Questions regarding Model S

[Sawyer8888]

10 DB is a lot !

This was when I was traveling at 80 MPH on the highway, roughly the same location in both cars.

In my experience, the painted roof does provide more insulation from both the wind and the sun.

Like riding around on 21 inch wheels, a glass roof looks impressive and appears more hip compared to what most everyone else has, but it's just not practical due to the side effects.

 

[bob_p]

We've had an S P85 (VIN 3xxx) since early 2013 and our new S 100D since May.

Navigation/real-time traffic: I had real-time traffic in my previous 2007 Lexus, but it was only for the major highways in major cities. The Tesla routing has real-time traffic data from Google for all roads, and tries to adjust the route for optimum timing, but some of the routing can be pretty convoluted, so if you see an odd routing on surface streets, you might want to ignore the advice, or wait a few minutes to see if the route changes again to something that makes more sense. One feature that my 2007 Lexus had was pop-up warnings of traffic issues on the route. When there was a problem, the Lexus system would ask if I wanted to re-route around the problem. With the Tesla NAV, there aren't any pop-up warnings, the route is changed automatically (and sometimes frequently).

All glass roof: Our cars have the sunroof. Our S 100D is quieter than the S P85, the biggest difference is the tire noise, with the 100D coming with the new sound deadening tires. Don't believe the sunroof is the source of much noise inside the cabin.

Air suspension: We have the air suspension upgrade on both cars. The low-high-very high settings adjust the height - not the comfort level. At highway speeds, you can lower the car, which may provide a small improvement in efficiency and handling. At slower speeds, you can adjust to high or very high to get increased clearance over objects, such as speed bumps or curbs. And with the geofencing feature, once you've set the suspension to high or very high at a location (like a parking lot or driveway), the car should remember that and change the height when approaching the area in the future.

Scheduling pre-conditioning of the cabin: For us, this is an issue only when the car is parked outside. We use the smartphone app to start the climate system when we're approaching the car. If it's hot outside, we'll also use the app to "vent" the sunroof - which also helps to cool the car down. After a few minutes, the cabin is comfortable. This is so easy to do - we haven't found a need to schedule the pre-conditioning.

 

[PeterHG]

I don't have home charging (living in apartment). But can charge at work. So, I might use superchargers which will be built within cities by the end of the year for charging. Waiting 40 minutes for 80% charge for regular city driving will be a waste of time.

Though I disagree on the luxury issue (as noted above, I think Tesla is more luxurious overall than Mercedes), I think you make a good point for apartment dwellers. I would not advise buying an EV without home charging, unless you have an extra car.

 

[DCGOO]

A] navigation is tesla software, but uses google maps. so it uses google maps traffic data.

Not entirely true. Actual navigation uses Navigon maps, not google. In the case of new highways, you may find the Navigon maps way out of date causing autopilot to drop out or slow rapidly, even though that year old Interstate clearly shows up on the large display. 99% of the time they are aligned fine. But don't depend on AP working on the new bridges in Louisville. The car thinks you are trying to swim across the Ohio River.