MotorTrend Reviews the P85D--Quickest 4-Door Sedan Ever Tested

[Wanabee]

Motor Trend First Test of 2015 Tesla Model P85D

Motor Trend Magazine just posted its test of the 2015 Tesla Model P85D.
2015 Tesla Model S P85D First Test - Motor Trend

Needless to say, they were impressed.

 

[Saghost]

The RWD P85 is traction limited up to 45 mph. More traction via AWD will make it significantly quicker to 60 mph even without getting more amps out of the battery.

To 60, absolutely. But I'd think that with the same power output on a heavier car we'd be seeing similar or worse quarter mile time. Audi added a hundred and thirty horsepower to get from 12.4 to 11.6 seconds, with a smaller weight change.

(Motortrend's recent i8 comparison gave 3.9 0-60 and 12.5 quarter mile for a P85+ - so the P85D is .8 faster to 60 - and .9 faster in the quarter mile.)

I went back and looked - Motortrend doesn't show the instrument panel while the car is on, and all the introduction videos show the new panel design which doesn't have a power meter that I saw.

There are some valid points about stretching the power band, but I'm having trouble believing it's enough.
Walter

 

[artsci]

The moronic comments on that very good MT review reminded me of Charles Pierce's book: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free.

It seems more and more people take pride in being a moron They appear to have us outnumbered.

 

[Hugh Mannity]

Fantastic! Been dying to start reading about the 85d columns!

 

[fiksegts]

I guess the P85D isn't for you then, 140/km/h, you'll get lapped down here in Florida...

my point is the acceleration has a steep fall off at higher speeds compared to it's competitors... my friends E63s goes 122 MPH in the 1/4 mile.... 122 vs 115 is a huge difference...

Had my P85 for 1.5 years and the fastest I've gone is 140km/h for a VERY short stint.. that alone is a $240 major infraction fine with significant insurance penalties. I can't even imagine 155 MPH! (250km/h). 250 would have my car taken away and I'd probably be uninsurable for some time.

 

[andrewket]

Sadly, I guess that doesn't include body alignment issues:

2015 Tesla Model S P85d Badge 02 Photo 23

The D was likely installed by hand. A rep at the LA event told me the D badges on the cars there were put on by hand earlier in the day.

 

[Canuck]

Very well written article - that's about as close as one can get to feeling the rush of acceleration without actually feeling it.

It's also very interesting to find out that Elon Musk drove a McLaren F1 to the Roadster launch in 2007. It seems Elon has been looking at that 3.2 number as his goal for some time now. To have now done that with an electric sedan is unbelievable.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

.../ It seems more and more people take pride in being a moron They appear to have us outnumbered.

Just a suggestion:

Make it possible for more American citizens to get college and university degrees (as in fee-less colleges and universities, and federal low-rate loans that one can pay back over the course of 45 or so years, and decent housing that students can afford.).

 

[MassModel3]

I found this line interesting: "During a chat with Musk at the P85D's introduction, he mentioned that on average, Tesla implements about 20 modifications to the car per week. Not software, mind you, but actual hard parts. Per week."

So basically, new cars are out-dated before they're even delivered to the customers!

 

[brianman]

Just a suggestion:

Make it possible for more American citizens to get college and university degrees (as in fee-less colleges and universities, and federal low-rate loans that one can pay back over the course of 45 or so years, and decent housing that students can afford.).

I don't think college/university is the problem.

 

[yobigd20]

I found this line interesting: "During a chat with Musk at the P85D's introduction, he mentioned that on average, Tesla implements about 20 modifications to the car per week. Not software, mind you, but actual hard parts. Per week."

So basically, new cars are out-dated before they're even delivered to the customers!

Yep. Probably one of the reasons why each software update pushed is immediately followed by patches because it breaks something. Kinda hard to do what they do when you have a constantly evolving car with so many variations of hardware to control and one version of software that'll need to have many different builds so they work the same across all.

 

[Terapin]

Yep... or (cough) just maybe sometimes a little faster on early mornings with light traffic. I don't know what's more absurd in Toronto... the speed limits, or how universally they're disregarded.

It's true. One avoids being the *fastest* so as to look reasonable in comparison...even at a fair clip. I've only had the pleasure of one speeding ticket and that was in Virginia. I hope to continue that trend!

 

[SteveG3]

in case anyone missed it, article has a second page which includes this musing

"It’ll be fun watching the big boys try to keep up with a company that’s run by a committee of one insanely bold guy."

 

[Chuck P85D]

the trap speed of 115 MPH is disappointing.... only a 4 MPH increase over the P85 with all that extra power? this car should be trapping 120+ easily, Tesla is holding the car back.... it's competitors will walk right by the car at speed.... E63, RS7, M5, etc....

i couldn't agree more with this statement from the article, which answers your complaint pretty well:

"Great for the Autobahn, irrelevant in America."

 

[wallet.dat]

The moronic comments on that very good MT review reminded me of Charles Pierce's book: Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free.

It seems more and more people take pride in being a moron They appear to have us outnumbered.

Well, to be fair here, we are talking about drag racing. Can't get much more low-brow than that

 

[fiksegts]

after that comment, take a look in the mirror...

Well, to be fair here, we are talking about drag racing. Can't get much more low-brow than that

 

[yobigd20]

I don't that's the problem either, or rather the target of your statement isn't the problem. The attitude of your statement might be though.

That's why there's an "LOL" at the end, because clearly I was joking. I guess that part didn't translate well for you.

 

[bonnie]

That's why there's an "LOL" at the end, because clearly I was joking. I guess that part didn't translate well for you.

Moderator note: The "LOL" didn't translate well for me, either. Some posts have been moved to snippiness - Page 118 (one for just quoting).

Adding "LOL" behind everything you type doesn't give you a free pass to say anything you want. You don't need me to tell you that. You know that. So knock it off, please.

 

[Chuck P85D]

You don't need me to tell you that. You know that. So knock it off, please.

boom.

 

[JST]

I'm selling the 911 for sure. The sticking point with my lovely bride is my beloved Toyota Supra Twin Turbo that I've held onto through five other car purchases. She really wants me to sell it and I really don't. In my defense, the car will sell for more than I paid for it right now. The 997 is my daily driver as well, but somehow I've never really loved it. I told someone the other day that I think it is actually too good at what it does for me. It will tear through hairpin turns at absurd speeds, but somehow doesn't even feel that fast. Its so ruthlessly capable that it doesn't deliver quite the same excitement. Now a GT3, that might do it for me...

Go the other direction--a Cayman/Boxster offers a sublime and engaging driving experience even at relatively low speeds. Mine provides the perfect counterpoint to the Tesla.

Though for occasional use, a Carrera 3.2 or 993 might be even better.