Monkey tests a Tesla!

[Deleted User 1874]

This is an interesting Tesla review from someone who is naturally very sceptical of the merits of a high performance EV (i.e. a very serious and committed petrol head!). I think it's quite a balanced review overall and I tend to agree with most of his observations. There's a good reason why the Porsche Mission E has been seen testing alongside a fleet of Tesla's recently. They are mightily impressive to drive in real world road conditions.

https://www.topgear.com/videos/chris-ha ... el-s-p100d

[Col Lamb]

Thanks for posting the link.

CH is simply awesome.

Do look at the vid guys especially the arming section of the Ludicrous Mode.

Interesting to see if Luke suffers from motion sickness in his S as in the vid the S does seem to float and wallow a lot in the twisties.

[Andy352]

Thanks for posting this, I've always liked the Monkey from the days he was at Autocar. Love the bit where you hear the soundman grunting because of the acceleration. As you say it's a great review from a serious petrol head.

[Deleted User 1874]

Thanks for posting the link.

CH is simply awesome.

Do look at the vid guys especially the arming section of the Ludicrous Mode.

Interesting to see if Luke suffers from motion sickness in his S as in the vid the S does seem to float and wallow a lot in the twisties.

Most people with "P" models just leave them in Ludicrous Mode all the time. There isn't really any downside as the throttle is so smooth and progressive anyway and it doesn't affect efficiency when driven at normal speeds.

I haven't driven an S, but the couple of Xs that I drove (both with air suspension) didn't feel very floaty at all. Actually very well controlled and surprisingly sharp for such a big vehicle. It felt much closer to say a Cayenne than a Range Rover in the ride/handling equation. All relative though, it's a big heavy beast of a car!

[Wing Commander]

Thanks for sharing, Peteski. I really enjoyed that. I like his stuff very much. Him and Henry Catchpole are the motoring journalists whose material I enjoy the most.

I'm a bit curious that he said that the Tesla (or its batteries) were like his aunty - constantly either too hot or too cold...?

[brains1900]

Menopausal I guess!

[Deleted User 1874]

Thanks for sharing, Peteski. I really enjoyed that. I like his stuff very much. Him and Henry Catchpole are the motoring journalists whose material I enjoy the most.

I'm a bit curious that he said that the Tesla (or its batteries) were like his aunty - constantly either too hot or too cold...?

Glad you found it interesting. Teslas don't do track environments very well as the constant full power work load soon overheats the batteries and then the car limits power for protection, but it's never a problem in real world road driving even when seriously pushing on. He was also making far too much of a point about optimum battery temperature. The difference in acceleration from a cold battery to optimally heated is around 0.1 sec to 60 mph. So in practice you can take a stone cold P100D and still easily crank out a sub 3 sec 0-60 time if you wish. If the battery actually overheats from constant thrashing then you do lose a lot of performance, but that's only ever going to happen if you start lapping closed tracks in anger. I think somebody on the Tesla forums once tried doing a track day in an S and soon regretted it. But for a fast effortless road GT car it's a very compelling proposition as I'm sure the Mission E will be in due course. Interestingly there are a few ex Panny owners now driving Teslas and not regretting the change (at least not in the overall experience). Maybe more telling that not many Tesla owners (even those complaining about reliability and quality issues) are keen to ever get back into a comparable ICE car. I wonder how I will feel after some time in mine and the novelty of EV has worn off a little?

[Wing Commander]

Hmmm - interesting. If the Mission E is a slightly smaller version of the P100D with that magical Porsche engineering, design and build quality recipe, then I will be sold and will happily pay to have a charging station installed in my car port.

[LLL]

Always been a big fan of CH and his reviews. Think he did catch some good aspects of the car even though he had to add some stuff for entertainment purposes

The whole scene about max battery power and enable ludicrous mode in the beginning is just "for the show". I think Peteski captured the most things about it in previous comments, but just to add up from me who actually own the same car as tested (apart from that mine is in black with black interior). Both Max Battery power and Ludicrous+ easter egg are gimmicks. What this does is more or less shave another 0.1 off the 0-60 time. I've tested it back to back and I can not even feel any noticeable difference. He's comparison with having to wait 10 minutes for a drag race is just a funny comment. You can get the car from a cold garage and it will provide you with a 2,8 to 60 just a second after you started the car

I always drive in Ludicrous mode and it doesn't impact on consumption if you drive sensible. It just makes the throttle response even more responsive and allow for max power output. The other mode available on Ludicrous equipped cars is "Sport" and with that mode engaged it reduce the power by about 200kW or there about so the car become equal to a non-P model (e.g. 90D or 100D).

The traction control on the Tesla is not possible to replicate with a conventional combustion drivetrain where there is "only" one engine. By having one motor driving the front wheels and another one driving the rear wheels and a computer in between there is zero latency and traction calculation between the 4 wheels can be done in no time. For winter driving and in the wet there is actually nothing similar on the market and it is by far the safest and most stable car I've ever driven in tough conditions.

All that said, the Tesla is no sports car and there are limitations just like with any other heavy saloon car. For twisty road fun a 911 is always going to be more fun. But this is no sports car, it's just a fantastic daily driver with effortless power, largest boot in the category and the handling happen to be really rather good for what it is.

I've never been this amazed by a car before and it's just getting better each day. 1 year ownership and counting...

[Wing Commander]

Good to hear that you're still enjoying it, Luke!

Soon the Tesla owners will outnumber the Panamera by two to one on this Macan forum!