Only 1 of the two rear wheels.What does partial consist of?
Kidding! Let me go find a hopefully relevant post on the subject.
Update:
Signature P85+ Retrofit - Page 2
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Only 1 of the two rear wheels.What does partial consist of?
Pretty certain its not quite that simple...and I had the s85 with the 21's...its no +
Only 1 of the two rear wheels.
Kidding! Let me go find a hopefully relevant post on the subject.
Update:
Signature P85+ Retrofit - Page 2
Cheaper alternative would be buying any Model S with the coil suspension. It is 80-90% as good as the plus. After putting even wider and grippier tires on my car it feels like like a P85++
Funny. . .I had the opposite experience. Got a P85+ as a loaner and thought it was too tight and too rigid. I'm sure I'll get overwhelmingly shot down on this one but for driving around town on freeways and surface streets that was my experience. I think you really really have to caveat your original comments when comparing driving with 21's against 19" winters, to the point of discounting it as not really a fair comparison.
$15K partial, $25K full
Had my P85+ in for some punch list items on Nov 5. Watertown, MA SC loaned me a P85. A nice, sweet, seemingly well-maintained P85.
I really can't remember my original test drive back in July -- was it in a P85 or a P85+? It was just so awesome, details are drowned out. Well... when I purchased the +, it was all about the midlife crisis. I'm an ordinary driver. I've had and enjoyed an Audi A4 Quattro 3.2. Great car, lotta fun. But an @lolachampcar, I'm not. I just figured that I was just gonna go for max fun, no limits on the purchase options, just get everything. I figured I'd get a friend to take me out onto a track at some point and show me the car's true abilities. My + was delivered on August 7, and I have loved this car to death ever since. Wow, wow, wow!
So Tuesday was my first opportunity for an extended drive in the P85. Based on everything I've read, I thought the P85 should be just as much fun as the P85+. Maybe a little slower off the mark, what with the winter tires installed on this one instead of the fancy 21s. Maybe a little software-limited loaner velocity (ick). What could *I* possibly do that would ever show off the handling differences between a P85 and a P85+? Me, a little non-professional, ordinary driver?
Oh.
My.
GAWD!!!!!!!!
The P85 is no shabby beast, and I'd happily have that car in my garage compared to anything else I'd been looking at in the last year. Especially with the electric motor, the instant torque, the zero emissions, all the other many wonderful things about the Model S.
But HOLY JEEPERS CREEPERS do I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the handling of the +!!! (Those are NOT cut-n-paste LOVEs. Those are honest-to-gosh hand-typed each-and-every-one LOVEs.)
Now I understand what people are talking about when they say that the + goes where you point it. Or that the + holds corners so nicely. Or accelerates without any fuss.
The P85 is a great car, but you're gonna hafta take more care with it when you motor through the curves. The first thing I noticed was that even in straight-line acceleration, with traction control, the P85's rear end is loose. I managed to create a nice shimmy without even flooring it. I came back and asked the Service Manager about all this, and asked him whether I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing, and he just smiled and said, "yup".
I am still fantasizing about giving this car to the wife and getting another Model S -- just on safety grounds alone, I'd rather she be in a Model S. I was thinking that I could get myself a P85 and be happy. (I haven't figured out exactly how I'm paying for the next one, so this may just bubble along as a fantasy for another year.) But now there is NO WAY IN HECK I am going to be happy getting a P85 instead of a P85+.
So... was my experience in the P85 versus P85+ representative? Or am I being unfair to the P85?
Thanks,
Alan
P.S. I can only imagine how speeds above 80 (for the sake of argument, not saying that I ever got the loaner anywhere near that software limit) and/or pushing the car on a test track would magnify the apparent handling differences between the two models.
P.P.S. Forgive me, I created this text in another thread and copied and modified it a bit and posted it here to get some feedback. I don't mean to annoy anyone with double-posting / cross-posting.
Funny. . .I had the opposite experience. Got a P85+ as a loaner and thought it was too tight and too rigid. I'm sure I'll get overwhelmingly shot down on this one but for driving around town on freeways and surface streets that was my experience. I think you really really have to caveat your original comments when comparing driving with 21's against 19" winters, to the point of discounting it as not really a fair comparison.
Funny. . .I had the opposite experience. Got a P85+ as a loaner and thought it was too tight and too rigid. I'm sure I'll get overwhelmingly shot down on this one but for driving around town on freeways and surface streets that was my experience. I think you really really have to caveat your original comments when comparing driving with 21's against 19" winters, to the point of discounting it as not really a fair comparison.
I agree, the wheels and tires are the high-order bit. Before buying, I drove two P85s, identical except for 19" vs. 21" wheels. The tail of the 19" was all over the place under aggressive acceleration, whereas the 21" felt rock solid, totally controlled.
P85 is to P85+ as Lexus GS is to BMW 5-series. It's not better or worse, it's just different goals.
FWIW, I think the wheels (and tires) matter more than usual because Tesla went with an open differential + single-wheel braking rather than a more conventional LSD. Overall I think that was a good call, but it does require a lot of road contact to behave well.
What tires did you have on these wheels? A 19" with the same summer performance tire should be just as good (if not better, actually) than the 21".
I wish I'd thought to check that at the time. Presumably whatever comes stock in each case.
Just out of curiosity, why would you expect the 19" to perform better? The smaller radius should imply less tire in contact with the road (front to back), and the 19" is narrower (side to side) as well.
Tesla told me that the width of both 19" and 21" tires are the same. The only difference is that the 21" wheels have less sidewall, therefore a stiffer ride. I don't know much about tires.
I wish I'd thought to check that at the time. Presumably whatever comes stock in each case.
Just out of curiosity, why would you expect the 19" to perform better? The smaller radius should imply less tire in contact with the road (front to back), and the 19" is narrower (side to side) as well.
Tesla told me that the width of both 19" and 21" tires are the same. The only difference is that the 21" wheels have less sidewall, therefore a stiffer ride. I don't know much about tires.