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To Creep Or Not To Creep

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I am not sure how or why but my model S was set creep-on from new.
Maybe it was the default or I set it not really understanding what it did.
I became used to creep and it seemed normal, not that I had previously driven a creeping vehicle.
Then I read that most Tesla owners select creep off so I switched it off to see what I was 'missing'.
One month later I am not convinced and creep is now back on.
Where creep is amazing is for reversing.
Especially first thing in the morning when the coffee has not had time to kick-in.
 
I leave it on. But the only time I really find it useful is for backing into a tight, narrow spot. It does it quite well and I do not need to worry about feathering the throttle. I have a good sized garage, but I need to park in a pretty much exact spot and angle in order to maximize the space between the rear of the car and my counter, giving me exactly 1 inch of clearance from the garage door coming down, which gives me only 18 in of space behind the car. I am constantly working at that counter and every inch counts.

I don't mind the forward creep at all.
 
I usually leave it on. It's most useful for creeping into and out of the garage. If I'm in stop-and-go traffic it gets annoying, and occasionally I'll try to turn it off. But -- since you have to be in Park to change the creep setting, this can be fraught with the potential for pissing off the guy behind you.

Dear official Tesla employee lurker: Why can't we switch into and out of creep mode whenever we like?
 
I think you should set it on whatever works best for you. There is no need to follow what other owners do. I note generally across the forums there is an undertone of negativity about creep. Who cares! If you like it, use it.

In this case I think you have precisely a 50% chance of following what others do...doesn't mean you can't discuss it in a forum designed for detailed discussion.

Definitely off for me. I can see the usefulness and maybe I would toggle it if I didn't have to dig into a menu and there was an easily accessible switch.
 
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Creep is off for me.
The car is so beautifully responsive to the accelerator that I have no probs getting where I need to be.
My garage requires me to be more than 32 but fewer than 40 cm off the back wall- easy! Every time.
love the fact that it ain't an ICE with a slushbox....
 
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Creep is one of those things that is very much personal preference, but if it helps, I find the car incredibly easy to position without it. My parking spot is rather tight, according to the parking sensors I need to park at almost exactly 30cm from the back wall if I want to be able to open my door, I can position it right every time with ease without creep.
The lack of creep is one of the joys of driving this vehicle for me, the idea that the car doesn't do any movement that your foot didn't ask of it, but that it carries those out exactly when and how you want. There's no other vehicle I've ever driven that does it this well.
 
Creep is off for me.
The car is so beautifully responsive to the accelerator that I have no probs getting where I need to be.
My garage requires me to be more than 32 but fewer than 40 cm off the back wall- easy! Every time.
love the fact that it ain't an ICE with a clutch....

ICE with a clutch is the best kind of ICE. I hate automatic ICE. Driving a manual well - is very satisfying.
 
I agree personal preference is personal choice (or maybe it is the other way around) and I am certainly not flying a flag either way.
By definition Tesla owners are early adopters and non-conformists which makes them such an interesting bunch.
I bought my Tesla S with no supercharger or service centre for 900km. How crazy is that. I had never driven one, although I had seen some photos and I sat in one once.
I had lots of solar panels on my roof and had some weird idea I could power my home and car for free.
I guess we are all attracted to the way that the car updates and improves itself and gives us numerous options for a personal experience.
I don't think anyone thinks their choice is the only one or even the best one.
Indeed this forum is an invaluable resource of the pros and cons of all sorts of issues.
With creep I was just curious to explore my apparent preference.
One of the reasons I drove for a month with creep off was to see how much difference it made coming to a stop once regenerative braking had ceased.
There seems to be no great change with or without.
As the car is still fairly new (and I am new to the car) it tends to go from brake to full-welly so it couldn't forward creep even if it wanted too.
So for me, my personal preference, is all down to reverse creep and here I find it is one of the few non-intuitive Tesla actions.
You get in the car, touch the brake to turn it on and select reverse.
You then touch the brake again (not the accelerator as would be intuitive) and the car glides out of the garage with you doing nothing. Your foot effectively toggles the brake so 'Toggle' is already here.
Even better, as your foot is above the brake and has not moved from that position during this whole manoeuvre (rather than controlling the accelerator pedal), you can repress the brake and stop very quickly if the need arises.
It is another great Tesla safety feature and I am not aware of any ICE vehicle that has this clever innovation.
And believe me, early in the morning, before that coffee has kicked in, I need all the help I can get.
 
I turned the creep off at first but I live on a street with a slope and I found the car will roll forwards when in reverse or backwards when in drive which was a bit disconcerting. Now I have the creep on. It does annoy me when waiting at the traffic lights but I now use the hold brake function when stopped at lights.
 
I turned the creep off at first but I live on a street with a slope and I found the car will roll forwards when in reverse or backwards when in drive which was a bit disconcerting.
I've found that to be handy when parking on a slope because I don't have shift back and forth.
 
I had creep on for about 3 months after I got the car. Then turned it off as a trial. Never looked back. I have a VERY steep driveway - probably a 15-20 degree slope. Using vehicle hold solves that problem. I can control the car mm by mm into a tight spot forward or reverse. It is all about familiarity with the car, which I found took at least 4 months after I got it. All aspects, including visibility, use of all the sensors mirrors etc.
 
It really is personal choice. I believe it is default for people who are used to an ICE vehicle. I have it off personally. It works really well for me as I am a left foot braker. But the addition of the new hold feature is really handy.
 
as an ICE driver you would only be used to it if you had an automatic, right? a manual car has no concept of "creep"? I'm just curious as to why this is such a big talking point (this certainly isn't the first forum post about it) when all manual cars have never had creep?
Maybe the majority of Tesla drivers have come from an automatic? Maybe i naively assume that there is an even distribution of auto and manual, when in actual fact i'm in the minority? (i have always driven a manual)
I just get the feeling that a lot of people are suggesting Telsa invented "creep off", when in reality automatic cars invented the concept of creep.

either way this thread has some good insight into how people drive :)
 
as an ICE driver you would only be used to it if you had an automatic, right? a manual car has no concept of "creep"? I'm just curious as to why this is such a big talking point (this certainly isn't the first forum post about it) when all manual cars have never had creep?
Maybe the majority of Tesla drivers have come from an automatic? Maybe i naively assume that there is an even distribution of auto and manual, when in actual fact i'm in the minority? (i have always driven a manual)
I just get the feeling that a lot of people are suggesting Telsa invented "creep off", when in reality automatic cars invented the concept of creep.

either way this thread has some good insight into how people drive :)
At the risk of being flamed; creep was a bug introduced by poor engineering on the part of automatic gearbox manufacturers :biggrin: