P85D sighting / test drives

[daniel]

Welcome back to the forum, Daniel. We haven't seen you in a long time.

Thanks. Bonnie. I just wanted to pop in with my report on the P85D. Such an amazing car! Since I'd be unwilling to abide by the moderators' demand that I refrain from mentioning my personal life, I'm not sticking around.

 

[ChadS]

That said, as a Roadster owner I was a little disappointed. My expectations were no doubt too high, but I was hoping the change from 3.9 in the Roadster to 3.2 in the P85D would be very notable. It didn't seem like a really significant difference...

I wrote that several months ago after a P85D test drive. At the time I was even being "nice" because frankly the P85D didn't feel any faster at all. My sincere apologies if anybody read it and based any buying decisions on it.

I have a P85D loaner today. As I noted before, a lot of the acceleration feels pretty similar to my Roadster, and the enormity of the car means it's not as much fun to toss around the corners. I still prefer driving the Roadster (aside from road trips). None of that has changed, and I stand by most of what I wrote before.

But today I tried what I long-ago realized I had neglected to do in my earlier P85D test drive - flooring it from a stop. Oh My God. THAT is different. Very, very different. I had always wondered why my reaction didn't match that of all the people in the videos, and figured out it was the from-a-stop trick. (That is NOT the way to get the best acceleration feel in a Roadster, which builds up relatively slowly from a stop. I had tried driving the P85D the way I drive the Roadster).

Seriously, as I type this I still feel slightly nauseous. If I bought one, I would only be able to do that once with my wife in the car, and she would make sure I would never do it again with her there. I LOVE fast launches and things like roller coasters, parasailing and indoor skydiving. I wish my Roadster was a little faster and I imagine I'd get used to the P85D, but at this moment I don't really want to go back out and try it again. I got that tingly, light-headed, I'm-about-to-pass-out feeling.

The Roadster is a fantastic car and I still prefer it in many ways. But make no mistake, the P85D acceleration (at least from a launch) is on an entirely different level. I'm sorry I gave the wrong impression before.

I had been eagerly awaiting a test of Ludicrous mode, but now I'm a little apprehensive about it...

 

[breser]

I have a P85D loaner today.

I'd wonder if you were the signature S that stalked me from Seattle but I'm guessing you use the Bellevue service center.

If I bought one, I would only be able to do that once with my wife in the car, and she would make sure I would never do it again with her there.

Yeah my thoughts exactly though somehow I got my fiancée to put up with me doing it off and on many times while I had the loaner.

 

[ChadS]

I did indeed use the Bellevue Service Center.

By the end of the day yesterday I had adapted and found P85D launches to be more fun than sickening. I'd love it if I had one. Our S85 sure felt slow when I picked it up; I actually wondered if there was something wrong with it.

 

[mkspeedr]

I think we need a thread for P90D sightings. The P85D is old news :smile:

 

[wk057]

I think we need a thread for P90D sightings. The P85D is old news :smile:

This is sad.

 

[jerjozwik]

oh come now, im sure you love driving the hell out of it.