New Tesla Model S Now the Quickest Production Car in the World

[Bruce B]

Mine is a luxury roadster or a speedster

once again yours and mine are much smaller cars designed for a different purpose than the larger 4 door sedan. That must make sense to you, no??

Well I'd get a C63s or E63 then. What Mike and all are saying is we can use our cars as daily drivers and still get that visceral enjoyment, that adrenaline, that sh*t eating grin on our faces, even if we're not going from 0-60 at Mach II. A Tesla has no SOUL.......

And Steve.... our cars are called Grand Touring.... just like the Maserati and Aston Martin.

 

[Steve Williams]

Jack

I grew up driving a stick and only drove a stick sports car until we moved to the SF Bay area. I remember coming to a stop light on a tall steep hill with an 18 wheeler ahead of me with me riding the clutch hoping to hell my car won't stall or that 18 wheeler wasn't going to fall back into my car. I sold that car and have always had an automatic since

 

[Steve Williams]

I'm not arguing Bruce as you know I love my car and have been eyeing that GT-S AMG Biturbo

 

[DaveC]

The fascination with driving extremely fast cars on the street is juvenile imo, any modern sports car has capabilities that should NEVER be explored on the street, yet very few owners actually take their cars to the track and even fewer are actually competent drivers on a track, which means you really have no clue how to actually drive your sports car. It makes no sense to me.

What does make sense is cars that don't run on gasoline. Even if electric cars aren't more environmentally friendly, and I think there is a lot of truth to that, we still need to stop burning fossil fuels and this is more important than other environmental impacts because it's been an issue for so long.

This is coming from someone who owned/built a 400 HP Datsun 240Z, a 600 HP supercharged big-block Chevy truck, a 400+ HP Toyota Land Cruiser with a fuel-injected V8, a rally car, etc... It's a never ending drain on the wallet and for what? It's never enough, people always want more no matter how much they have. If you want to go fast get a race car. Drive something more reasonable on the street. IMO of course...

 

[Steve Williams]

Well I'd get a C63s or E63 then. What Mike and all are saying is we can use our cars as daily drivers and still get that visceral enjoyment, that adrenaline, that sh*t eating grin on our faces, even if we're not going from 0-60 at Mach II. A Tesla has no SOUL.......

And Steve.... our cars are called Grand Touring.... just like the Maserati and Aston Martin.

The fascination with driving extremely fast cars on the street is juvenile imo, any modern sports car has capabilities that should NEVER be explored on the street, yet very few owners actually take their cars to the track and even fewer are actually competent drivers on a track, which means you really have no clue how to actually drive your sports car. It makes no sense to me.

What does make sense is cars that don't run on gasoline. Even if electric cars aren't more environmentally friendly, and I think there is a lot of truth to that, we still need to stop burning fossil fuels and this is more important than other environmental impacts because it's been an issue for so long.

This is coming from someone who owned/built a 400 HP Datsun 240Z, a 600 HP supercharged big-block Chevy truck, a 400+ HP Toyota Land Cruiser with a fuel-injected V8, a rally car, etc... It's a never ending drain on the wallet and for what? It's never enough, people always want more no matter how much they have. If you want to go fast get a race car. Drive something more reasonable on the street. IMO of course...

agreed and that is the dilemma that we die harders have difficulty coming to grips with.

As Elon Musk asked, "do you want faster or free"

 

[JackD201]

The fascination with driving extremely fast cars on the street is juvenile imo, any modern sports car has capabilities that should NEVER be explored on the street, yet very few owners actually take their cars to the track and even fewer are actually competent drivers on a track, which means you really have no clue how to actually drive your sports car. It makes no sense to me.

What does make sense is cars that don't run on gasoline. Even if electric cars aren't more environmentally friendly, and I think there is a lot of truth to that, we still need to stop burning fossil fuels and this is more important than other environmental impacts because it's been an issue for so long.

This is coming from someone who owned/built a 400 HP Datsun 240Z, a 600 HP supercharged big-block Chevy truck, a 400+ HP Toyota Land Cruiser with a fuel-injected V8, a rally car, etc... It's a never ending drain on the wallet and for what? It's never enough, people always want more no matter how much they have. If you want to go fast get a race car. Drive something more reasonable on the street. IMO of course...

Oh come on. You paint with too wide a brush. Having one doesn't mean you have to be irresponsible. There is no denying that these cars come with better handling, better acceleration and better breaking. Things that can and do make the car safer even at normal driving speeds.

 

[Steve Williams]

Well I'd get a C63s or E63 then. What Mike and all are saying is we can use our cars as daily drivers and still get that visceral enjoyment, that adrenaline, that sh*t eating grin on our faces, even if we're not going from 0-60 at Mach II. A Tesla has no SOUL.......

And Steve.... our cars are called Grand Touring.... just like the Maserati and Aston Martin.

Oh come on. You paint with too wide a brush. Having one doesn't mean you have to be irresponsible. There is no denying that these cars come with better handling, better acceleration and better breaking. Things that can and do make the car safer even at normal driving speeds.

I have a healthy respect for my car and its capabilities as well as the road and the law. I rarely engage in super fast driving but I do like to push the limits of my car on a wide open road for the very reasons that Jack outlined.....

There is no denying that these cars come with better handling, better acceleration and better breaking. Things that can and do make the car safer even at normal driving speeds.

 

[NorthStar]

How is the sound system in that new Tesla model S?

 

[Joe Whip]

As one who has test driven one, I love it. We are on the list for the sedan when it comes out in 2018. The instant acceleration will come in handy dealing with the crazy drivers on the PA and NJ Turnpikes.

 

[Rodney Gold]

In essence , street racing is generally stoplight to stoplight.. being smoked in your hypercar by a Tesla is embarrassing....

 

[Folsom]

The thing about cars is...

First they make them fast. They feel fast. It's fun.
Then they improve the handling and brace the drive train better so they don't feel that fast.
So they make the cars faster to get the rush back.
Then they improve the handling and brace the drive train better so they don't feel that fast.
............................... on and on

It's almost ironic, but inevitable that cars increase performance. It's how they market, not fulfil a need. Anyone who's ever driven over 100mph knows that it can feel amazingly calm, or like you're about to lose your life, depending on the vehicle. Cars truly have out grown the street. Think about this, a go-cart that tops out at 35mph but is loud and very visceral feels way faster on a tiny track than your AMG's do during any typical driving that isn't on the edge of taking your life.

The thing that blows me away is the lack of technology to increase MPG. I'd like to see these in everyday cars. The produce 4x the power at half the size. Theoretically we could have very small, efficient, 300hp engines in everything...

Electric cars are fine, if we can figure out a way to make them not as much of an environmental hazard as gas already happens to be. I think that day will come. And right now everyone buying Tesla's are paving the way for when that day comes, so we'll have cars to use the technology with. They're luxury right now, but electric cars need to become the Toyota of the future and investing in them now will get us there sooner.

 

[Steve Williams]

Tesla's are paving the way for when that day comes, so we'll have cars to use the technology with. They're luxury right now, but electric cars need to become the Toyota of the future and investing in them now will get us there sooner.

The Model 3 will fulfill that need when it is released next year.

Bear in mind that in less than 24 hours there were 400,000 Model 3 pre orders on a car that was still a prototype and never released

 

[Folsom]

It's a fever. I'm happy that people are being so positive.

 

[Steve Williams]

It's more than a fever. It's reality.

Personally I would love to own an electric vehicle for tooling around town and campy AMG for those long highway trips (although I must admit that free fill ups across the USA at Tesla stations fascinates me

 

[KeithR]

I can't disagree with Frantz' position. The reality is that we are all scoffing at the future of the automotive industry. In 10-20 years when the price of gas is $10 or more per gallon we might remember our comments about the ICE.

My son is also in queue for a Model 3. The reality for me is that this car will snuff mine, Bruce's Christian's and Mike's cars from a standing stop. Nothing more or nothing less. I still prefer my car as everyone does theirs as well but I was sure humiliated by that Tesla in a P85D

I don't believe gas will be $10 in my lifetime. In fact, I'd argue we are entering a protracted period of lower commodity prices. Any conversion to Tesla-style EVs would curtail oil demand as well.

0-60 is more marketing, than substance. How many of you were buying Mustang GT500s? I take my cars up to the Malibu Canyons and Tesla doesn't excel there. Its a nice car, but certainly the performance aspect is overblown.

 

[Steve Williams]

I don't believe that early adopters and present users bought for performance but rather for overall savings in electric vs gas as well as how the car drives. I really don't believe they buy them for performance

 

[Bruce B]

I don't believe that early adopters and present users bought for performance but rather for overall savings in electric vs gas as well as how the car drives. I really don't believe they buy them for performance

I'd much rather fill up the AMG in 5 minutes as opposed to hours in a Tesla. Time is money!!

 

[DaveC]

Oh come on. You paint with too wide a brush. Having one doesn't mean you have to be irresponsible. There is no denying that these cars come with better handling, better acceleration and better breaking. Things that can and do make the car safer even at normal driving speeds.

I agree.... to a point. I drive a WRX which costs 35% more than the base car just for the extra performance. But it's not a fast car relative to most that are being discussed here.

I didn't say owners of super-fast sports cars aren't responsible drivers, but the car's capabilities can't be safely explored on the street, and if you do it's probably going to be a felony charge, or maybe you'll be responsible for injuring or killing someone else. Very few owners actually take their car to the track and even fewer have advanced driving skills that would enable them to drive the car near it's limit at all. This all adds up to making very little sense to me, it seems like a waste to have a car with capabilities that are never actually used and a driver without the skills to do so either. I do understand the want for power, but as I said it's neverending and you're never satisfied, it's like a drug. I've been there and I can say for me, enough is enough... If you really need that adrenaline rush go buy a race car and learn how to drive it. Seems like far more fun that owning a street car you can never really use as intended.

 

[rockitman]

I didn't say owners of super-fast sports cars aren't responsible drivers, but the car's capabilities can't be safely explored on the street, and if you do it's probably going to be a felony charge, or maybe you'll be responsible for injuring or killing someone else. .

nor can the full capabilities of a Prius can be explored on the street. The Prius will go over 100 mph...reckless endangerment/felony territory..just sayin'

 

[KeithR]

Hi

As for reliability all reports point toward the Tesla being extremely reliable. OTOH no one in its right mind would equate any current MB with reliability. Ferrari are not known to be Toyota-like either, i don't have direct experience with Ferrari but am not sure they're stellar in this regard either. I know for a fact that MB are not reliable and frankly this is a shame to pay so much to get so little reliability. I own a recent Mercedes G-Wagon and love it to death but as for reliability it is a POS. Reliability is not a Mercedes forte, might have been..right now, no more.. Tesla beats it up day in and day out.
In the meantime this car does 0-60 in 2.5 and a lot more...Reliably, silently, spookily: It is disturbing to be going so fast and hear only some wind noise and come to think of it, economically. There is lot to love ..or to hate.

Frantz- the fit and finish on Tesla is nowhere near some other manufacturers. They have a lot of QC difficulties. For a 100k car, this is pretty concerning to me but not at all unexpected - its hard to make cars, as Tesla is learning.