I had the good fortune to drive three MS variants back-to-back-to-back last week:
85D - 21", air, standard seats, standard sound
P85D - 21", air, next gen seats, upgraded sound
P90D - 21", air, next gen seats, upgraded sound
Since the new 90D variants came out, I wanted to make sure I was ordering the ideal car for me - had gone back and forth between 85D and P85D in the past, but until now couldn't drive the performance cars.
What is increasingly obvious is two things: 1) the sheer acceleration and punch of the P85D/P90D is amazing and a huge step forward for the technology, and 2) while Tesla has made noise with the top end performance cars, they have quietly made the 85D/90D an even better value for the money than the prior S85 cars.
As all three cars were on the same suspension and wheels, they all felt identical to me in terms of handling and responsiveness, which was of course easily modulated with the steering, suspension, and regen settings.
The 85D is no slouch off the line, and can put you in the back of your seat, even if it doesn't act like it wants to snap your neck. I was not terribly impressed with the standard seats during cornering, and the stock sound system leaves a little bit to be desired.
Getting the P85D out on the road, the first stop light we ran into saw nothing but clear pavement and an ideal launch pad ahead. Wow. Just wow. The reaction videos and such you see online give you an idea, but it's another thing to feel this big, heavy car just snap into motion with virtually no noise whatsoever. I didn't feel that once you were at 40+ MPH that I felt a big difference is responsiveness to the throttle compared to 85D. The next gen seats and high-fidelity sound in this car sold themselves to me very well and both are musts in my opinion.
So the question remained... Is Ludicrous Speed "really" faster than Insane Mode?
Yes. Yes it is. I thought there was a little more change from 85D to P85D than there was from P85D to P90D, but the difference is there, especially when you hop out of one and right into the other. Especially from say 40-70 MPH, the P90D just keeps pulling as hard as it did off the start. We did a standstill start from a stoplight next to some poor sap in a MB AMG-something who kinda inched forward like he wanted to play, and in an instant he was just GONE. Another deserted patch of road, turned off creep, foot fully off the brake and just stomped the go pedal... I'm still smiling about it!
In all, I learned:
- I will get the next gen seats and the upgraded sound
- if I was spending the extra $$$ for the happy pedal, I would skip P85D and get the P90D.
- that said, the cars feel all just so similar once at speed, I didn't feel like I needed to spend the extra coin to get a "better" car, but rather just a "faster" car. The 85/90D is about the old P85+ with AWD at a lower price point.
As much as I would love to have all that power under foot all the time, it costs a lot of money. In the end I ordered a fully-loaded 90D and I think it's going to be great!
85D - 21", air, standard seats, standard sound
P85D - 21", air, next gen seats, upgraded sound
P90D - 21", air, next gen seats, upgraded sound
Since the new 90D variants came out, I wanted to make sure I was ordering the ideal car for me - had gone back and forth between 85D and P85D in the past, but until now couldn't drive the performance cars.
What is increasingly obvious is two things: 1) the sheer acceleration and punch of the P85D/P90D is amazing and a huge step forward for the technology, and 2) while Tesla has made noise with the top end performance cars, they have quietly made the 85D/90D an even better value for the money than the prior S85 cars.
As all three cars were on the same suspension and wheels, they all felt identical to me in terms of handling and responsiveness, which was of course easily modulated with the steering, suspension, and regen settings.
The 85D is no slouch off the line, and can put you in the back of your seat, even if it doesn't act like it wants to snap your neck. I was not terribly impressed with the standard seats during cornering, and the stock sound system leaves a little bit to be desired.
Getting the P85D out on the road, the first stop light we ran into saw nothing but clear pavement and an ideal launch pad ahead. Wow. Just wow. The reaction videos and such you see online give you an idea, but it's another thing to feel this big, heavy car just snap into motion with virtually no noise whatsoever. I didn't feel that once you were at 40+ MPH that I felt a big difference is responsiveness to the throttle compared to 85D. The next gen seats and high-fidelity sound in this car sold themselves to me very well and both are musts in my opinion.
So the question remained... Is Ludicrous Speed "really" faster than Insane Mode?
Yes. Yes it is. I thought there was a little more change from 85D to P85D than there was from P85D to P90D, but the difference is there, especially when you hop out of one and right into the other. Especially from say 40-70 MPH, the P90D just keeps pulling as hard as it did off the start. We did a standstill start from a stoplight next to some poor sap in a MB AMG-something who kinda inched forward like he wanted to play, and in an instant he was just GONE. Another deserted patch of road, turned off creep, foot fully off the brake and just stomped the go pedal... I'm still smiling about it!
In all, I learned:
- I will get the next gen seats and the upgraded sound
- if I was spending the extra $$$ for the happy pedal, I would skip P85D and get the P90D.
- that said, the cars feel all just so similar once at speed, I didn't feel like I needed to spend the extra coin to get a "better" car, but rather just a "faster" car. The 85/90D is about the old P85+ with AWD at a lower price point.
As much as I would love to have all that power under foot all the time, it costs a lot of money. In the end I ordered a fully-loaded 90D and I think it's going to be great!
