I just wanted to go on record and say what an incredible vehicle the Model S Plaid is. I can drive just about whatever I want and I choose to drive the Model S. Never in my lifetime did I think that anybody would ever be able to effortlessly, daily-drive, a 1020hp car. This car is equally at home walking away from even the most powerful bikes ever made, as it is quietly integrating into a funeral procession. Perhaps best of all it charges for free, off of the sunshine that hits my roof.
There are plenty of testimonials about high amounts of acceleration produced by the Plaid's Roadster inspired drive units. But it takes a true car guy, to mass produce a vehicle with this kind of power and have it do so reliably. Hundreds of repetitions at WOT down a sticky dragstrip and no snapped driveline parts is a great accomplishment. This seems to be lost on many as typically cars approaching these power levels have needed to be wrenched on, constantly. The drivetrain in these cars seems to be engineered to take the abuse of constant floggings.
Here are a few personal observation:
The Plaid "inspires" calmness in Pony cars around it. Just like people tend not mouth off around Mike Tyson, stoplight behavior from drivers of Mustang GTs, Corvettes, Dodge Chargers /Challengers etc seems greatly improved. No revving engines, burnouts, posturing or screeching tires just subtle roll to the posted speed limit. Anybody else notice this?
The Plaid brakes better than every car in its weight class, as well as many lighter "sports cars." According to the data I gathered from Car and Driver's braking distance testing, the Model S stops equally or shorter than the following cars: BMW M3, BMW M5, Hellcat Redeye, Audi R8, Mustang Shelby GT500, Volkswagen GTi, Camaro SS, Toyota Supra, Taycan Turbo S, Audi e-Tron GT, Porsche Panamera Turbo S and the Audi RS6 Avant.
The yoke is Awesome. The yoke is the only flashy or exotic aspect on the new Model S that may give you the impression that the car is special. People ask about it constantly and it is the first thing they want to try when they sit inside the car. It is also safer as it ensures your wrist and elbows wont be in a position to be broken in the event of a frontal airbag deployment. The yoke is far easier to maintain autopilot with as it sits lower than a wheel allowing you to rest your elbows on both armrests and still maintain contact. Just as Tesla's large center screen is being copied now, I believe other OEMs will be releasing upper tiered vehicles with yokes instead of wheels. Admittedly it's not as impressive as the full carbon yoke in the McLaren 650s GT3 but sacrifices must be made to keep the Tesla daily drivable.
The gaming experience is Incredible. I believe the gamer style seats, the 21 speaker sounds system and the Playstaion 5 level GPU make for a very immersive gaming experience. I don't think anybody can argue the fact that the Plaid has the best and most powerful gaming/ UI ever installed into a mass production vehicle.
But don't take it from me.....Jason Cammisa is arguably the highest regarded automotive journalist of our time and he seems to agree.
There are plenty of testimonials about high amounts of acceleration produced by the Plaid's Roadster inspired drive units. But it takes a true car guy, to mass produce a vehicle with this kind of power and have it do so reliably. Hundreds of repetitions at WOT down a sticky dragstrip and no snapped driveline parts is a great accomplishment. This seems to be lost on many as typically cars approaching these power levels have needed to be wrenched on, constantly. The drivetrain in these cars seems to be engineered to take the abuse of constant floggings.
Here are a few personal observation:
The Plaid "inspires" calmness in Pony cars around it. Just like people tend not mouth off around Mike Tyson, stoplight behavior from drivers of Mustang GTs, Corvettes, Dodge Chargers /Challengers etc seems greatly improved. No revving engines, burnouts, posturing or screeching tires just subtle roll to the posted speed limit. Anybody else notice this?
The Plaid brakes better than every car in its weight class, as well as many lighter "sports cars." According to the data I gathered from Car and Driver's braking distance testing, the Model S stops equally or shorter than the following cars: BMW M3, BMW M5, Hellcat Redeye, Audi R8, Mustang Shelby GT500, Volkswagen GTi, Camaro SS, Toyota Supra, Taycan Turbo S, Audi e-Tron GT, Porsche Panamera Turbo S and the Audi RS6 Avant.
The yoke is Awesome. The yoke is the only flashy or exotic aspect on the new Model S that may give you the impression that the car is special. People ask about it constantly and it is the first thing they want to try when they sit inside the car. It is also safer as it ensures your wrist and elbows wont be in a position to be broken in the event of a frontal airbag deployment. The yoke is far easier to maintain autopilot with as it sits lower than a wheel allowing you to rest your elbows on both armrests and still maintain contact. Just as Tesla's large center screen is being copied now, I believe other OEMs will be releasing upper tiered vehicles with yokes instead of wheels. Admittedly it's not as impressive as the full carbon yoke in the McLaren 650s GT3 but sacrifices must be made to keep the Tesla daily drivable.
The gaming experience is Incredible. I believe the gamer style seats, the 21 speaker sounds system and the Playstaion 5 level GPU make for a very immersive gaming experience. I don't think anybody can argue the fact that the Plaid has the best and most powerful gaming/ UI ever installed into a mass production vehicle.
But don't take it from me.....Jason Cammisa is arguably the highest regarded automotive journalist of our time and he seems to agree.
