<story><title>2015 Tesla Model S P85D First Test</title><url>http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1411_2015_tesla_model_s_p85d_first_test/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>slipangel</author><text>As an auto enthusiast, I generally feel &amp;quot;yucky&amp;quot; after surveying the comments and feedback following a Tesla press release. C&amp;amp;D and MotorTrend generally bias hard for anything American made, which is fine and par for the course. My discomfort comes from the feeling that journalists are making the Model S out to be a competitive alternative to a high performance automobile, which it is not.&lt;p&gt;A Model S can&amp;#x27;t make a single lap in anger around Mazda Raceway without the software putting it in limp mode to prevent heat build up from causing permanent damage. A half-day jaunt through twisty mountain roads is absolutely out of the question. It is a car that can drag race from a stop, hit a freeway on-ramp with some gusto, and give you carbon-free credentials the rest of the time.&lt;p&gt;No one shopping for an M3, 911, or AMG product who actually intends to use them for their performance is cross-shopping a Model S as a like-for-like option, but the press consistently paints the picture that Tesla is a gas-free alternative or even superior to current offerings. I don&amp;#x27;t intend to degrade what it is, because it is a marvel of modern business, politics, and a little engineering that this car exists. I simply feel gross when I see how much hype puts it up for the Model S being something it isn&amp;#x27;t.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>icandownvote</author><text>Drive one.  Rent&amp;#x2F;borrow one for a day: it&amp;#x27;s possible and doable.  Take it to a mountain road, take corners faster than you should, then report back.&lt;p&gt;I owned and tracked E46 M and E37 M Roadster. Sold the last one when I got my Model S.  Now I will never go back to an Internal Combustion Engine.  Yes, the Model S is not an M3 and won&amp;#x27;t last through a lap on any decent raceway.  But it&amp;#x27;s not the goal.  It&amp;#x27;s beyond adequate for everyday driving AND for fun through the mountain curves.  It&amp;#x27;s got impeccably precise throttle response, unbelievable lateral grip and no body roll due to incredibly low center of gravity.  The fact that it&amp;#x27;s fully charged every morning for nearly free, that the juice is free in the superchargers and that it&amp;#x27;s cargo volume and crash safety are out of its class, is just icing on top.  The point is: for ALL uses (but tracking) this $70-120K car is better than anything in the $100-300K category.&lt;p&gt;My friends own 997 4S, E93 M, Viper, E39 M, F10 M, S6 and whatever the GTR Nizmo is (all US spec).  Some of them are tracked, some are not.  Half of them have deposits down for a Model S.&lt;p&gt;Another point: Juan Pablo Montoya owns one and uses it as his daily driver.</text></comment>
<story><title>2015 Tesla Model S P85D First Test</title><url>http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/alternative/1411_2015_tesla_model_s_p85d_first_test/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>slipangel</author><text>As an auto enthusiast, I generally feel &amp;quot;yucky&amp;quot; after surveying the comments and feedback following a Tesla press release. C&amp;amp;D and MotorTrend generally bias hard for anything American made, which is fine and par for the course. My discomfort comes from the feeling that journalists are making the Model S out to be a competitive alternative to a high performance automobile, which it is not.&lt;p&gt;A Model S can&amp;#x27;t make a single lap in anger around Mazda Raceway without the software putting it in limp mode to prevent heat build up from causing permanent damage. A half-day jaunt through twisty mountain roads is absolutely out of the question. It is a car that can drag race from a stop, hit a freeway on-ramp with some gusto, and give you carbon-free credentials the rest of the time.&lt;p&gt;No one shopping for an M3, 911, or AMG product who actually intends to use them for their performance is cross-shopping a Model S as a like-for-like option, but the press consistently paints the picture that Tesla is a gas-free alternative or even superior to current offerings. I don&amp;#x27;t intend to degrade what it is, because it is a marvel of modern business, politics, and a little engineering that this car exists. I simply feel gross when I see how much hype puts it up for the Model S being something it isn&amp;#x27;t.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mikestew</author><text>&amp;gt; No one shopping for an M3, 911, or AMG product who actually intends to use them for their performance&lt;p&gt;Yeah, but how many of those folks exist? I can&amp;#x27;t count the number of times I&amp;#x27;m stuck behind an M3, 911, or AMG on the uphill chicane entrance ramp I frequent in my &lt;i&gt;Nissan Leaf&lt;/i&gt; wishing Mr. SlowPoke in his $80K car would give it some stick. Oh, they&amp;#x27;re trying as evidenced by them gunning it up the straight part, but as soon as that ramp goes anywhere but straight they&amp;#x27;re testing the throttle-lift oversteer. (The ramp goes to the Microsoft campus, so I get to test this theory frequently.)&lt;p&gt;People more often than not buy a car because of the badge on the back end, not because they&amp;#x27;re doing track days. They&amp;#x27;ll punch it in a straight line from a stoplight and that&amp;#x27;s about the extent of their performance testing. For that use case, the Tesla does just fine.</text></comment>