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P85D sighting / test drives
- Thread starter Aargau
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Folks, can the reduced range discussion be taken to this thread please?!
Range Reduced on Dual Motor Configs?
Range Reduced on Dual Motor Configs?
I was able to drive a P85D today briefly. For those of you asking how it feels, if you have ever been on "California Screamin" at Disney's California Adventure, well, that is how it feels -- just like the acceleration stretch at the very start of that ride. The force on your body is severe and I suspect that unhealthy individuals could even approach the black-out point. I was very happy to find that the car handles amazingly well and that the power does not get in the way of the driving experience. I drive a Lotus Elise so this car is on the opposite end of the weight spectrum, however I found it very fun to drive. I would love to get it out on an autocross course just to see what it can do at the limit.
dennis
Model S Plaid
The manager of the Tesla store in Fremont confirmed with me today that P85D test DRIVES are now authorized. No more requirement to just be a passenger!
3s-a-charm
Active Member
Seems very unlikely: the P85D's longitudinal acceleration is just about 1g max, so the net force on the body is about 1.4g during a straight-line launch. You'd have to be near death to pass out at 1.4g. Soft-tissue neck injuries, OTOH, may be on the rise once people get these cars in their hands.
I think part of the pre-launch checklist should be to have your passengers lean back and put their heads in contact with the headrests. :wink:
Net force: the sum of all forces. 1g downward (gravity) + 1g longitudinal acceleration is about 1.4g net.
Vector summation. It's easy: draw a 1-unit arrow pointing vertically downward (that's gravity); draw a second, 1-unit arrow pointing to the left with its tail originating at the arrowhead of the first arrow (that's the 1g force due to longitudinal acceleration from left to right); draw a third arrow connecting the tail of the first arrow to the head of the second arrow (that's the vector sum of the force of gravity plus the longitudinal acceleration). Notice it's an isosceles right triangle with the hypotenuse representing the vector sum: Pythagoras would have us believe that the length of the hypotenuse is the square root of 2, or 1.414...) So a person seated in a P85D during a 1g launch experiences a force down and aft at a 45º angle to the vertical, with magnitude ~1.4g.
Depending on how close the tires come to their limit of adhesion during the launch, you might be able to experience a somewhat higher g-force by initiating a turn while accelerating. But I seem to recall a reviewer's skid pad test maxing out right around 1g (does anybody have the reference?), so probably not much. Back off the throttle a little and turn hard, and you'll be really glad you ordered the next gen seats. :biggrin:
We now return you to your regularly scheduled topic...
No, not quite: you'll feel 1g instead of 1.4g. Interestingly (and relevant to your comment), full motion flight simulators trick the brain by pitching the cab up to put the occupants on their backs when the power lever(s) are advanced to 'accelerate' for takeoff.
Yes, I know, my comment was meant to be a little hyperbolic. The physiological effects are real though. Did you notice any effects during your D drive?
Definitely agree and I would not even wink when suggesting it to passengers.
I haven't ridden in or driven a D yet. But I do remember what it feels like when the Incredible Hulk coaster at Universal Studios in Orlando launches you up the tube...:biggrin:
I'm good for about 4g before I start graying out.
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
I got to test drive a P85D today, at the Route 17 Paramus, NJ location, where they were having their grand opening. It had only arrived this morning.
I live in Ithaca, and had scheduled a test drive at the Garden State Plaza Gallery location back in October, for today, before I had even ordered the Model S. (I was going to be in this area today.) I wound up ordering the P85D without seeing a Model S. Over Thanksgiving we made a trip to Boston and on the way home stopped at the Natick location, where I had scheduled a test drive about a week before. That was my first time seeing and driving a Model S. You can read about that here if you like: Going to see and test drive a model S for the first time today
Anyway, back to today. I had briefly wondered if I should cancel today's scheduled test drive, but I really wanted more time with the car, and hoped maybe they'd have a P85D available. I checked yesterday to see if there was a P85D at either location yet (The Garden State Plaza location or the Route 17 location that was having its grand opening) and there was not. I decided to keep the test drive appointment (it was not a hard decision) and then go over to the Route 17 location mainly to see the superchargers, the supercharger lounge, and the service center.
The test drive of the P85+ was lots of fun and very informative. I didn't get to really experience a heck of a lot of anything too exciting, as there was a lot of traffic, but I did set creep mode to off, and regenerative braking to regular, and that was quite different from my first test drive. The woman that helped us at that location was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful, so it was a very positive experience.
My wife and I then went over to the Route 17 location, where the grand opening was taking place. They had some food platters out with some sandwiches, fruit, and cookies. I had a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies as we waited for a representative and looked around. When we did speak to a rep, I introduced myself, explained where we had just been, that I had a P85D ordered, and that we were there really to just see the place and to see the service center. As we entered the service center the rep mentioned that they had just gotten a P85D that morning, and pointed to it. I said something stupid like, "But it's not ready for test drives yet, right?", and he said, "Actually, it is. Do you want to drive it?" Needless to say, he did not have to ask me twice!
As we walked over towards the car I asked him if it had the Next Generation seats. He said it did, at which point I turned to my wife, and said we'd need to see if the back seats could fold flat, and take pictures, because there were a lot of people on the forums that wanted to know that. At which point the rep said that it only had the Next Generation seat in the front. Oh well.
The rep left to get a license plate for the car, and, presumably, to make sure that I wasn't really some nutjob off the street making stuff up, and came back a few minutes later and we were ready to go.
The rep set the driving mode to "Insane." Note that there is no steering mode selectable, as on other models. Because the rep was from the Short Hills location, and this was only his second test drive in the P85D, he didn't have a good place picked out where I could try a launch or two. It was also dark. He was trying to find places, using the navigation system, but we were failing. I wound up trying one--kind of--from maybe 10 or 15 miles per hour, but it scared the hell out of me, and I totally wimped out! I never floored it to begin with, and I think I eased off the accelerator at about 55, which means it was probably about two second later. In my defense, it was dark, the road probably wasn't the best for that at all, and I had never felt acceleration anything like that before in my life! Well, at least not in a car that I was driving.
I tried a couple of other little accelerations when I could, but nothing as severe as that one.
For what it's worth, my wife, who has an issue with motion sickness, and puts on motion sickness patches if we go to an amusement park or on a boat, actually got motion sick from the very few seconds of acceleration, and did not feel well for the rest of the test drive, and for about an hour afterwards. When we get our car, we may go through a lot of patches. (Or I may not get to drive very aggressively with her in the car.)
I did notice a high pitched sound from the front engine pretty much whenever I was accelerating. I noticed it when I was accelerating lightly to moderately. The one time I really punched it I didn't notice much of anything other than the fact that things were coming at me very fast.
Also quite cool was the fact that the speed alert was set in such a way that any time my speed exceeded the speed limit by a small amount, the speed limit sign would display on the dashboard. Also there is a little white line on the speedometer indicating the current speed limit. We were approaching a 50 MPH sign and the white line was indicating that the speed limit was 55, and I remarked that it was a little off, but just as we passed the 50 MPH sign, the white line moved to 50 MPH. Presumably when I thought it was off, we really had been in a 55 MPH zone.
I did take a picture of the sticker, but others have uploaded them, and I don't think there's any new info there. I can certainly upload it if anyone wants me to. It did indicate "Recaro" seats, and the 242 mile range. The vehicle had the 21 inch wheels.
I'll be happy to try to answer any questions, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. Since this is all so new to me, it was hard to take very much in. I can safely say that I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the P85Ds acceleration.
I live in Ithaca, and had scheduled a test drive at the Garden State Plaza Gallery location back in October, for today, before I had even ordered the Model S. (I was going to be in this area today.) I wound up ordering the P85D without seeing a Model S. Over Thanksgiving we made a trip to Boston and on the way home stopped at the Natick location, where I had scheduled a test drive about a week before. That was my first time seeing and driving a Model S. You can read about that here if you like: Going to see and test drive a model S for the first time today
Anyway, back to today. I had briefly wondered if I should cancel today's scheduled test drive, but I really wanted more time with the car, and hoped maybe they'd have a P85D available. I checked yesterday to see if there was a P85D at either location yet (The Garden State Plaza location or the Route 17 location that was having its grand opening) and there was not. I decided to keep the test drive appointment (it was not a hard decision) and then go over to the Route 17 location mainly to see the superchargers, the supercharger lounge, and the service center.
The test drive of the P85+ was lots of fun and very informative. I didn't get to really experience a heck of a lot of anything too exciting, as there was a lot of traffic, but I did set creep mode to off, and regenerative braking to regular, and that was quite different from my first test drive. The woman that helped us at that location was very knowledgeable and extremely helpful, so it was a very positive experience.
My wife and I then went over to the Route 17 location, where the grand opening was taking place. They had some food platters out with some sandwiches, fruit, and cookies. I had a couple of oatmeal raisin cookies as we waited for a representative and looked around. When we did speak to a rep, I introduced myself, explained where we had just been, that I had a P85D ordered, and that we were there really to just see the place and to see the service center. As we entered the service center the rep mentioned that they had just gotten a P85D that morning, and pointed to it. I said something stupid like, "But it's not ready for test drives yet, right?", and he said, "Actually, it is. Do you want to drive it?" Needless to say, he did not have to ask me twice!
As we walked over towards the car I asked him if it had the Next Generation seats. He said it did, at which point I turned to my wife, and said we'd need to see if the back seats could fold flat, and take pictures, because there were a lot of people on the forums that wanted to know that. At which point the rep said that it only had the Next Generation seat in the front. Oh well.
The rep left to get a license plate for the car, and, presumably, to make sure that I wasn't really some nutjob off the street making stuff up, and came back a few minutes later and we were ready to go.
The rep set the driving mode to "Insane." Note that there is no steering mode selectable, as on other models. Because the rep was from the Short Hills location, and this was only his second test drive in the P85D, he didn't have a good place picked out where I could try a launch or two. It was also dark. He was trying to find places, using the navigation system, but we were failing. I wound up trying one--kind of--from maybe 10 or 15 miles per hour, but it scared the hell out of me, and I totally wimped out! I never floored it to begin with, and I think I eased off the accelerator at about 55, which means it was probably about two second later. In my defense, it was dark, the road probably wasn't the best for that at all, and I had never felt acceleration anything like that before in my life! Well, at least not in a car that I was driving.
I tried a couple of other little accelerations when I could, but nothing as severe as that one.
For what it's worth, my wife, who has an issue with motion sickness, and puts on motion sickness patches if we go to an amusement park or on a boat, actually got motion sick from the very few seconds of acceleration, and did not feel well for the rest of the test drive, and for about an hour afterwards. When we get our car, we may go through a lot of patches. (Or I may not get to drive very aggressively with her in the car.)
I did notice a high pitched sound from the front engine pretty much whenever I was accelerating. I noticed it when I was accelerating lightly to moderately. The one time I really punched it I didn't notice much of anything other than the fact that things were coming at me very fast.
Also quite cool was the fact that the speed alert was set in such a way that any time my speed exceeded the speed limit by a small amount, the speed limit sign would display on the dashboard. Also there is a little white line on the speedometer indicating the current speed limit. We were approaching a 50 MPH sign and the white line was indicating that the speed limit was 55, and I remarked that it was a little off, but just as we passed the 50 MPH sign, the white line moved to 50 MPH. Presumably when I thought it was off, we really had been in a 55 MPH zone.
I did take a picture of the sticker, but others have uploaded them, and I don't think there's any new info there. I can certainly upload it if anyone wants me to. It did indicate "Recaro" seats, and the 242 mile range. The vehicle had the 21 inch wheels.
I'll be happy to try to answer any questions, but I'm not sure I'll be able to. Since this is all so new to me, it was hard to take very much in. I can safely say that I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with the P85Ds acceleration.
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I got to test drive the P85D in Miami, FL, today. Andy has already described almost everything I was about to say (and then some).
I must admit, that while my current S85 is more than sufficient for my needs, I am sorely tempted to "upgrade".
One word of advice: DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT try to make a power sharp turn when in insane mode. Even with "gentle" acceleration (OK, maybe I was slightly agressive) in a sharp turn I felt the rear wheels slip. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had stomped on the accelerator!
I must admit, that while my current S85 is more than sufficient for my needs, I am sorely tempted to "upgrade".
One word of advice: DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT try to make a power sharp turn when in insane mode. Even with "gentle" acceleration (OK, maybe I was slightly agressive) in a sharp turn I felt the rear wheels slip. I shudder to think what might have happened if I had stomped on the accelerator!
Great summary. I might have to get some anti nausea patches for my wife too, maybe some white bags for passengers. She was uncomfortable in my P85+ the odd time when I dared accelerate. She will probably not let me accelerate in most situations so I better choose my opportunities wisely. On the other hand I have some friends who will be dying to experience it.
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