L or no L?

[Smooth9883]

Hi Everyone,

I'm really close to ordering a P90D. I'm unsure if I want to add the line below the P90D or not. While in the grand scheme of things another 10k is just another 10k, but it's starting to hit the point where i'm questioning if I need it.

Does anyone have the P90D without Ludicrous? I test drove a car with ludicrous so I know how amazing that is, but I'm unsure if it's worth the extra 10k. Would I be able to tell the difference? I believe the P90D comes with insane mode meaning the 691hp. I also saw the comparison on the youtube videos and the threads here. While the data shows the L is faster, can you really feel a difference. I'm looking for the seat of your pants feeling so when I go to lunch with my coworkers they experience the car not just ride in it.

Thanks!

 

[tstafford]

Oh boy.

 

[AllenWong]

Insane mode is adequate enough to give your coworkers the infamous Tesla grin though. If that's what you want to achieve, then you don't need L. Cost-wise, I don't think it's worth $10,000, if that's all you want to use it for. For me, I'm getting the L because I enjoy destroying exotic cars in drag races.

 

[Super_Popular]

No L

 

[Evee]

If ur a speed freak. Do it. Please don't worry about the numbers .

 

[lolachampcar]

Check out the data acquisition threads to get before and after P85D to P85DL plots along with P90DL plots all using Tesla's on board CAN data bus (100 samples a second of very high resolution data). Here is one example #166

You will see that the cars are identical (Insane v. Ludicrous ) for the first second of a 0-60 run. Beyond the first second, the L pulls harder/longer. The data will provide you with a quantitative idea of what is going on. Your butt dyno will like the L passing power if you are accustomed to 500+ hp performance cars.

 

[mike-415]

The real horsepower numbers are more like 530 for regular PD and 610 for PDL. The 691 number is bunk; it's the potential of the motors, not the power they can actually make given the current available from the battery. The extra 15% power from the L's fancy fuse is noticeable on the highway. We bought the P85D and it was crazy fast around town but only regular fast at highway speed. We upgraded it to be a P85DL and the extra scoot when merging is noticeable. If you like to accelerate fast at speeds above 60 mph and you have the $10k, you'll regret not doing it. If you rarely floor it on the highway, you'll never feel the difference.

- - - Updated - - -

LolaChampCar, are you doing the L upgrade? My only objective data is the VBox time I got after the L upgrade: 2.85 seconds 0-60 with 1-foot roll-out (3.1 without roll-out).

 

[lolachampcar]

Yep and especially happy with the decision after seeing MikeB's back to back data. It showed me exactly where the L was an improvement.

You touch on the whole horsepower thing which reminded me of some of the arguments that Tesla putting bigger more capable motors in the cars, even though the battery could not support them, was a proper and correct feature to promote because the extra torque from these bigger motors would provide more capability at slower speeds where the battery is not the limit. Fast forward to today and we have the car's own on board data that shows those fancy big motors are torque limited up until the battery limit takes over. Those torque limits, by the way, are nowhere near close to Tesla's advertised torque for them

 

[eyespii]

Your post is basically the same thing I went through, except my question was "P or no P". And I'll bet more than a few people asked "D or no D".

In the end, even in my non-P 85D, my friends and co-workers plead with me not to floor it off stoplights.

 

[yo mama]

Having upgraded to L myself I've had the "before and after" experience. "After" is significantly more fun. To me, it was worth the $5,000 cost to upgrade. Double that would be a tough pill to swallow. But then again I enjoy the difference pretty much every single day I drive. If you, too, would find that kind of daily enjoyment in the difference then I say go for it. We're all going to be dead soon, anyways. When you're old and grey which do you think you'll recollect with greater fondness: the $10,000 or the P90D experience?

 

[AllenWong]

Having upgraded to L myself I've had the "before and after" experience. "After" is significantly more fun. To me, it was worth the $5,000 cost to upgrade. Double that would be a tough pill to swallow. But then again I enjoy the difference pretty much every single day I drive. If you, too, would find that kind of daily enjoyment in the difference then I say go for it. We're all going to be dead soon, anyways. When you're old and grey which do you think you'll recollect with greater fondness: the $10,000 or the P90D experience?

$10,000 could probably buy you a lot of happy memories. Meanwhile, the L experience is free by just going to a Tesla and asking for a test drive.

 

[yo mama]

I'm not suggesting there is one right answer for everyone - merely that everyone has a right answer for themselves. From my perspective, the experience is unique and fulfilling in ways I'm going to remember for as long I can remember things.

 

[JonG]

The only real choice for me is a 90D or a P90DL. The P90D is the worst of all worlds in a way, an expensive upgrade on the 90D without an awful lot of real world extra useable performance (especially above 30 mph or below a 50% charge) , and not the real deal in performance gains across the board like the L.

 

[Daniel 74]

You don't need the L. As a matter of fact, you neither need the P. [emoji16]

But they are fun! As said above, the L is most noticable ad higher speeds, above 100 km/h.

I'm happy with my full-monty setup!

 

[Roamer]

Go big or go home. There is some fairness in this world that you can drive a clean muscle car with an insignificant energy penalty.

In the combustion engine world this would be a hard call. Do I want to feed a giant air breathing high displacement engine so once in a while I can burn even more energy to accelerate really fast. Every model of Tesla gives you better performance than most things in the ICE world. Better yet the performance comes with an insignificant energy cost.

I have ordered the max available power on every Tesla ordered so far. No plan to ever change that. I still enjoy that Tesla makes it possible to own a muscle car without needing to get 8 MPG every time you drive the kids to school. The power is there when you want it and doesn't ever have to be used unless you want to.

Tesla performance is pain free and guilt free other than a small front end investment. What's not to like about it.

 

[sillydriver]

If you rarely floor it on the highway, you'll never feel the difference.

And if you do floor it on the highway, you will. To me, the comment above is the key factor. Personally I love having it, or at least I will untill I'm pulled over for 100 mph passing manoevers on the interstate.

 

[cbin97]

I upgraded to L on my P85D and I say do it.

 

[chulo]

I chose a P90D, but not an L. I've owned many high horsepower cars, and love power, etc. That said, I couldn't justify the 10k for the extra bit of torque. I also feel they will find a less expensive way to do the upgrade. Lastly, look at it this way: you can enjoy a wickedly quick car now, and always upgrade to make it faster.

 

[John Stuckey]

We got an L in December of 2015 with everything except kid seats and a spoiler. Mixed feelings. Fun, yes but short lived and limited. About the 4th time you punch it you start to realize that your body can not keep up with the car. Motion sickness, narrowed vision at 1.1G applies to humans regardless of age. I would rather have the little bit of added range and skip the L. Our next one will not be an L. It might not be P either. All the other options are worth it.

 

[roblab]

Yup. Depends on how much extra money you have. Even the Performance 90D gets passe, especially if you don't have enough nearby hotrod friends to show off to. I chose for distance, and every mile I drive, it's worth it.