May sell Z06 and buy a Model S (initial impression added)

[JulesMaximus]

I've been riding my Multistrada to work quite a bit lately which kind of defeats the purpose of having a hybrid. I've been toying with the idea of trading in the Camry for one of these.

 

[Ferzerp]

I was close. :biggrin:

How long did you have the Stingray before you bought the Z07? Another 9 months?

You clearly aren't married and/or don't have kids.

14 months.

Had a GT500 12 months before that.

Had a challenger 13 months before that.

 

[Aharami]

14 months.

Had a GT500 12 months before that.

Had a challenger 13 months before that.

I guess you don't get emotionally attached to a car. Which is nice. I am still unable to get rid of my first car, and still holding on to it for 16 yrs now

 

[natto fire]

I guess you don't get emotionally attached to a car. Which is nice. I am still unable to get rid of my first car, and still holding on to it for 16 yrs now

I went through that with my first car, an '84 Toyota Cressida. Great I6 engine, Tiara coachwork, just a marvel of a car before the Nips launched their luxury brands. That said, they are just machines, and now that I am older, I appreciate my friends and family much more than I will any machine.

 

[Ferzerp]

I've been riding my Multistrada to work quite a bit lately which kind of defeats the purpose of having a hybrid. I've been toying with the idea of trading in the Camry for one of these.

I don't know that I'll ever own a convertible. It just isn't my thing.

 

[_Rick_]

I've been riding my Multistrada to work quite a bit lately which kind of defeats the purpose of having a hybrid. I've been toying with the idea of trading in the Camry for one of these.

I wonder what the price diff between the E400 and closest S-convertible will be, and how those will differ on kit.
And how much room there's in the rear. The E is quite tight in the back.

 

[Ferzerp]

So far so good. I've been under the weather though so haven't really gotten to enjoy it yet.

 

[Kadarin]

So far so good. I've been under the weather though so haven't really gotten to enjoy it yet.

Hope you feel better soon... Also, looking forward to hearing more about what you think of it.

 

[Ferzerp]

Ok, I've driven it more now, so I have some first impressions after 250 miles or so.

Keep in mind that I've had cars since 2011 that have as much or more (usually more) straight line acceleration and MUCH better handling.

Performancewise, it is pretty respectable and has met my expectations. Straight line acceleration I can tell fools people. It fools people because the throttle response is instant and the lack of delay due to shifting, etc, gives it the illusion of unparalleled acceleration. Coming from other fast cars though, I can tell that that is mostly the shock of the utter lack of lag in power application. That said, it's performance in this area is satisfying and on par with my expectations. I have no complaints here. It does better than a 4800 lbs sedan really has a right to. Does it blow me away? No. Is it good? Yes.

In regards to handling, it is surprisingly nimble for its weight. Of course, it's a 4800 lbs car. If you put me in one without telling me the weight, I'd think it closer to 3800 lbs or so. Again, it meets expectations here. The only thing that is taking a little bit to get used to is braking performance. It is good, but I am coming from a car with a hard initial bite that can do 60-0 in under 95 ft. This one takes 110 ft. That said, this is more growing accustom to regenerative braking on my part. I haven't gotten the feel of the car yet in this realm and certainly don't find the braking insufficient. I just have to push harder than I am accustomed to if I want the mechanical braking to kick in much.

As far as driving modes, there really aren't many options to set. You have three steering modes. It will never leave "sport". You also can set the height on my model. There is something like 2 inches of ground clearance difference. I've enjoyed being able to go to homes with a rough driveway and set it to very high, and never having to worry again because when I turn in to them, it remembers and goes back to very high.

It also has selectable creep mode (I leave it off) as well as two auto-regen mods. The first gives somewhat aggressive regenerative braking in a throttle off condition (basically no throttle input is more like 15% brake, and you have to apply a little throttle to hold a speed). The other option emulates an automatic transmission coasting. I leave it on he more aggressive setting as it provides a longer range.

Charging isn't a problem. I just have a 240V/50 amp outlet in my garage. It happily pulls 40 amps to return 30 miles of range per hour of charging. You can double that rate, but it requires a more robust electrical service potentially, as well as more costly materials. I've estimated that it would take me around $5,000 to upgrade my house, buy the wall charger, and get the extra inverter to allow for 80 amp charging (59 miles of range per hour of charge).

The interior is on par with expectation for a high end sedan. I have the highest end seats, and I can't really say that I have ever sat in a more comfortable car seat. I wouldn't want them for a track, but for just driving, they're great (and they'd better be for $2,500 over the base seats).

I was pleased when I found out that audio is either from HD FM/AM/USB or, the best one, built in LTE that will stream Slacker Radio. It comes free with a 4 year subscription to Slacker, but I use it in other things, so I just plugged in my account. The data plan is covered by Tesla at this time, and will be for the next 4 years at minimum. No caps, but the browser is not fully featured, and there is no tethering, so the music streaming is really where the data usage is. That said, high quality streaming is a data hog compared to most people's data plans, so I am a little surprised this is a free service.

I will get to try the supercharger network. I plan on taking the car on vacation over New Years, just to see how it works.


Now for the biggest surprise. It's a calming drive. It's not a stressful drive. It makes you not rush to your destination. I've found that the most enjoyable way to drive is just set the traffic aware cruise control, ignore the throttle and brakes and just steer. I'm an impatient, fast, and aggressive driver even in my cheap underpowered commuter car. I was always the same in fast cars. In this one, I don't get that feeling, which frankly, over anything buy the shortest of trips can be exhausting. Removing the throttle and braking from input I need to do makes the travel far more relaxed. Who cares if the car ahead of me is only going 72 mph. The car is worrying about that. I just have to steer. It is a very new experience for me, and probably the biggest plus of the car. That's not to say that there haven't been times knotted up in traffic that I triggered the collision warning detection getting past a particularly troublesome group of cars, but the frequency of that type of maneuver has dropped to nearly nil for me.

Frankly, I can't wait for the software to enable the lane keeping to be available. Just having to monitor the car for potential corrective action will likely make driving even more peaceful.


So far, very satisfied, and it is a needed change.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

FWIW: The newest shopping plaza near me put some charging stations out front of hte grocery store.

 

[bigi]

...
The interior is on par with expectation for a high end sedan. I have the highest end seats, and I can't really say that I have ever sat in a more comfortable car seat. I wouldn't want them for a track, but for just driving, they're great (and they'd better be for $2,500 over the base seats).
....

Now for the biggest surprise. It's a calming drive. It's not a stressful drive. It makes you not rush to your destination. I've found that the most enjoyable way to drive is just set the traffic aware cruise control, ignore the throttle and brakes and just steer. I'm an impatient, fast, and aggressive driver even in my cheap underpowered commuter car. ....

Appreciate your take. This is indeed very good for Tesla as it seems that they have addressed major complaints from earlier builds.

Most of the points had to do with the seats, fit and finish, quality of materials for the price.

Your note regarding 'calming drive' is new to me and very surprising to be honest. It is a good thing for sure.

Now, Elon has said that Tesla will not do a bad product. I believe that. Your report shows that they have improved the Model S to 125K point especially in terms of its interior.

Can't wait for what Model X and 3 will bring.

 

[Aharami]

've enjoyed being able to go to homes with a rough driveway and set it to very high, and never having to worry again because when I turn in to them, it remembers and goes back to very high.

that is awesome. Is there a limit on such GPS enabled settings it can remember?

 

[tential]

Appreciate your take. This is indeed very good for Tesla as it seems that they have addressed major complaints from earlier builds.

Most of the points had to do with the seats, fit and finish, quality of materials for the price.

Your note regarding 'calming drive' is new to me and very surprising to be honest. It is a good thing for sure.

Now, Elon has said that Tesla will not do a bad product. I believe that. Your report shows that they have improved the Model S to 125K point especially in terms of its interior.

Can't wait for what Model X and 3 will bring.

Might just be not being used to adaptive cruise control if he has usually more sportier cars that don't have that feature? I don't know if he does or not.

I used this on the E500 since I could drive and it's amazing. I love adaptive cruise control although I'm betting it's even more refined in the Tesla.

 

[Kaido]

Ok, I've driven it more now, so I have some first impressions after 250 miles or so.

...

So far, very satisfied, and it is a needed change.

Awesome, thanks for the review! Post some pics!!