look better in person than on the ordering site. Not sure if they are worth $2,500, but I could recommend that folks look at these if they want turbines, but not the 21" size.

Parking sensors - These work pretty well. May be worth a second look given that one has to back the Model S into spaces for Supercharging, etc.

Cup holders - buy the center console. I see no way to use the cup holders and still be comfortable driving the car.
 
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Save the money on the Cyclones. You can get TSportline's 19" Turbine lookalikes for $1500 a set. The $1000 savings can go for a set of winter tires on them (which is what I'm opting to do). They really look quite fantastic.

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Thanks for posting. After a very similar situation (3 test drives, the final one being P85 + S85), I went with the P85 as well. I agree with the 'light' feel of the P, but for me the decider was how responsive the 'gas' pedal was going from 0 to 20. On the P, the car responded instantly to the pedal, without lag. On the S, I had to keep the pedal pressed for an extra second (or more) to reach the same level of acceleration. I think this is what everyone describes as feeling 'heavy'.

I will be driving the car in San Francisco, going from 0-30 mph almost every minute. Given this, the choice was easy.
 
Thanks for posting. After a very similar situation (3 test drives, the final one being P85 + S85), I went with the P85 as well. I agree with the 'light' feel of the P, but for me the decider was how responsive the 'gas' pedal was going from 0 to 20. On the P, the car responded instantly to the pedal, without lag. On the S, I had to keep the pedal pressed for an extra second (or more) to reach the same level of acceleration. I think this is what everyone describes as feeling 'heavy'.

I will be driving the car in San Francisco, going from 0-30 mph almost every minute. Given this, the choice was easy.

Your description of the 0-20 mph is spot on. The S85 almost feels like the turbo lag on my current vehicle.
 
Jonathan - possible for sure. I think it was so hard for me to tell because of the slick roads. I believe that both the S85 and P85 had the standard 19" installed, but I did not check to ensure that the both had the Michelin rubber. I was in Illinois that day, so they have not out the 21" back on the cars, yet (from winter storage).
 
If you had a P85 on all season tires and gunned it you'll definitely feel them slip. You need stickier tires for that situation. Smooth acceleration with all season tires still works fine in the P85.
 
Just to chime in on the cup holders, they stink. If you have 1 drink they're fine, put it in the passenger spot. If you have 2 they bump into each other and you can get spills. Plus then you have no driver arm rest. I'm on the long wait for the center console (don't like the after market CCI solution) mostly so I have a decent cup holder. Its a daily issue but i'd suffer forever for the sheer joy of driving the car (but i'd prefer to find a solution).