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They made me drive a new Mercedes!

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I was out of town for a week and got to drive a 2017 Mercedes S class sedan for a few hours one day, and then the next day took a 2017 Mercedes convertible for a ~200 mile spin thru the desert.

It's my first drive in a non-EV for a while, and my immediate impression was that something was wrong with the car, given all of the vibration and noise. Of course, that's just how ICE cars roll but how quickly you forget it when you drive a Tesla. Both cars felt sluggish, loud and I kept thinking I had a misaligned wheel.

The complexity of the center console - with so many buttons and tiny, illegible labels - blew my mind. It didn't reach Porsche levels of ridiculousness but it is certainly close. Lovely analog speedo and tach displays in the coupe but quite impractical. The Mercedes UI made zero sense and the tiny LCD is laughable when you are used to the Tesla. Both of the cars were overdue for a service which kept flashing away on the LCD.

The *only* feature that my wife and I liked was the S Class dynamic seats which automatically hug you on the curves. Nice, but it didn't outweigh all of the downsides.The Burmeister audio in the S Class didn't impress as much as I thought it might.

I also noticed the Mercedes TACC is inferior to Tesla. On curvy roads, it felt like the Mercedes TACC doesn't lock onto the car in front consistently and there is a surging motion to the cruise as the lead car weaves in and out of the Mercedes sensors.

Since there is no display like the Tesla, it's hard to tell what is happening, but several times I had to step on the brake as it didn't feel like it detected stopped traffic. Also, when it does detect stopped traffic, the Mercedes TACC requires you to hit the accelerator to start cruise again, unlike Tesla TACC. And of course, to save gas the engine switches itself off regularly at a stop, which is just unnerving. I even had to pull in at a gas station to fill it up!

I was so glad to get back into my Tesla returning home that I went for a three hour drive in peak hour traffic just to unwind. :)
 
I feel you! My girlfriend still has a ICE BMW Mini and everytime we drive in it it feels like the stoneages to me. The acceleration is just slow and loud.

Ok, it's a good at cornering because it's such a small car, but besides that I'm done with ICE's.

She'll get the Mini-E once the new version is available :)
 
She'll get the Mini-E once the new version is available :)

In couple of years she'll be needing a bigger car to move the family around ;)


- How about road noise on freeway? It's hard to believe the Mercedes S Class is not quieter at cruising speed??
- Sluggish? How about gunning it on the freeway at 65mph?

Tesla wins on freeway acceleration, but loses on cabin noise.
 
- How about road noise on freeway? It's hard to believe the Mercedes S Class is not quieter at cruising speed??
- Sluggish? How about gunning it on the freeway at 65mph?

Yes, the S class has a lot of sound insulation and at low speeds, there is less road noise than the Tesla. I do miss that from my BMW (but I understand why the Tesla doesn't have several hundred pounds of insulation in it). At 75 mph, the combined effect of the motor vibration and other noises didn't give the Mercedes the vault quiet experience I was imagining. I may have felt different if I was driving in the city.

The coupe did have some acceleration power once you got to highway speeds, but still not as good as a Tesla. When I first got into it, it was also flashing a warning that the hood was not secured so I had to pull over, figure out how to open the hood (it's well hidden under the dash) and then secure it. I'm a bit surprised that Mercedes don't maintain their partner hotel vehicles in better condition. Both were quite dirty inside and out as well.
 
Yes, the S class has a lot of sound insulation and at low speeds, there is less road noise than the Tesla. I do miss that from my BMW (but I understand why the Tesla doesn't have several hundred pounds of insulation in it). At 75 mph, the combined effect of the motor vibration and other noises didn't give the Mercedes the vault quiet experience I was imagining. I may have felt different if I was driving in the city.

For me, it's always this. In the Tesla, I can feel and hear the road... and maybe the A/C... but nothing else.

Even in a superfancy ICE car, I feel and hear the shaking vibrating noisemaking engine. They just can't insulate enough to stop that racket.

Now, I get motion sick. For motion sickness it is important to have multi-sensory feedback related to the *outside world*. As a result, being able to feel and hear the road actually reduces motion sickness.

I find soft-suspension, sound-insulated Mercedes and Rolls Royces to be vomitmobiles at high speed. Because of the engine they are constantly shaking... and the attempt to insulate them from the road/outdoor sound and vibration probably actually makes things worse.
 
I have to disagree that the S-Class has higher noise, vibration and harshness. I actually measured the noise level of the S-Class and the Model S at 65mph when I did test drives for both and the Model S was significantly higher (can’t remember exact dB reading). I even heard a Mercedes claim that the S-Class Maybach is the quietest production car in the world.

And you are also ignoring the dozens of other features it has that the MS doesn’t. Many more adjustments on throne-like seats w. pillowy cushioned headrests and ventilation and massage, true adaptive LEDs w. always-on glare-free high beams, soft-close doors, working rain sensing wipers and blind spot, cabin fragrance infuser, heads up display, adjustable suspension that can read the road and prepare for individual potholes etc (magic body control) and lean against turns, rear and side window shades, reclining rear seats, rear fridge, incredible attention to detail in interior and premium materials throughout (whether or not MB design is to your taste is a different matter), high quality fit and finish, ambient interior lighting, illuminating rotating tweeters...

I love Tesla as much as the next guy on this forum, but other than the BEV drivetrain, a Model S is just not at the same level as this:

9AECAEAD-626D-424A-BEE2-8344EE02C635.jpeg
 
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I love Tesla as much as the next guy on this forum, but other than the BEV drivetrain, a Model S is just not at the same level as this:

In my experience the average Tesla driver on TMC does not really drive a luxury car in the European sense before coming to Model S. Even if they had an S Class, it probably was not appointed to the standard that one would consider a luxury car in Europe.

Their comparison just is wholly different.

I miss many things from my Audi A8 and definitely it was MUCH more quiet than the Model S. No contest. And Audi isn't even the best in business. The road noise in a Model S is just seriously bad, though it has gotten somewhat better over time.
 
I love Tesla as much as the next guy on this forum, but other than the BEV drivetrain, a Model S is just not at the same level as this:

View attachment 251261

Model S is a Sedan not a Private Jet. While that does look comfy in the photo. It’s not something I’d personally want. It loses its function completely to then seat 3 in the back plus the two kids in the trunk area if needed.
 
Model S is a Sedan not a Private Jet. While that does look comfy in the photo. It’s not something I’d personally want. It loses its function completely to then seat 3 in the back plus the two kids in the trunk area if needed.

What you are describing then is a family sedan, not a luxury car. Nothing wrong with that. Teslas are not luxury vehicles.