Tesla Refreshed S Review
I’ve read a lot of « fair and comprehensive » reports of the refreshed Tesla S & Plaid. To me these reports are mostly missing a key factor — FUN.
Driving the updated S with yoke steering plus all the bells & whistles is freaking FUN. I haven’t enjoyed driving a car as much since my 1967 Triumph Spitfire with the top down on a country road. Once again I am finding excuses to go for a drive.
The Yoke is fun. I naturally drive with my hands at 3: & 9: and had no problems adjusting to the yoke, 5 minutes driving in a parking lot and zero issues. On long drives i can rest my elbows and find it much less tiring for both of my arms than a wheel.
I love the visibility it gives. I’ve also gotten used to the turn signal buttons and definitely prefer those to the ones on a stalk. Changing volume, starting stopping or moving to a new piece is also easier.
I haven’t gotten used to the horn placement but I’m working on it. I enjoy the posh, old horn and my grand kids love the fart horn sounds. For newbies in my car I have fun with the random fart sounds I play coming from their seat. I’m a kid at heart, what can I say. The auto high beams work for me, they are more conservative than I am; but, that’s probably a good thing. I haven’t had any problems turning them on. I can say that I definitely don’t miss the stalk.
I think the smart cruise control is fabulous. It’s incredible when you’re in a long, slow line waiting to turn onto a bigger road, 3 mph, 0 mph, 5 mph, just sit back and let the car do the work. On the roadway, I set the following parameter to 3 and let it keep me safe by slowing down then speeding back up without me having to constantly brake, accelerate or put my older cars in and then out of cruise control. It stops for traffic controls, beeps when the light turns green and starts again if there is a car in front of me that starts to move. This is truly enjoyable and helps me relax. I can see more of the road since I’m not constantly staring at the car in front me, trying to decide to brake or not or how fast to accelerate to catch up but not get too close.
After about 6 weeks of driving I’ve stopped periodically turning on the wipers when I turn on cruise control or driving assist. That’s a plus since my wife has stopped laughing at me.
The car is AMAZINGLY quiet. Ssshhh.
The sound system is awesome. I’ve had other premium car sound systems, this is the best I’ve ever had. Does it compare to my home setup? No, but then my living room isn’t moving at 60 mph.
I picked up then babysat one of my grandkids. He happily played one of the Tesla supplied video games while we were parked in my garage for about an hour.
The seats are comfortable and when it’s cold I love the heated steering wheel and seat. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the ventilation in the summer. My wife says the passenger seat is also comfortable. We’ve had 2 adults in the back for a short trip. They said it was good. I have no idea since they might just have been being polite.
Navigation is solid. The huge screen is great and I find it very easy to use. It’s not Waze; but, I’ve had Waze drop out when I needed it most. We’ve also learned some things about where we live thanks to the Google Map like overlay.
The S can really accelerate. On trips it’s easy to move in and out of traffic. I’ve only floored it a few times and it really does throw you back. I’d like to try it for a bit longer; but, there are not a lot of areas near me where I can do that safely. Speed wise, the fastest I’ve ever driven a car was just shy of 150 mph on a long straight empty stretch of highway in Utah many years ago with a BMW series 5. I was aiming for 150 mph but slowed down when the front end started to move.
I’ve read that people don’t like the new UI. Since I strarted with that I haven’t had to relearn anything. Plus, I use voice command a lot. There are some fun ones like « the passenger’s butt is hot » or « stop life support ».
I also love not having to plan on which day to go the gas station.
Are there some things I’m not fond of, sure. But that’s for another day.
I’ve read a lot of « fair and comprehensive » reports of the refreshed Tesla S & Plaid. To me these reports are mostly missing a key factor — FUN.
Driving the updated S with yoke steering plus all the bells & whistles is freaking FUN. I haven’t enjoyed driving a car as much since my 1967 Triumph Spitfire with the top down on a country road. Once again I am finding excuses to go for a drive.
The Yoke is fun. I naturally drive with my hands at 3: & 9: and had no problems adjusting to the yoke, 5 minutes driving in a parking lot and zero issues. On long drives i can rest my elbows and find it much less tiring for both of my arms than a wheel.
I love the visibility it gives. I’ve also gotten used to the turn signal buttons and definitely prefer those to the ones on a stalk. Changing volume, starting stopping or moving to a new piece is also easier.
I haven’t gotten used to the horn placement but I’m working on it. I enjoy the posh, old horn and my grand kids love the fart horn sounds. For newbies in my car I have fun with the random fart sounds I play coming from their seat. I’m a kid at heart, what can I say. The auto high beams work for me, they are more conservative than I am; but, that’s probably a good thing. I haven’t had any problems turning them on. I can say that I definitely don’t miss the stalk.
I think the smart cruise control is fabulous. It’s incredible when you’re in a long, slow line waiting to turn onto a bigger road, 3 mph, 0 mph, 5 mph, just sit back and let the car do the work. On the roadway, I set the following parameter to 3 and let it keep me safe by slowing down then speeding back up without me having to constantly brake, accelerate or put my older cars in and then out of cruise control. It stops for traffic controls, beeps when the light turns green and starts again if there is a car in front of me that starts to move. This is truly enjoyable and helps me relax. I can see more of the road since I’m not constantly staring at the car in front me, trying to decide to brake or not or how fast to accelerate to catch up but not get too close.
After about 6 weeks of driving I’ve stopped periodically turning on the wipers when I turn on cruise control or driving assist. That’s a plus since my wife has stopped laughing at me.
The car is AMAZINGLY quiet. Ssshhh.
The sound system is awesome. I’ve had other premium car sound systems, this is the best I’ve ever had. Does it compare to my home setup? No, but then my living room isn’t moving at 60 mph.
I picked up then babysat one of my grandkids. He happily played one of the Tesla supplied video games while we were parked in my garage for about an hour.
The seats are comfortable and when it’s cold I love the heated steering wheel and seat. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the ventilation in the summer. My wife says the passenger seat is also comfortable. We’ve had 2 adults in the back for a short trip. They said it was good. I have no idea since they might just have been being polite.
Navigation is solid. The huge screen is great and I find it very easy to use. It’s not Waze; but, I’ve had Waze drop out when I needed it most. We’ve also learned some things about where we live thanks to the Google Map like overlay.
The S can really accelerate. On trips it’s easy to move in and out of traffic. I’ve only floored it a few times and it really does throw you back. I’d like to try it for a bit longer; but, there are not a lot of areas near me where I can do that safely. Speed wise, the fastest I’ve ever driven a car was just shy of 150 mph on a long straight empty stretch of highway in Utah many years ago with a BMW series 5. I was aiming for 150 mph but slowed down when the front end started to move.
I’ve read that people don’t like the new UI. Since I strarted with that I haven’t had to relearn anything. Plus, I use voice command a lot. There are some fun ones like « the passenger’s butt is hot » or « stop life support ».
I also love not having to plan on which day to go the gas station.
Are there some things I’m not fond of, sure. But that’s for another day.
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