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Who needs a roadster when you have model s plaid?
- Thread starter MaxPowers
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Locking in the personalized plate TESLA PP now! Hahaha!
If you take the roadster, add two doors to the lovely shape, do you not have a Plaid +?
As a car guy, the stuff that other people do not know or care about interests me. What platform is going to be used for this? Even the one piece stamping for the Model Y is still part of a platform related to the Model 3 (shared parts leads to lower costs)? A one off platform for such a low volume car will be costly, if it breaks even that will be a plus.
As a car guy, the stuff that other people do not know or care about interests me. What platform is going to be used for this? Even the one piece stamping for the Model Y is still part of a platform related to the Model 3 (shared parts leads to lower costs)? A one off platform for such a low volume car will be costly, if it breaks even that will be a plus.
Ostrichsak
Well-Known Member
Bob does.
I've said that in my mind every time this thread had activity for the past 4+ months, but kept it to myself. But couldn't restrain myself any longer.
So now that the question has been 100% thoroughly completely answered, can we make it stop popping up?
I've said that in my mind every time this thread had activity for the past 4+ months, but kept it to myself. But couldn't restrain myself any longer.
So now that the question has been 100% thoroughly completely answered, can we make it stop popping up?
tonybelding
Active Member
BTW, I once got my Lotus Esprit V8 up to 170 MPH on a public highway, briefly. It was quite terrifying, and I decided to never ever do anything like that again.
With years and experience I find that I care less about raw speed and more about handling. One of my biggest qualms about the new Roadster is whether it will handle like the old one, which I find fantastically fun to drive. Or are we going to get the world's quickest production car paired with torque steer, numb steering feel and unsettled traction control?
Yep, that my question as well. I'd love it if it handled as well as a $61,250 Porsche 718 Cayman but that would surprise me. Maybe the best solution is a Model S Plaid and a Cayman for the same price as a Roadster.
It's incredibly unlikely that the new Roadster will handle anything like a Model S. It's likely to handle at least as well as a Model 3 which properly tuned up is one of the best handling cars out there and the rough equal of a Porsche Cayman. If handling is your thing I'd wait for the new Roadster or get a Model 3 and tune it upYep, that my question as well. I'd love it if it handled as well as a $61,250 Porsche 718 Cayman but that would surprise me. Maybe the best solution is a Model S Plaid and a Cayman for the same price as a Roadster.
Several versions. Including a recent one. It does not handle quite as well as my Mountain Passed Model 3 but it is really close. But that's not a fair comparison. It handles significantly better than a stock model 3, and better than a stock model 3 Performance. But it doesn't handle as well as my car. Or have as high limits. Full disclosure I did not drive the GTS which might be the real competitor to my car just a regular 718t. I wanted to drive the GTS but they didn't have one available
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Porsche 911 all the way from the original to present day are 2+2. I have owned Porsche and Ferrari 2+2. Few purists will argue that they were not sport cars. OTOH, really, really obsessive very-elderly purists will argue that to be a sports car requires adherence to the definitions accepted in the 1920's. Then they were two-seat cars without a fixed roof (the 'roofs' would be pinned to the car if they were to be used) or permanent windows. With the fixed window they were considered convertibles, with the roof raised and lowered while attached to the car. The sports car was all about performance, nothing else (low or high made no difference).
Those definitions haven't been applied since the 1960's or so except among antique car aficionados.
Now anything can be called a sports car. While on the subject GT, GS, GTO etc had serious meanings a long time ago before OEM's started applying those acronyms to almost everything.
Today it would probably be safe to call every Tesla Performance version a sports car, even though they're obviously sedans and SUV's.
That’s fair.
One can always tune any car to handle much better than stock. Doesn’t take much in fact for most cars.
I was just speaking of stock cars. From that perspective, there was no comparison (for me) between a stock Cayman and a stock Model 3. The feel of the Cayman was just much better than any stock 3 I’ve driven. That’s not to say the 3 is bad because it’s great in its class.
Sure you can do a handling tune more easily these days than an engine tune although probably not more cheaply.
But the other variable is the underlying DNA of the car and its suspension. Extremely low center of gravity and low polar moment of inertia are tough to beat in the Model 3. It's got an excellent suspension although about the only knock that I've heard is that front camber change is probably not enough as the suspension is compressed. And a lot of people don't like non-spherical bushings but that's where Mountain Pass comes in because they have pretty much got a kit for almost every rubber bushing.
What's interesting is that replacing all of them as I've done really does not introduce any discernible harshness into the suspension but a whole lot more directness. I was pretty concerned about getting a whole lot of Road grain into the driving experience by swapping out all those rubber bushings for spherical ones but that has not proven to be the case. There's maybe a trace more grain in my car than my wife's car but the difference is really subtle while the difference in handling is not subtle. And her car is pretty tricked out too but with the MPP Comfort Coilover set and it's set at a much more comfortable 12/10.
The front lower control arm bushing is a piece of genius from Mountain Pass. The steering is just so much more linear. Each stage of Kit has improved turn in. After coilovers, then both traction and trailing arms and toe and Camber arms replaced with spherical bushings, the front lower control arm bushing, and forged lightweight wider alloy wheels, then the 265/30 & 275/30 Pilot Sport 4S . . . Over the course of that whole group of modifications, turn in went from stock `pretty good` to `holy---- Batman!' Virtually everyone who drives the car at reasonably high but not crazy speeds has remarked that it's the best handling car they've ever riden in
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Did some of it myself but I let our Ace local mechanic in Nashua New Hampshire at Merrimack Auto do the coilovers. I think the coilovers were about 475 for labor to install plus of course the price of the kit from Mountain Pass. Everything else I put in myself except for the trailing arms or maybe it was the traction arms. One of them had to have the subframe bolts loosened and I didn't want to get into that under the car.
You could use the same argument for every car priced more than a Toyota Corolla, yet people buy them. So what's your explanation? If your main point is Plaid S vs Roadster. One will seat five comfortably and have enormous storage space. The other won't exist until Tesla moves on to "dessert", will effectively seat two (very low to the ground), and cost even Nox Vidmate VLC more.
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