So I've followed the thread but haven't seen a couple of points addressed more than in passing. My Roadster is a 2010 2.0, which I have owned for a glorious 6 weeks.
1. Will the aerodynamic changes do anything substantial to reduce the wind noise that we experience? For a car that's so quiet below 50 mi/hr, it's roaring loud above that. I'm not versed in such things, but I would assume, perhaps only out of hope, that reducing the wind resistance would also help with the noise. I already have installed the "glass" hard top from Italy (beautiful, by the way!), and that helped a bit, but the high noise level is still one thing I did not expect with the car. Is there any quantitative data on what we might expect, given the little data at hand?
2. The new tires, chosen for the sake of efficiency, have me concerned. The tires that came with my car still have a bunch of tread left, but I undersand these don't last very long as tires go. I'm used to purchasing relatively high-end "M+S" tires for my cars, usually ones that have at least 50-60k miles of life. Since I'm not into racing the car (more than anyone else on the local freeway), I don't need the super-sticky-on-dry-roads-only tires, nor (being in California) true snow tires for the winter. What is the practical difference (in rolling resistance and traction) between the anticipated new tires, the OEM tires that I have, and a set of high-end All Season tires that I was thinking I would replace them with when the time comes?
3. Because I purchased the car used, I can't get any of the tax incentives offered for new E-car purchases. Will the 3.0 Upgrade qualify for any incentives?
Overall I'm thrilled and appreciative of Tesla's offer to do this upgrade. It speaks volumes about the company, and is one of the reasons I purchased the Roadster, and the company and this community along with it. While the added range makes several destinations much more accessible, to me the big advantage of the change is more a matter of the overall longevity of the ESS (the ICE it will replace is a 1994 Integra GS-R with 264k mi on it, and I'd like for this car to last as long), and the lower electric cost afforded by the reduction in drag (so I burn fewer electrons for the same daily commute). At $0.33 per KWH electric cost, vs 30mi/gallon the Integra gets, at current gas prices the two are about equal in cost.
Thanks,
Greg.