Yoke vs Steering

[Predation]

I had a plaid loaner for a wheel with the yoke steering wheel. I had mentally prepared my self for it and instantly adapted.
The thing that really sucks is if you’re trying to use a turn signal while you’re turning the wheel. And I feel quick parallel parking would def suck.

Other than those things, I loved it.

 

[zivac87]

Used each more than 6000 miles. Sticking with round wheel. 0 cons unlike yoke

 

[Tesery]

I just placed an order for a new 2023 MS Standard, Blue and cream interior.

Interested to hear real experiences and feedback on the Yoke vs Steering. Most interested to hear from those who tried the Yoke already, than those without real or long-term experience. Please provide a non-biased feedback : ). I can still edit my order to either yoke/steering.

NOTE: I am an autopilot type of a guy 99% of the time on highways, and 60-70% in-town.

Hello,

Congratulations on your new 2023 Model S! It's great that you're seeking real-world experiences before finalizing your choice between the yoke and the traditional steering wheel. Both options have their merits, and it's important to make a decision that aligns with your driving preferences.

Regarding the yoke, we understand that firsthand feedback can be incredibly valuable. While we do have customers who have chosen the yoke option, individual experiences can vary.

Additionally, if you're interested in customizing your steering wheel to match your preferences and style, Tesery offers a range of steering wheel options that you might find appealing. Our products are designed to enhance the driving experience and aesthetics of your Tesla, so you can explore these options as well.

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions or need further assistance. We're here to help you make the best choice for your driving needs.

 

[Plaidness]

So I actually test drove the Yoke for 30 min; it was fine but i was not sure how long it will take to get used to it.

I was just watching this video, and liked how his muscle memory is tunes to also do the slip-trick using the Yoke (see minute 3:14):

You should drive one with a wheel and one with a steering wheel back-to-back and the decision should be pretty clear.

 

[Joey D]

My $0.02.

I agree with most comments about pros and cons. (I have driven both and I currently drive with the yoke).
1) Pro Yoke: Looks Cooler, Better Instrument cluster visibility. Better for highway cruising, and navigate on Autopilot (highway self driving).
2) Pro Wheel: More familiar control, better for close quarters steering (where you traditionally use hand over hand, or one handed turning). I have not used FSD Beta on city streets (it's not available on HW4) , but I would imagine the wheel is better for this use case.

Given the above, I would purchase based on your primary use case of the vehicle:

a) City Street Driving. (Lots of stop and go 90 degree turns, lots of parallel parking, etc): Get the wheel
b) Suburb Driving or Rural driving. (Occasional traffic lights, more windy roads, etc.): Get the yoke.
c) Highway Cruising: Get the yoke
d) Track Driving: get the wheel.

Hope that helps!

On a purely subjective note, I feel more engaged and have more "fun" when driving with the yoke...I drive primarily suburban use case. Also drive rural roads and long highway road trips. "City" driving much less often.

 

[scrapps]

Bought my S with a yoke. Counted the minutes until I could replace it with a wheel.

Hate the design of it - I’ll admit it’s comfy cruising on the highway, but that’s it for positives for me.

It’s more awkward to drive, offers worse turning radiuses and is an abject nightmare for quick maneuvers like k-turns and even parallel parking. At its very best, it’s as-good-as a wheel. Most things are significantly worse. The only thing it does better than the wheel is visibility of the top of the instrument panel. Not a big deal.

I’ve finally started to love my S since replacing it…. Still think the turn signal button thing is a mistake but that I can live with. The yoke, no — without a round wheel, I would’ve sold the car by now and taken a huge loss. I hate it *that* much.

This is exactly my situation and the way I feel about it too

 

[Yelobird]

Absolutely love the S with Yoke. Wouldn’t go any other way personally.

 

[Joey D]

The thing that really sucks [with the yoke] is if you’re trying to use a turn signal while you’re turning the wheel.

This is not an issue with the Yoke per se...it is an issue with the refresh Model S/X...wheel or yoke. (Neither has stalks.)

I had this issue at first, though more when I was using the wheel. I have now adapted to be better at turning on my signal ahead of time (prior to turning), instead of occasionally last second after starting a turn. There are still corner cases of course where you legitimately need to signal while in a turn....but not that often in my driving. Finally, the yoke actually makes this easier to deal with, since you "know" where the signal is by feel, and your hands are normally in the right place to activate it (unless in a really sharp turn). When you are in the middle of a turn with a round wheel, I typically had no idea where the haptic buttons were unless I looked.

 

[uscbucsfan]

Tesla has offered me a free round steering wheel to replace my peeling yoke, but I'd rather have a peeling yoke until it's redesigned than a round wheel.

I love the yoke.

 

[SuperchargedEV]

Tesla offered to allow me to pay for a replacement yoke (to have it replaced today during my service appt) or wait a few months for redesign and replacement under warranty. I think I’d rather have a peeling yoke and wait for the redesign!

 

[shahryaran]

Stalk or no stalk argument [not] settled

First, we should analyze the matter without considering that the brand Tesla is making these changes and understand from a automotive/ engineering/ ergonomic point of view that whether indicator in steering has benefits compare to stalk. If it does, I'll accept that. Obviously there is always...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[CTruck_BMW]

Stalk or no stalk argument [not] settled

First, we should analyze the matter without considering that the brand Tesla is making these changes and understand from a automotive/ engineering/ ergonomic point of view that whether indicator in steering has benefits compare to stalk. If it does, I'll accept that. Obviously there is always...

teslamotorsclub.com

TLDR...honestly.

Anyway sounds like there is just too much drama with the Yoke.

Thanks everyone.. I ended up going with the wheel steering. Happy with it nothing much to worry or think about. Feedback here was so useful.

 

[JohnnyMa]

I just placed an order for a new 2023 MS Standard, Blue and cream interior.

Interested to hear real experiences and feedback on the Yoke vs Steering. Most interested to hear from those who tried the Yoke already, than those without real or long-term experience. Please provide a non-biased feedback : ). I can still edit my order to either yoke/steering.

NOTE: I am an autopilot type of a guy 99% of the time on highways, and 60-70% in-town.

Unrelated: seeing as how they dropped the Standard and lowered the price on Friday, are you still locked in at your initial purchase price/trim or are they changing it?

 

[CTruck_BMW]

Unrelated: seeing as how they dropped the Standard and lowered the price on Friday, are you still locked in at your initial purchase price/trim or are they changing it?

I actually switched my order myself to LR and asked them to match me to an inventory VIN for car at a nearby state that I can pick up immediately. I did that already and I have the car "it is in my profile pic : ) "

 

[Maaz]

Love the Yoke in both our Plaids. Will pay for it every time.

 

[redbar]

I just placed an order for a new 2023 MS Standard, Blue and cream interior.

Interested to hear real experiences and feedback on the Yoke vs Steering. Most interested to hear from those who tried the Yoke already, than those without real or long-term experience. Please provide a non-biased feedback : ). I can still edit my order to either yoke/steering.

NOTE: I am an autopilot type of a guy 99% of the time on highways, and 60-70% in-town.

I actually went from wheel TO yoke. Hated the wheel since it blocks the speedometer, FSD visuals and AC. To anyone saying "no advantage" to the yoke---that's THREE big ones IMO. It's also more comfortable on the highway resting my hands on it to avoid the nag. Have not found turns to be any issue, but I don't have round abouts. For the blinkers (which is more about stalks missing than wheel/yoke), I use s3xy buttons on the back. Each side has a button for the blinker. Way more intuitive than tesla's approach.

 

[Ed Hart]

I bought a 2022 S at a time when there was no wheel option. Pleasant on the highway. Horrible in parking lots. Some close calls. The quality is so poor that it started to delaminate at six months. In 2023, Tesla changed my yoke to a wheel at no cost to me. I am much happier. I notice that both the Pikes Peak and Nurburgring racers have wheels. Just sayin'
Let's all remember that Tesla is on a tear to drive down the cost of their products to expand the market for Teslas. A steering assembly with stalks is pretty costly. So Tesla developed their steering assembly as an inexpensive, stalk-free design. I would rather have stalks.

 

[Josh X]

I bought a used 2022 Model S a few months ago. I did a lot of research before hand and went into it with the idea that I would hate the yoke. The day I got the car, the yoke felt cool but alien so I went ahead and ordered the round wheel retrofit. It took about 2-3 weeks for my appointment and in that time I went on 2 road trips and in total drove about 3k miles with the yoke. I got really used to it but went forward with the retrofit anyway. Within a day I regretted it. The unique factor of the yoke was gone, and I feel like the buttons are easier to press with the yoke design. I swapped back to the yoke and I honestly love It now.

 

[CTruck_BMW]

I bought a used 2022 Model S a few months ago. I did a lot of research before hand and went into it with the idea that I would hate the yoke. The day I got the car, the yoke felt cool but alien so I went ahead and ordered the round wheel retrofit. It took about 2-3 weeks for my appointment and in that time I went on 2 road trips and in total drove about 3k miles with the yoke. I got really used to it but went forward with the retrofit anyway. Within a day I regretted it. The unique factor of the yoke was gone, and I feel like the buttons are easier to press with the yoke design. I swapped back to the yoke and I honestly love It now.

I like the front camera screen you have. Can you share what you are using and link? also how did u manage to keep it fixed there and do u have to automatically turn on and off the camera each time?

 

[soulsea]

I don’t mean any disrespect but the fact that any of you prefer the yoke over the steering wheel is honestly irrelevant, as preference and necessity are two completely different things.

There are numerous real world safety situations when you’re actually driving your vehicle yourself that in an emergency situation not having access to a round steering wheel could cost you your life and that of others. I get that it makes you feel cool and tech progressive, and that you have a slightly better view of your dash, but that’s not going to help you when your brain directs your hands towards reaching for 50% of a steering wheel that isn’t there. In the moment of life or death pressure and instant decision making, your brain won’t care about how neat it is to have a yoke, it will reach for a tool that is missing from its toolbox and there will be consequences to that design choice.

It’s the equivalent to removing the brake pedal cause you rarely use it because of regenerative braking. Not needed most of the time, until you REALLY need it.

ETA: I driven race cars that have yoke style steering wheels, but the steering ratio in those makes it so that you‘re almost never in a situation where your hands are at full opposite ends, most won’t even go past 180 degrees and and if they could you’d be past the point of no return anyway and your destiny is in gravity’s hands. Those yokes have nothing to do with what’s in a Tesla. Even in the race car world there are very few iterations that have yoke steering wheels, never mind Bob the dentist on his way to Whole Foods.