Five years ago today, we pressed the Go pedal of a P85 for the first time...How did your test drive
Our road to buying the Model S85 had surprising twists and turns. Our Mark VIII was 17 years old, so we asked “if a meteorite fell on it, which car would we buy to replace it?
We heard a Dodge Challenger’s throaty 5.7 liter Hemi roar, and arranged a test drive. It was powerful, but had treacherous blind spots. As long time owners of American V-8s, we wanted to test out German diesel sedans. After driving the high-efficiency Mercedes Blu-TEC E350 and the BMW 328d, we talked about the good aspects (45 mpg and tight handling, nice interior comforts). And the bad: after studying the 35 page shop manual for the complex MB diesel/twin turbo system with urea cleaner fluid, Steve looked up at me, shook his head and said “As a mechanical engineer, I can see that this system has way too many moving parts”.
A neighbor had to cancel his test drive of a Tesla. We told him, it’s too far to go to LA for a test drive; we didn’t know San Diego even had a store. Five minutes later we were home on the computer booking a test drive for October 23, 2013. Steve made the left onto Nobel Drive and floored the P85. In the back seat, for the first time, I lost my equilibrium, and became dizzy. That’s never happened before, even driving in my boss’ Porsche.
We spent 2 hours in the store poring over the skateboard’s robust aluminum fabrication. As both of us worked in aerospace, we were drawn to the finely cast AlSi10MgMn parts, and went home to research the alloy. We read this forum and met with Tesla people to be sure that our concerns (12V battery, replacement of drive motor/inverter due to 65+ hum) had been resolved by redesign/procurement.
We hadn’t planned to replace our V-8 Lincoln (65,000 miles). But before pressing the confirm button in December, I asked Steve when did you know we would have to buy the Model S? “The moment my foot hit the go pedal and it took off”. And my moment was, “when you floored it and I was floating.”
The road we traveled originated in brawny American V-8s, to the refinement and efficiency of German sedans, to Tesla. How did Tesla win us over to purchase the Model S? Exhilarating power, stable center of gravity, equal weight distribution, solid Al construction, excellent range, interior spaciousness, few moving parts to fail, quiet, beauty of design, commitment to making the car right, supercharging, large display, flat torque curve, hauling capability, safety. It’s a travel car par excellence. A green car that made us see stars.
As I filed all the documents collected during the process, I came upon 10 pages from Tesla’s site that we had printed July 16, 2012. At that point, we realized, we’d actually been thinking about this since it came into production. Back then, we didn’t foresee that on March 12, 2014, a blue Model S85 would be arriving in our garage.
This was what we wrote before…reflections on how we feel now…coming up.
We heard a Dodge Challenger’s throaty 5.7 liter Hemi roar, and arranged a test drive. It was powerful, but had treacherous blind spots. As long time owners of American V-8s, we wanted to test out German diesel sedans. After driving the high-efficiency Mercedes Blu-TEC E350 and the BMW 328d, we talked about the good aspects (45 mpg and tight handling, nice interior comforts). And the bad: after studying the 35 page shop manual for the complex MB diesel/twin turbo system with urea cleaner fluid, Steve looked up at me, shook his head and said “As a mechanical engineer, I can see that this system has way too many moving parts”.
A neighbor had to cancel his test drive of a Tesla. We told him, it’s too far to go to LA for a test drive; we didn’t know San Diego even had a store. Five minutes later we were home on the computer booking a test drive for October 23, 2013. Steve made the left onto Nobel Drive and floored the P85. In the back seat, for the first time, I lost my equilibrium, and became dizzy. That’s never happened before, even driving in my boss’ Porsche.
We spent 2 hours in the store poring over the skateboard’s robust aluminum fabrication. As both of us worked in aerospace, we were drawn to the finely cast AlSi10MgMn parts, and went home to research the alloy. We read this forum and met with Tesla people to be sure that our concerns (12V battery, replacement of drive motor/inverter due to 65+ hum) had been resolved by redesign/procurement.
We hadn’t planned to replace our V-8 Lincoln (65,000 miles). But before pressing the confirm button in December, I asked Steve when did you know we would have to buy the Model S? “The moment my foot hit the go pedal and it took off”. And my moment was, “when you floored it and I was floating.”
The road we traveled originated in brawny American V-8s, to the refinement and efficiency of German sedans, to Tesla. How did Tesla win us over to purchase the Model S? Exhilarating power, stable center of gravity, equal weight distribution, solid Al construction, excellent range, interior spaciousness, few moving parts to fail, quiet, beauty of design, commitment to making the car right, supercharging, large display, flat torque curve, hauling capability, safety. It’s a travel car par excellence. A green car that made us see stars.
As I filed all the documents collected during the process, I came upon 10 pages from Tesla’s site that we had printed July 16, 2012. At that point, we realized, we’d actually been thinking about this since it came into production. Back then, we didn’t foresee that on March 12, 2014, a blue Model S85 would be arriving in our garage.
This was what we wrote before…reflections on how we feel now…coming up.
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Comments
You crack me up! Good thing I wasn't drinking coffee. How can you guess that when you only spent an hour with him???
Now, I tell anyone interested in the car: Test drive one only with the full awareness that you'll want one afterward. I have yet to meet someone who test drove a Tesla and then said "Meh, I'll go with something else". A couple of years ago I read that Tesla had the highest test-drive to sale conversion rate. It was not surprising to me.
But beyond all of that, there is an intangible quality to the Model S that lets it shine in a way that makes a test drive almost a secondary confirmation:
When I convinced my wife to come look at one at the Santa Monica Tesla showroom in 2012, she came along basically to humor me. There was no way in *HELL* we'd spend 80 or 90k on a car. Even for me, the visit was more to satisfy my curiosity in that new thing than an actual shopping trip.
That status flipped soon after we stepped into the showroom and saw the beautiful black car. I was helplessly being dragged, like standing in a rip tide, from "Not for us" to "probably not" to "I don't think so" to "maybe some day" to "perhaps" to "could we?" within a couple of minutes.
My wife went from "No way" to "We gotta have one of these!" - even before I got to "Could we?"
I had no interest in a sedan but reluctantly, I gave in to thie salespersons insistence to test drive an S.
Came back from the exhilirating drive completely blown away and reserved a P85 on the spot!
Spetember 30th I took delivery of the car in San Diego with AP1 hardware, which was a feature unknown to anyone when I ordered. What a bonus that was and continues to be.
It was only after I ordered that I discovered this forum and what a great source of info that has been!
Well, most of a year later, daughter's car died, and we were in the market, so started thinking about it again, and decided to order one in January 2014.
I won't say the test drive did anything in particular for me, since I was already obsessed and had been reading this forum for a while, so I knew beforehand I would love it no matter what.
Things that used to annoy or anger me while driving are now brushed aside with, "whatever, I'm in a Tesla". Although I enjoy launching up to speed, I don't feel the need to speed because it gives me more time in the car.
It has made life fun.
Sold the Jag with pangs in my heart. But have never looked back. We took delivery of a midnight blue S85 in Dec. 2014.
"What country is that Tesla made in? Was a common question. OOOO-SA (USA). No Shit! Really?
Promptly put 72,000 miles on it. Sold some real estate. Mrs. M had already figured out the next move to a 2017 MS100D. Christened it with a 7,000 mile baseball trip in Sept of this year.
We are very happy.
That night I ordered my 1st model S and took delivery in March 2014 VIN 34k.
Since then I have purchased 1 more Model S and a Model X. I sold the 34k VIN car to a friend because of AP. I had to have it.
I have not looked back.
Even before taking a "launch" I was aware of the virtually linear power available to the wheels; the 75D's launch was very nice--and reminiscent of the Turbo.
On to a P100D three days later....wherein, in less than three seconds of elapsed time, the P100D exposed the Porsche Turbo for the anachronistic sluggard that it is! Meaning, as I compared my sensation of a Turbo launch vs the Tesla, I would have to say that the Tesla was GONE at least one second before the Turbo "decided" to take a gulp of liquid dinosaur, spin up the turbos and finally (an eternity of milliseconds later) kick in and go. Exhilarating in its own right but sad. Or, sadly exhilarating?
I will never go back to a Porsche. The Model S - P100D - has ruined me for the foreseeable future. Now I must wait till mid-December for its arrival. Truly, by purchasing this vehicle I feel that I am a generation ahead of the curve in personal transportation. The Future arrives on Dec. 15.
the regenerative braking is also one of my favorites. I don't think the brakes will ever need replacement and so much easier relaxing my left leg.
I think I need to pick up some milk. Summon.