Thoughts on Yoke from Plaid owner

[Plaid to Mod 3]

Everyone agrees the horn button on the yoke is very poor engineering. Fortunately the hardware is in place for press on the center airbag, not sure why software rollout of this is delayed.

Turn signal buttons not ideal IMO although I have gotten used to them.

But that is a different issue from the “chronic fatigue” claims from driving caused by the physical layout of the yoke made by a brand new user who sought out this forum for the sole purpose of posting his message.

Personally, I do not seek out enthusiast forums and create new accounts to ruminate about my disappointment with the product. I fail to see an innocent motivation that a reasonable person would have to take their time to do such a thing, particularly over such an obviously subjective thing such as steering wheel shape preference.

Hey bud, take it easy man. I just signed up here because I just got a Tesla about 4 months ago. So far I found this website to be informative and I may spend time here contributing and learning other things. Did you have an account for the first time at some point?

We were talking about aftermarket yokes and how that would make the turn signals nearly impossible to use because if your hand is on the steering wheel you have no reference point where the turn signals are. Therefore, it would be nearly impossible to use the turn signals or horn with the aftermarket setup

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

HA-HA...What's another Yoke. I have been using one for the last 30,000 hours and 30 years. It has buttons all over it that do different things. Makes me right at home. Honestly- I really like it. I live in California, so I don't think I've used the horn in 25 years.



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That's good that you made it work for you. Have you tried many long distance road trips with a decent amount of manual steering? I've just found that flying and driving are two pretty fundamentally different activities and it seems like to me the yoke and the airplane and the yoke in the car are two very fundamentally different instruments trying to do fundamentally different things.

 

[Dan_Foster]

CyberTruck buyers will soon notice that using the truck for real work, likely in work gloves, with the horrid haptics and on-screen ‘shifting’ is complete crap. Then the next generation Models 3 & Y will get stalkless yokes, the novelty will wear off, and more people may realize the entirety of the new primary control setup is nothing more than cheap, gimmicky marketing garbage—with much lost functionality as a bonus. But hey, it got Tesla tons of free chatter, so…win?

Tesla Semi—the only vehicle in their fleet intended for professional drivers—will have stalks and a round steering wheel.

 

[CaptUAL]

That's good that you made it work for you. Have you tried many long distance road trips with a decent amount of manual steering? I've just found that flying and driving are two pretty fundamentally different activities and it seems like to me the yoke and the airplane and the yoke in the car are two very fundamentally different instruments trying to do fundamentally different things.

Yes- Calif to Florida. I really had absolutely to problem with having a Yoke in the car, both on freeway and tight city driving. I'm convinced I like it better than a wheel, when I compare it to my Porsche 911 4S. But that's just me...

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

Yes- Calif to Florida. I really had absolutely to problem with having a Yoke in the car, both on freeway and tight city driving. I'm convinced I like it better than a wheel, when I compare it to my Porsche 911 4S. But that's just me...

How much manual driving did you do on the interstates?How much manual driving did you do on the interstates?

 

[Hayseed_MS]

Have you bought your 3 yet?

 

[CaptUAL]

How much manual driving did you do on the interstates?How much manual driving did you do on the interstates?

All manual, with cruise control only.

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

Going to go on Monday pick up the model 3 long range and then drop off the plaid at a high end dealership call it a day. I will certainly be looking closely though if Tesla decides to offer a steering wheel option on the model S I'll be looking real hard at that because I've always enjoyed large sedans. I've got a BMW 540 d that I really like probably will get rid of it at some point once I go fully electric

 

[mtbwalt]

OP wrote:

“Yes I agree, ergonomically unsound for human being, especially while operating over long periods of time. Does not allow driver to shift positions either to allow blood flow to different areas of the body. The yoke mandates that the driver sits back in the seat sort of like a robot never moving position whereas a steering wheel allows for many different positions and grip points as fatigue sets in.”

Funny, I have none of these problems. I like the yoke.

Maybe that means your subjective experience is subjective, and that you should not assume that everyone else has the same opinion or experience that you do. I have degrees in engineering and medicine and I do not find this vehicle “unsound for human being.” It’s a ridiculous assertion to make based on your claim of disliking the steering mechanism that you knowingly purchased.

Enjoy your model 3 and rest assured, I will continue to enjoy my model S.

 

[TigerNinety]

He is Certainly entitled to his minority opinion on it.

Yes, he is. But, I'm not sure what makes you think it's a "minority" opinion. There are plenty of people who think the yoke is great, and there are plenty who think it isn't. But, unless you have some access to an unbiased survey of potential buyers, you have no basis for the assertion.

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

OP wrote:

“Yes I agree, ergonomically unsound for human being, especially while operating over long periods of time. Does not allow driver to shift positions either to allow blood flow to different areas of the body. The yoke mandates that the driver sits back in the seat sort of like a robot never moving position whereas a steering wheel allows for many different positions and grip points as fatigue sets in.”

Funny, I have none of these problems. I like the yoke.

Maybe that means your subjective experience is subjective, and that you should not assume that everyone else has the same opinion or experience that you do. I have degrees in engineering and medicine and I do not find this vehicle “unsound for human being.” It’s a ridiculous assertion to make based on your claim of disliking the steering mechanism that you knowingly purchased.

Enjoy your model 3 and rest assured, I will continue to enjoy my model S.

How many long distance road trips have you done with the yoke and how much manual driving did you try to do during that time?

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

All manual, with cruise control only.

Wow bro how come you're not using the autopilot at all?

 

[_Redshift_]

Must have been a challenge for you to learn where the brake pedal was. Do you look at your feet while you drive?

No challenge really. Like all normal humans you learn where there position is by tactile memory.

Perhaps I should have used the term tactile memory than muscle memory to make my point. Without some sort of feedback as to where things are, you will be forced to look.

Tesla has so much money, but it looks like they disdain hiring ergonomics experts. I hope they will offer a traditional wheel as an option, at least to placate us, normal human beings. I doubt it will happen though, seeing that hardcore fans of Tesla are usually super humans who don’t really need controls to be ergonomic.

 

[mtbwalt]

How many long distance road trips have you done with the yoke and how much manual driving did you try to do during that time?

You have taken this waaaaayyy beyond what a normal person venting frustration over a feature he knowingly purchased would do. It is not my obligation to submit to an interrogation by you. I’m not the one making outlandish, unsupported claims such as the vehicle being “unsound for human being.” Cheers

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

Must have been a challenge for you to learn where the brake pedal was. Do you look at your feet while you drive?

You do realize it doesn’t take super senses to build up the muscle memory for the controls.

I have muscle memory for the previous / next song buttons from my pre refresh X

Blinker is easy, but does take some time. There is a bump between the left and right blinker buttons. For the exact reason of helping build muscle memory without looking down. Some folks complain you can’t feel the bump with gloves on.

You Keep that bump in the middle of the pad of your thumb. Trick is to use the tip of your thumb for right to turn and joint in your thumb for left. It’s tempting to look down and use the tip of your thumb for left and right. Once you do that it’s fine. You can of course build muscle memory to use the tip of the thumb for left and right too.

And believe it or not I bet even you could build up muscle memory using the tip of your thumb with gloves on. But you might have to keep looking for that brake pedal to guide your foot.

You do actually need to own and drive one to build up the muscle memory. Not just look at YouTube complaints.

Now the horn is a problem. There is no texture, it’s a long ways over and you don’t use it that often. Some people added a little sticky bump so they can feel it. I might do that.

Supposed to enable airbag horn but I don’t know what the deal is with that.

Definitely mash the horn with the right side of your palm. You're probably going to want to go around and practice it if you haven't already. That's what bugs me about this whole thing is I don't want to practice this kind of stuff or try to explain to my mom how to use The yoke if she wants to drive my car. Seems like there's more important stuff to be doing with my time

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

You have taken this waaaaayyy beyond what a normal person venting frustration over a feature he knowingly purchased would do. It is not my obligation to submit to an interrogation by you. I’m not the one making outlandish, unsupported claims such as the vehicle being “unsound for human being.” Cheers

I don't know man it's a pretty big deal for a lot of people. Maybe it's not a big deal for you but it is for a lot of the rest of us

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

I don't know man it's a pretty big deal for a lot of people. Maybe it's not a big deal for you but it is for a lot of the rest of us

Interface with the steering wheel is probably the most important aspect of driving comparable with the accelerator pedal or brake

 

[CaptUAL]

Wow bro how come you're not using the autopilot at all?

I let a new student driver drive all the way....which was not as nerve racking as FSD BETA

 

[_Redshift_]

HA-HA...What's another Yoke. I have been using one for the last 30,000 hours and 30 years. It has buttons all over it that do different things. Makes me right at home. Honestly- I really like it. I live in California, so I don't think I've used the horn in 25 years.



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I can believe you are a pilot.

I cannot believe you’ve never used your horn in decades.

Not sure which part of California you live in. I live in SF Bay Area and need to use the horn once every week, lots of drivers with varying ‘styles’ of driving from all around the world.

 

[Plaid to Mod 3]

I let a new student driver drive all the way....which was not as nerve racking as FSD BETA

So you did not hand drive your model S from California to Florida then somebody else was driving