Work in progress: stalks on 2021 Model S. (and optional round-y wheel)

[4SUPER9]

Correct, adapted (settling) but you would rather have stalks and a wheel. Not as secure (safe) Imagine a 3 pt turn and a car quickly approaching? Thank you for the honest review.

No, I would rather have stalks and a yoke. Actually, I would rather have stalks, a yoke, and a real horn button. 3-point turns are easy with the yoke, put impossible to do quickly with the gear shifting.

 

[4SUPER9]

How about the console buttons for D/N/R/P? Any of you new S owners find them useful, or are they just too out of the way to be worthwhile?

(Though as an owner of an old MCU1 S, I certainly appreciate the need for a non-touchscreen backup for selecting D/R. )

Those are clunky as well. Nice to have as a back-up.

 

[McQ14]

How about the console buttons for D/N/R/P? Any of you new S owners find them useful, or are they just too out of the way to be worthwhile?

(Though as an owner of an old MCU1 S, I certainly appreciate the need for a non-touchscreen backup for selecting D/R. )

Good question. Although I think they are a necessary alternative for shifting if the screen goes out, they also are a little bit out of the way. You still have to look away from the road, down at the center console, to choose the correct button to press. I initially thought I'd use them as my primary form of shifting, but the buttons aren't active normally. In fact, I've still never used them.

 

[Dirty Dog]

No, I would rather have stalks and a yoke. Actually, I would rather have stalks, a yoke, and a real horn button. 3-point turns are easy with the yoke, put impossible to do quickly with the gear shifting.

I’m hoping I can modify the car

 

[jcrides]

Been following this while waiting on my S LR. I'm curious if anyone has tried something like this Tsportline yoke replacement? It doesn't fix the missing stalks but does at least give a 360 degree usable surface.

 

[Proppilot]

I’ll be that guy but assure that this is an honest posting as well. I love the yoke and dislike the stalks. My LR is my first Tesla so I had no prior biases. After about 3000 miles my car went for a week in the shop and I had an 85D. I thought the stalks were like a bunch of appendages sticking out to make everything happen. Happy to send that 85D back. There is no right or wrong on the topic….there are opinions and preferences.

This identical argument lives in the airliner forums between the yoke and the side stick controllers with the same convictions and passion.

Maybe I love the yoke because the aircraft I fly all have yokes so it’s novel and comfortable for me. With almost 6000 miles on my LR I have never felt it was dangerous but sometimes awkward.

Enjoy your cars folks !!

 

[MarcG]

I’ll be that guy but assure that this is an honest posting as well. I love the yoke and dislike the stalks. My LR is my first Tesla so I had no prior biases. After about 3000 miles my car went for a week in the shop and I had an 85D. I thought the stalks were like a bunch of appendages sticking out to make everything happen. Happy to send that 85D back. There is no right or wrong on the topic….there are opinions and preferences.

This identical argument lives in the airliner forums between the yoke and the side stick controllers with the same convictions and passion.

Maybe I love the yoke because the aircraft I fly all have yokes so it’s novel and comfortable for me. With almost 6000 miles on my LR I have never felt it was dangerous but sometimes awkward.

Enjoy your cars folks !!

I fly planes with yokes too but in the S it rotates a lot more than in a plane.. I have 6,000 miles on my Plaid too, and every time I drive another car, I get round wheel envy!

 

[rhuber]

I fly planes too, too. But you all already know my opinion on this...

 

[leonwu]

I’m indifferent about the yolk for steering, and even the shifter. There definitely is a novel aspect that offsets some of the missing half of the wheel.

The only hard thing is figuring out how to signal when my yolk is turned say 90 or 180 degrees. Takes me a second to orient where the turn signal buttons and which is left or right, guess my spacial thinking isn’t great. That’s the only time I miss the turn stalks.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I’m indifferent about the yolk for steering, and even the shifter. There definitely is a novel aspect that offsets some of the missing half of the wheel.

The only hard thing is figuring out how to signal when my yolk is turned say 90 or 180 degrees. Takes me a second to orient where the turn signal buttons and which is left or right, guess my spacial thinking isn’t great. That’s the only time I miss the turn stalks.

Yes, some people like no stalks and the yoke. You can not argue that. But many Tesla owners do not. That shouldn’t be. I have two Teslas and three on order and now I’m looking at other brands. None that I like. To me, Tesla can be like the Apple iPhone where people rarely switch. If the S refresh came with a wheel and stalks you wood have the regular Tesla build complainants and everyone loving the car, not enthusiasts not wanting to order the car or disliking/settling for what they bought. So from that view it’s very disappointing. It’s like if Apple got rid of the headset plug hole way before blue tooth was working properly.

 

[Nemic]

Slowly but surely, surely?

Amazing work rhuber!

Question! What problems would you expect doing the other way around and mounting a Yoke in a 2021 Model 3?

Would the physical steering wheel buttons still work or would you need to use the buttons from the M3? Would it be possible to get the horn working in any way?

I guess the airbag is plug and play though you are using the M3 wheel/airbag?

Any thoughts?

Thanks )

 

[Pantera Dude]

I'm testing out a low-tech solution to the horn issue. I put a 12mm transparent epoxy dot (sourced from Etsy) over the horn icon. Easier to quickly find with your thumb and does change the look much. Tested to make sure it can be removed without damaging the Yoke.

How is the dot working out?

 

[SRTConvert]

I haven't had to use the horn in an "emergency" situation. I practice reaching my thumb to the dot to build muscle memory.

Very easy to find the horn button that way, without being obtrusive.

 

[Pantera Dude]

I haven't had to use the horn in an "emergency" situation. I practice reaching my thumb to the dot to build muscle memory.

Very easy to find the horn button that way, without being obtrusive.

Now that you mention it, I realize my horn button doesn't get much use so it wouldn't be likely to come off any time soon. I am also thinking about putting one on the high beam button which does get a lot of use.
Thank you!

 

[SRTConvert]

No indication that the dot is loose or coming off. If it does, I have a few sheets of replacements. It might be worth trying one on the headlight button as well.

 

[Pantera Dude]

No indication that the dot is loose or coming off. If it does, I have a few sheets of replacements. It might be worth trying one on the headlight button as well.

Does 12mm seem to be the ideal size? If you had to it again would you go larger or smaller?

 

[Pantera Dude]

Welp, I hate to have to take back what I said about videos this week, but my car is about to go in for service and if forum posts are any indication, I may not get it back for a while. My adaptive suspension has occasionally thrown errors since days after I picked up the car, but yesterday, with 1000 miles left on my road trip, it stopped working entirely, which turned the car into a floaty + sloppy mess. The car rightfully limits your top speed in this mode, because on anything but perfect roads it is dangerous to drive.

(and no, this has nothing to do with any modification to the car, period. this error happened from day one, but increased in frequency until ultimately failing during my long road trip over the weekend.)

Edit: and my signature below has said this was "probably" my last tesla for a while now, but given how annoyed I am with service/support over the years, it is being upgraded to "definitely"

Welp, I hate to have to take back what I said about videos this week, but my car is about to go in for service and if forum posts are any indication, I may not get it back for a while. My adaptive suspension has occasionally thrown errors since days after I picked up the car, but yesterday, with 1000 miles left on my road trip, it stopped working entirely, which turned the car into a floaty + sloppy mess. The car rightfully limits your top speed in this mode, because on anything but perfect roads it is dangerous to drive.

(and no, this has nothing to do with any modification to the car, period. this error happened from day one, but increased in frequency until ultimately failing during my long road trip over the weekend.)

Edit: and my signature below has said this was "probably" my last tesla for a while now, but given how annoyed I am with service/support over the years, it is being upgraded to "definitely"

Rhuber,
I'm sure you're busy but I for one am "really" looking forward to your instructional video or videos on the yoke to steering wheel conversion. I drove a car today with a steering wheel and blinkers on a stalk and realized how much I took those wonderful things for granted! I can't wait to see what you've got for us! I'm ready to pull the trigger! People can get used to a lot of things but having to get used to tiny little moving targets instead of stationary, relatively large and easy to find stalks/controls seems unnecessary at best.
Godspeed! <grin>

 

[rhuber]

Speaking of times I am glad I had a round wheel… yesterday

 

[Dirty Dog]

Rhuber,
I'm sure you're busy but I for one am "really" looking forward to your instructional video or videos on the yoke to steering wheel conversion. I drove a car today with a steering wheel and blinkers on a stalk and realized how much I took those wonderful things for granted! I can't wait to see what you've got for us! I'm ready to pull the trigger! People can get used to a lot of things but having to get used to tiny little moving targets instead of stationary, relatively large and easy to find stalks/controls seems unnecessary at best.
Godspeed! <grin>

It’s amazing how Musk is alienating so many buyers from the new S. Will definitely effect cybertruck sales.

 

[tm1v2]

It’s amazing how Musk is alienating so many buyers from the new S. Will definitely effect cybertruck sales.

I have this theory that the new S is as much a reflection of Elon's life and driving right now as the original S was in 2012. Back then he was still schlepping kids around California, right? The original S was a fantastic family car, even more than the newer ones with the huge frunk and optional booster seats in the trunk.

From my visits to Texas I bet the yoke truly works fine for Elon's driving there.