Silver or red? Share your experience, please.

I have Signature red, but I do love the "depth" that the multi-coat process gives so I'd first consider the pearl white or the red.

I don't know that I'd be concerned about the heat. Road dirt looks bad on almost anything but the pearl white.

That said, I'm a big fan of red - I have a sig red Tesla, a (roughly-the-same-as-sig-red) Traverse, a poppy red Mustang, and an apple-red GTO... my truck is birch silver, though!

I love the look of the MC Red. It's stunning, I think. And I don't have a problem with parking the red in the sun. Comparing the various loaners I've had, it doesn't seem that the car color causes a pronounced difference in cabin temperature.

The red stays surprisingly good looking when dirty. As long as it doesn't get wet (which since you're in Southern CA may be infrequently), it can get awfully dusty before you can even tell from a few feet away. My neighbors who park in the next parking spot over asked how I keep the car so clean... truthfully, the thing was filthy at the time. Water spots show, but it's not terrible.

I doubt exterior color has more than a negligible effect on cabin temperature. Studies have shown it's something like a 2% difference between white and black. I'd expect interior color plays a bigger role given the interior plastics heat soak. Even still, my red/black combo has been fine. There's always pre-cooling if it's particularly hot.

It's not bad enough that I would let either of these influence my color choice, I don't think.

I think there are only two key factors:

1. Which color do you like best?
2. Do you mind drawing more attention to yourself?

MC Red stands out.

This thread hits close to home, as my first Tesla (85 RWD) is Silver, and will be traded in tomorrow for my upgraded car (85D AWD), which is MC Red. It is funny how as I look for threads of MC Red and compare to the photos of my silver car, I realize how torn I really am about the two colors. For me, Pearl White and Grey were on my radar, but I think Silver & Red were also my two favorite picks.

RED - Looks great, and has depth to the paint most of the other colors do not. In bright sunshine this car really is amazing. Love the amulet tones it carries. Seems like Red is rare, with most of the cars being white, black, silver, grey, blue, etc.... the red really stands out in the Tesla lineup since there are no other bold colors. But you'll get attention being Red, that could be good or bad. I also don't particularly love how the chrome trim looks against the red but I have plans to resolve that with vinyl wrap (blacked out, red paint should be fun)

SILVER - I've been told the designer of the car penned it to be silver. If this is true or not I don't know, but to me my first one was Silver because it remains the most remarkable color for the car. The chrome accents nicely, the quality of paint seems quite good. I've found it looks dirty fast, like that of a white car, which was part of why I think the Grey could be better if dirty is of concern. But overall I think the silver is just stunning-- I had quite a few silver Volkswagens in my day, always a safe color-- and still gorgeous in the Tesla-- but without as much fanfare.

That is my $0.02 .... frankly I think I'll miss the silver for its posh, understated, luxuriousness.. the Red comes off a bit more flashy, and that isn't always a good thing.

One of each :smile: I have an MC Red that I bought last year, and my wife is about to get a Silver with all the autopilot goodies...We found a great deal on a Loaner car, should take delivery before the end of the month

I enjoy having the MC Red - arrest me red - on my three month old MS. Have driven white cars for years, after silver BMW, etc... don't see much difference in temperature or dirt management. Probably will get a heat shield for the front window to keep temperature down when parked for several hours in the sun.

I ordered in MC Red today... and it was the toughest configuration option to decide on! Having seen the colours in the flesh, the red really stood out as being sharp looking and worthy of the elegance of the vehicle. Having said that, my second thought was for the metallic gray... but I've had silver or gray paint on my last five vehicles... it was time to break out of the rut!

I think it comes down to whether you want a car that projects an image like a Ferrari Daytona, or a Mercedes S-Class... if you know what I mean. The gray or silver is classy and elegant, but I don't think it's as sporty and flashy as the red.

Now I'm second-guessing my selection of black leather to go with the MC Red... Tan might look pretty good too, in a Ferrari-esque way!

Tan leather in MC red... Hang on let me wipe the drool off my chin...

brucet999 said:

Years ago I worked for an industrial paint company and carried an oven thermometer as part of my tool kit for paint tests. One sunny day I set the thermometer first in my white company car and then inside an adjacent navy blue company car of same make and model; temperature difference was 14ºF.

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Perhaps the white car had tinted windows or the white car had been driven more recently and had residual cool air from running thr A/C.

I took delivery of one of the first multi-coat red cars (ordered before I could see one in person) and could not be happier. Looks way different in daylight vs. evening/dark...complex and interesting. FWIW, I had mine OptiCoated and thus it stays clean and shiny all of the time. Would get it again in a heartbeat (...and I came from a long history of black vehicles).

JPP said:

I took delivery of one of the first multi-coat red cars (ordered before I could see one in person) and could not be happier. Looks way different in daylight vs. evening/dark...complex and interesting. FWIW, I had mine OptiCoated and thus it stays clean and shiny all of the time. Would get it again in a heartbeat (...and I came from a long history of black vehicles).

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I have a silver Model S and the good thing about silver color is that it does not look dirty and still looks elegant

About two rears ago, I walked into the Denny's in Del Mar,ca. a woman was standing at the front door asking every person who walked in. "is that your red car?" it was mine, MC Red no pano.

Most of the heat in a car comes from the windows. Paint colour adds only a little bit. Silver is around 18% reflective, so it's not really that much better than black, other than psychologically. Red is likely not much different than silver. White would be around 90% reflective. Pearl will be lower than white, but I'm not sure how much.

The decision points between red and silver are: Cost, How clean you keep your cars (or how sensitive you are to car cleanliness), and How much attention you want. I have silver.

brucet999 said:

They had 9 red cars on the lot (out of maybe 40) and all were Pano roofs. Service guy says he's seen maybe 4 red cars without Pano during his two years there. Are you glad that you chose red roof?

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I have MC Red with matching roof.

http://i.imgur.com/awYIICQ.jpg?1

Personally, I much refer the look of the red roof to the pano. It's all in the eye of the beholder, though.

I've had two red S85 (one 85, one 85D) with tana leather interior. Its a stunning combination; the red looks bright in some light, deep and rich in other light, but always fantastic. Doesnt show much dirt except in really awful NE winter conditions. I look in the parking lot of the mall, golf club, train station and 80% of the cars are black, silver or gray - monotonous. Go with the RED.