V6. - V7. Performace Test on Non-AP Car

[marcad80]

So, like everyone else, I have been told that the acceleration increase from the Version 7.0 upgrade was not available for the "Classic" Model S's.

I must say, I've spent a lot of time in the Automotive industry, I can believe we are calling and being treated as "Classic" car owners with 1-2 year old cars, but another thread maybe.

This is really the only upgrade in V7.0 that I was looking forward to. And, right or wrong, I was REALLY looking forward to it. And not getting it, I was quite disappointed. So I held off my disappointment until I did the tests myself in hopes that they were really "just kidding", and didn't want to overcommit themselves. So I ran the pre- and post acceleration tests on my S60. My car is Vin 10xxx, standard with few options. Here are the results:

Version 6.x, 0-60mph tests: AVERAGE 5.54 sec, BEST 5.49 sec

Run 1 5.59sec, Run 2 5.59, Run 3 5.49sec, Run 4 5.51 sec

Version 7.0, 0-60 mph tests: AVERAGE 5.46 sec, BEST 5.42 sec

Run 1 5.42, Run 2 5.46, Run 3 5.51

After crunching the numbers I wasn't really sure whether to believe there was a little improvement or whether this fell into condition and measurement error. But then after looking at the data a little closer, I saw something that stuck out. The 50-60mph times seemed to carry a disproportionate amount of the 0-60 time difference....

Version 6.x, 50-60mph tests: AVERAGE 1.30 sec

Version 7.0, 50-60 mph tests: AVERAGE 1.23 sec

Almost all of the 0.08 sec difference was accounted for in the 0.07 difference between 50-60 mph......

After seeing this, I'm not so sure if environmental or measurement differences would have applied only between 50-60mph, and not throughout the entire speed range. Had I seen this drop in time apply evenly across the test speeds, I would have written this difference off. But knowing where they applied performance improvements and seeing the drop in time shift in this specific speed range and it magnitude of 5% difference, I'm not sure I can write it off to measurement error.

After testing, I'm not as disappointed with the V7.0 as I was before, because I'm not sure there wasn't some performance improvement made here. But I will say, if there was, I was hoping for at least twice this reduction in 0-60 times...

(If anyone is interested in the test set-up, I will write in a later post.)

 

[SouthlakeDad]

Almost all of the 0.08 sec difference was accounted for in the 0.07 difference between 50-60 mph......

This is very interesting. I also have a "classic" S, non-P, delivered to original owner in 9/2014. I've had it for a month and was also looking forward to the improved acceleration, even though it's completely unnecessary for the way I drive.

I'm curious whether your other "splits" (e.g. 0-10, 20-30, etc.) exhibited changes that seemed to be other than random variations. Also, how consistent was the 50-60 mph variation across your three tests?

I'm not sure any of these results are statistically significant (or even butt-in-seat significant), but to have essentially all of the change isolated in that one acceleration zone does seem remarkable.

 

[ZipByICE]

Almost all of the 0.08 sec difference was accounted for in the 0.07 difference between 50-60 mph......

That is extra 5.6 feet at 55mph!

It's also possible that your foot got very heavy from all this waiting....

 

[Thud]

Even on an 85kwh Model S with autopilot, which supposedly *did* receive the performance upgrade, it's not anything measurable by my cheesy method (recording videos of the speedometer). I only did runs to 60mph so maybe it performs better on a 60-90mph run with 7.0.

The revised throttle curve makes much more of a difference.

 

[Crusoe]

So where are we now? I thought I saw some info that the S60 had better HP/ft-lb/top speed and ~5.6 0-60 but can't find it anywhere.
The original specs on my S60 were:
"The S 60 was equipped with a 302 HP 317 ft-lb torque rear motor with a top speed of 110 mph and 0-60 mph acceleration in 5.9 seconds."

I bought my S used a few months ago so I didn't experience all the updates. Wondering if new numbers were contingent on new batteries revisions/later S60s or just firmware.

 

[apacheguy]

I don't believe that we have definitive proof that 7.0 improved performance even in AP models. At least no evidence has been shown that I recall.