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[UK] Model S/X LHD Discussion

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I’ve had reasonably quick cars like a C63S, M5 and so on and never bothered with carbons because for daily driving the normal brakes are fine. I think on the Plaid this will also be the case.

If you were tracking a car that could hit say 100mph on a straight and then brake the load on the brakes is going to be lower than maybe a Plaid that hits 160mph. The speed of the car does warrant significantly better brakes for tracking that other cars of its size and weight simply because you’ll be braking from higher speeds more often.

Not sure if financed you’d get much money if at all back on the carbons. Most options you add to a car on finance do bugger all for the final value figure they give you. Maybe you’d get a bit more if selling privately but still doubt it’s that much. Same as probably having FSD won’t have much additional value to the car.

I think by the way on one of the videos I saw on the Track Package it comes with semi slick tyres which they said weren’t legal for road driving in the country they were testing it in. So think Tesla was changing the rims and tyres when they went out onto the road. Feels like they couldn’t ship it with track only tyres but would only those be rated to 200mph?
 
I can afford it. Generally I choose not to - I've never owned a Ferrari, for example. Been a passenger in them, always very impressed with the engineering and experience, but the MS suits me better - supercar acceleration, cargo space for all my rash eBay purchases, and space for 5 adults. Suits me fine even on high-days+holy-days.

I have paid cash for mine. Accountant thinks I'm nuts and that I should finance them.

Then there are those that will choose to "stretch" to something they can't quite afford. e.g. Me when younger ...

Different folks, different strokes, and all that.



But Porsche would already have baked the £20K "posh brakes" into the price - and the fact it had THOSE brakes would be a marketing-draw as well (as you said "big brakes are aesthetically pleasing and give a vibe of something really special")

Are they really complete crapola? In spider graph above the bog standard brakes have same 70-0 MPH as BMW M5 (yeah, I expect inadequate for repeated use)



But its "might reach" surely? I have no intention of driving mine at 160 MPH "'coz it can" - and certainly not to then repeatedly stand on the brakes. The vast majority of owners don't need that ability, so selling it as an option seems fine to me.



I disagree with that point. The brakes upgrade is needed for repeated stopping from high speed. IME that has very little to do with Launch ability. In all the launches I've done once underway I'm not then stopping ... and if I am its more likely a relaxed-slowdown and using regen.

If I was on a track that would be different :)

Uncle Chet (if you haven't seen it) put Ceramic Brakes on his Plaid, and didn't change the DOT brake fluid. That didn't go well, even though he wasn't pushing it (he was on a track but just doing some mucking about, not trying to set a lap record). Mine you, this was after he drove the thing under water (in case you haven't seen that either ...) so maybe the discs were rusty 🤓

I must admit I probably fall into the same camp as you in that I'd enjoy having carbon brakes but never actually really need to use them. I've broadly coming at it from a "how does this look" perspective, as well as liking having the option. You make a fair point about options generally though, a previous car I had you could easily spec up £40k+ just in carbon that was purely for aesthetics, etc.

I do hew more towards the Porsche camp in terms of speccing big brakes because of what it says about their attitude towards development of the car generally. The point about the cost of them being baked into the price isn't totally accurate because we're talking about cars that broadly cost around the same kind of money. If I dropped £120k on a Porsche I wouldn't think £20k of that was due to the brakes, I mean.

I also worry about Tesla's penchant for cost cutting, how that might intrude into safety critical areas like braking. We've already seen caliper covers on the MYP.

Complaints wise - this thread alone would give me pause for thought: Model S Plaid Brakes Are Terrible!

This post in particular is interesting. To be fair if you're never taking it on a track and only standing on the brakes in an emergency it's probably a non-issue.
 
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A bit? Porsche would never launch a car with such crapola brakes, even if the owner never drove to the car park of a track.
Actually the car stops better than a Taycan Turbo S from 70 according to documented tests. Indeed they will fade with repeated hard stops which I would never need to experience on my commute.

Subjectively the Taycan’s hybrid brakes are absolutely terrible and unpredictable - certainly on the one I tried. The amount you have to depress the pedal to get the same stopping power varies significantly. The guy trying to sell me the car was desperately but unsuccessfully trying to convince me how easy it was to adjust and live with - no thanks.
 
Subjectively the Taycan’s hybrid brakes are absolutely terrible and unpredictable - certainly on the one I tried. The amount you have to depress the pedal to get the same stopping power varies significantly. The guy trying to sell me the car was desperately but unsuccessfully trying to convince me how easy it was to adjust and live with - no thanks.
I don't know what you drove, but the brake balance in a Taycan is probably the best there is. Please don't buy one though. Buy the Tesla.
 
I don't know what you drove, but the brake balance in a Taycan is probably the best there is. Please don't buy one though. Buy the Tesla.
Cross Turismo Sport Turbo S. PSCBs with regen set to On. I understand regen is off for the first few application, but then is supposed to kick in. Except it kept up with inconsistent feel throughout my long test drive.

And thanks for the advice - will do.
 
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if you're never taking it on a track and only standing on the brakes in an emergency

I reckon that's me :)

I've never been wowed by Porsche - but that's just me. Good solid German engineering etc.

I was shafted by VW over Dieselgate (specifically had Blue Motion cars to be Eco ... look how that turned out :( but they did me a favour : back in 2015 I didn't know Tesla existed or that EVs could do over 200 miles). So I'm never buying anything from the VW stable again - but that's just me too. Shafted by the VW dealer on the last one I bought too (after we'd had several from them ... maybe that's where Elon learn his Customer Service Model ...

Of all the legacy makers I think VW-stable is doing the best job. But they've lost me, for good, as a customer.
 
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Just received the email.

Hi,​
Right-hand drive Model S will not be available in the U.K. for the forseeable future. You can choose to receive credit for Model 3 or Model Y, purchase Model S as a left-hand drive vehicle or just cancel your reservation.​
Credit for Model 3 or Model Y
If you convert your reservation to a Model 3 or Model Y, you can receive £2,000 credit* as a thank you for your support.​
Left-Hand Drive Model S
If you want to take delivery of a left-hand drive Model S and benefit from 3 years of free, unlimited Supercharging**, explore our inventory of immediately available vehicles.​
Full Refund
If you prefer to cancel your reservation, you do not need to take any action. We will automatically cancel your current reservation on June 5th and refund your reservation fee in full.​
To discuss your options further, request a call back from a Tesla Advisor or join one of our dedicated online seminars.​
 
Seems messages have gone out cancelling orders

Working hypothesis:

Price (after the long wait) on RHD MS / MX is unacceptable ... so cancel all orders.

And in X months then offer RHD again ... at the then-current price

Looks like I need to look after my Raven ... unlimited Supercharging, so its not all bad

Need to think of a different impulse purchase for £120K (plus the £20K I mentally added the other day for the Track Brakes pack ...)

Generally I choose not to - I've never owned a Ferrari, for example

<fx: Google "Nearest Ferrari dealer">
 
I hope so. I do understand from the companies point of view that RHD markets aren’t viable for them right now, but I do think if they built them somewhere in Europe or china on a permanent line that they would sell more, perhaps as they scale and build more factories they will offer them in RHD again.

This also doesn’t bode well for cybertruck in the UK either.

I now have a dilemma, the Y isn’t big enough and I can’t see any decent X alternatives on the market right now.
 
the Y isn’t big enough and I can’t see any decent X alternatives on the market right now

LHD?

Would anyone do that?

If Tesla DO then bring out RHD its value would be Zip presumably.

Actually ... I suppose I'd do a Trade In ... I wonder how terrible the price for that would be.

Or Finance it and make it someone else's problem

Having typed that I'm now tempted ...