Relearning how to drive an ICE car

[Shelburne]

We recently spent 10 days on vacation in L.A. We rented a Kia Optima. Here are a few of the things that it took time to get used to:

1. Remembering to turn it off and take the keys. Half a dozen times I just got out of the car and started to walk away, leaving the keys in
the ignition and the engine running.
2. The noise. The car came with a noisy, underpowered 4 cylinder engine.
3. The less than mediocre acceleration.
4. The handling and suspension. The amount of lean and the way the car bounced going over speed bumps and large potholes was annoying.
5. The lack of regenerative breaking.
6. The clutter of the dashboard.


Yes, we could have rented a Tesla but the prices were thru the roof. Glad to be back home and driving our M3LR again.

 

[lowtek]

Oh yea, I drove my mom's car the other day .. pulled out in traffic and hit the gas .. lots of noise and no power .. got that tingling on the back of my neck as the truck I pulled out in front of bore down on me ..

 

[ngng]

We recently spent 10 days on vacation in L.A. We rented a Kia Optima. Here are a few of the things that it took time to get used to:

1. Remembering to turn it off and take the keys. Half a dozen times I just got out of the car and started to walk away, leaving the keys in
the ignition and the engine running.
2. The noise. The car came with a noisy, underpowered 4 cylinder engine.
3. The less than mediocre acceleration.
4. The handling and suspension. The amount of lean and the way the car bounced going over speed bumps and large potholes was annoying.
5. The lack of regenerative breaking.
6. The clutter of the dashboard.


Yes, we could have rented a Tesla but the prices were thru the roof. Glad to be back home and driving our M3LR again.

Turning the car off and lack of regen are the only ice specific things. Everything else is typical for an econobox

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

We recently spent 10 days on vacation in L.A. We rented a Kia Optima. Here are a few of the things that it took time to get used to:

1. Remembering to turn it off and take the keys. Half a dozen times I just got out of the car and started to walk away, leaving the keys in
the ignition and the engine running.
2. The noise. The car came with a noisy, underpowered 4 cylinder engine.
3. The less than mediocre acceleration.
4. The handling and suspension. The amount of lean and the way the car bounced going over speed bumps and large potholes was annoying.
5. The lack of regenerative breaking.
6. The clutter of the dashboard.


Yes, we could have rented a Tesla but the prices were thru the roof. Glad to be back home and driving our M3LR again.

1. That's not really a gas car thing. That's just because Tesla went overkill on having it automatically turn off.
My Volt has fixed-position shifter that requires me to to shift into Park and I often forget to do it, having a Prius (awesome self-centering shifter) and then a Kona EV (push buttons) that I can turn off directly.
2. Noise depends on the vehicle. It's the _immediate_ noise when you turn on that I'd adjusted away from with Prius+Volt.
Also it makes noise when you come to a stop. But had that with a cold Prius engine, and my Kona has a pedestrian warning noise that I can hear if HVAC and stereo are off and it's annoying enough that it sometimes makes me put it into Park at lights.
3.-4. Vehicle-dependent.
5. Oh, yes, totally miss it, especially now that we have Volt+Kona which both have strong regen available. My Kona doesn't have ACC or full 1-pedal driving, but it has good dumb CC which uses the full regen to manage downhill speed, and I now drive with max regen and use cruise control a lot. (Light traffic here.)
6. Vehicle-dependent.

 

[snikt]

#5 for sure, my wife has an ICE but I've been driving mine since I got it. Letting completely off the gas and it's not really slowing down comes as a shock now

 

[tr1sk]

My 3 was rear ended recently (just needed replacement bumper and crash bar) and I had a rental Chevy Malibu for about 2 weeks.

Worst thing:

• No regenerative braking. The feeling of lifting off the accelerator and just hurtling forward like a big dumb boulder is the worst feeling after driving a Tesla for 2+ years.

Bad things:

• Infotainment system sucks hard compared to Tesla. Not intuitive. Touch screen not responsive. Too many buttons. Android Auto kept randomly disconnecting for no reason (to be fair, not sure whether this was a phone issue, a Chevy issue, or maybe Android Auto just sucks? Never used it before).
• Not being able to sit in the car and run the air conditioning without idling the engine

Actual good things:

• Side mirrors large enough to actually see things in that can actually be adjusted far enough out to see your blind spot? That was refreshing.
• Back up camera that worked 100% of the time!

And yes, multiple times I forgot to turn the car off and kept forgetting to lock it when I left it.

 

[calidreamz808]

We recently spent 10 days on vacation in L.A. We rented a Kia Optima. Here are a few of the things that it took time to get used to:

1. Remembering to turn it off and take the keys. Half a dozen times I just got out of the car and started to walk away, leaving the keys in
the ignition and the engine running.
2. The noise. The car came with a noisy, underpowered 4 cylinder engine.
3. The less than mediocre acceleration.
4. The handling and suspension. The amount of lean and the way the car bounced going over speed bumps and large potholes was annoying.
5. The lack of regenerative breaking.
6. The clutter of the dashboard.


Yes, we could have rented a Tesla but the prices were thru the roof. Glad to be back home and driving our M3LR again.

Well, Kia was the first problem. LOL

 

[ngng]

Well, Kia was the first problem. LOL

dunno, the new Kias are built really well and have a ton of features for the moneoy

 

[TLLMRRJ]

Lots of ICE cars suck, and so do some EV's. Sounds like everyone here is driving sucky ICE cars. Get into a really nice ICE with a great engine and transmission, the nicest interior appointments, the smooth but sporty suspension, super quiet interior, and it's a lot easier to learn again.

 

[S&B's M3]

We recently spent 10 days on vacation in L.A. We rented a Kia Optima. Here are a few of the things that it took time to get used to:

1. Remembering to turn it off and take the keys. Half a dozen times I just got out of the car and started to walk away, leaving the keys in
the ignition and the engine running.

Really, a key in the ignition? I have a 2016 Optima and it doesn't have a key, just a button on the dash to start it. Seriously though, overall I do agree. When I get into the wife's Kia, I can't say how many times I've turned the wipers on trying to put it into drive.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

I was in a friend’s old diesel Mercedes this morning and was surprised to see it had the EXACT same gearshift as my Model 3. Tap up for reverse, down for drive, tip button for park. It was identical in every way right down to the imperceptibly smooth shifting. The only real difference was that the Mercedes was silent when engaging park!

 

[EVRider-FL]

I rented an ICE car while traveling recently, and I also had a hard time remembering to turn off the car at first. And I missed the huge display.

 

[neurocutie]

I drive my 328xi 6MT a couple of times week so as not to "forget". Yes very different, and definitely not all bad (not all worse than the Model 3). But the lack of power/acceleration is really annoying. Of course driving stick is as different as can be, but engaging in its own way. Use a fair bit of engine braking to mimic regen braking somewhat. Have to remind myself to explicitly lock the car rather than just walk away...

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Hahaha, I'm having the opposite problem, where I still have some ICE muscle memory, so I reach for a non-existent shifter and/or look for a starter button for a moment.

Our other vehicle is a Wrangler 4xe (PHEV), so I do have to remember how all that works

 

[Darmie]

Agree. You really don't know how transparent many things are when driving a Tesla until those times when you are not. The no on button is a given, there's nothing to turn on or turn off that the car can't figure out based on seat sensor and door position. I can't get over the fact that the new Mach E has a button. WhY... I get it, "that's what people are use to, but no one goes outside to crank over an engine, so they'll learn." I can understand that the dash and buttons are subjective however, I love the fact that the dash board is so much lower and makes for a very immersive driving experience.

 

[TomT]

When you are driving an el cheapo bottom of the line anything, you expect a crappy experience. Try an equivalent high level ICE and it would be very different.

 

[Shelburne]

When you are driving an el cheapo bottom of the line anything, you expect a crappy experience. Try an equivalent high level ICE and it would be very different

 

[smartypnz]

Recent loaner from Tesla was an ICE... when did they do away with gas caps ??

 

[PianoAl]

I could never go back to having to drive--you know, like actually needing to turning the steering wheel and stuff.

 

[9shots]

I was in a friend’s old diesel Mercedes this morning and was surprised to see it had the EXACT same gearshift as my Model 3. Tap up for reverse, down for drive, tip button for park. It was identical in every way right down to the imperceptibly smooth shifting. The only real difference was that the Mercedes was silent when engaging park!

When I entered a Model X years ago, I was really surprised by how many parts I recognize from Mercedes.