Performance Question -- Tesla Demo/Loaner vs Owners Car

[stevenrobidas]

Hi All --

I'm trying to find the right Tesla for myself and I've made an interesting observation. Up here in Canada, the Tesla authorized loaner/demo cars here are all speed limited to a max of 140 kmph or there about.

Here's the TL;DR version -- Is a dealer demo as fast as the same model as an owner car? (asides from the acknowledged governed rate of ~140kmph). On a MX are the 20" vs 22" rims the difference from feeling g's that make you laugh uncontrollably or an experience that just is mellow yet fast? My OA indicated that there should be no difference, but he's never driven in an owners car.

**

I had an opportunity to take a MS P100D and using the Tesla logo, we changed the models from 60-75-90-p100d during my test drive. We didn't do a ludicrous launch - just mashed the pedal and I was less than impressed. I drive an X5M, but I was intrigued as the lack of sound and shifting seemed like it might be what's missing. I was double impressed when I changed lanes and just about hit the curb on the other side as in my ICE vehicle I should have just about ready to steer back as a proper lane change however I was actually double the distance so that caught my interest. Yes she's fast, but with the lack of audio cues, and lack of feeling gear changes, but I didn't feel any real g-forces.

Anyhow -- I ended up driving an owners MX 90d - and what hell. From 0-40 kmph I physically giggled as the vehicle squished my guts. Again from 60-90 kmph - again giggled uncontrollably. Several more mash the throttles, and I was in love. This is a MX 90D. Although - A direct run from 0-100 kmph -- didn't raise an eye brow, X5M was definitely faster. This vehicle was on OEM 20", and 6 passenger. I had two concerns for this vehicle. One, I felt sort of ill after the trip, my internals sort of hurt and was wondering if I really wanted a vehicle like this. Two - 0-100 certainly felt so so compared to the X5M. The answer was yes -- I wanted to get one.

So with renewed vigor - I got a 90D loaner figuring the amount of times I do a 0-100 I didn't care. The short bursts which make you smile and you feel the g's is what this car is all about.

So I took a dealer MX 90d with 22" OEM rims out for test drive. I did the same types of things with the dealer car. I never once giggle uncontrollably. My internals didn't feel any different. I just felt it was a zippy little vehicle, and I tried moving the modesfrom a 60-75-90d. I know SOC plays a role but the vehicle was fully charged, and the same experience from 95% to about 60%. I couldn't replicate the laughter, nor the feeling ill after the ride. I was crushed.

So here's the question. Are the demo/loaners also torque dialed back? If not, it it just the difference from a 20" to 22" wheels? Any opinions, observations?

S.

 

[Uncle Paul]

The feeling of an internal combustion car will usually "feel" stronger as you can here the roar of the engine and exhaust. You can feel the vehicle change acceleration as you move up and down the torque curve, going through the gears.

In the Tesla torque is max at 0 rpm. They take off with maximum torque from a stand still. After that the acceleration comes as a smooth flow of torque, uninterrupted by transmission shifting. It is much faster than it feels.

Loaners are usually speed limited by the factory, so your experience might be different with a demo vehicle.

Tesla's come in lots of different configurations, and each has it's own combination of accelleration and handling. Usually the bigger the battery the more power. D models have better traction with dual motors for all wheel drive. The P models usually have the highest performance with large batteries and most powerful motors. They also come in standard configurations, Insane modes and Ludicrist Modes to offer even higher levels of performance by being able to draw power even faster from their batteries.

Power levels are the greatest when the batteries are fully charged, with power dropping off a bit as the batteries become depleted.

Most owners enjoy the tremendous power available from their cars, but also realize that the biggest joy comes from the overall driving experience only available with all electric drive.

Electric vehicles feel different from explosion engines. Hard to compare the two, as their missions are different.

As electric vehicle continue to develop, most all track records will fall to the electrics. Only in endurance racing will the benefits of carrying large volumes of gasoline win out over electric power.

 

[vandacca]

I don't know if the loaners have the torque dialed back (possible). But if you have it set to 90d or 100d, the torque will be significant, in fact more than most will ever need. Should make you giggle and/or feel nauseous. There is a setting under driving to set it to "Sport" or "Insane/Ludicrous". Make sure you have it set to Insane or Ludicrous. You could also set Max Battery and put it into Launch mode, but shouldn't be necessary to feel Gs.

Otherwise, I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of torque in the loaner, if it's got a full state of charge & set to p100d, then there isn't much more you can do, so it must be limited by Tesla.

 

[jgrgnt]

I felt no difference in acceleration between demo/loaner cars and my 90D. However, the demos/loaners were capped at 80mph (or so).

My X originally came with 20" wheels. After switching to the 22s, acceleration was unaffected. I still get "the giggles" when mashing the pedal at about 35mph. Two weeks with a loaner P90D did kind of spoil me, though. That one gave me headaches because I couldn't stay off the accelerator pedal.

 

[ps004ynos]

I recently had to drop off my X90D 20" wheels for service and received a XP90D 22" wheels as a loaner. They must have forgot to turn on Valet mode. A previous loaner was capped at 85mph but this one hit 90+ mph easily when merging in fast traffic.

The take off between the P and my non-P is noticeable to me. Much more ooomph. Very tempting to buy but I could never justify the price difference. I figure your experience might be a dealer limit. Maybe you can see if there's any local P90 or P100 X owners for a short spin?