My Time With A Tesla On A Runway

I had one of the most enjoyable Sundays.

I mentioned recently here that I was invited along to a Tesla event held at an airport where ludicrous mode was being demonstrated on a runway and invited guests had the opportunity to spend some real time in the cars and feel their performance in a rare and controlled environment.

It was a real thrill. Here's some video from one of our "hot laps". Note that the car had 4 grown adults in it and still was able to impress the pants off us.

We had a couple of runway launches in the P100D Model S and one in the Model X. That run was slightly slower due to two factors. Firstly, we had five people in the vehicle on that occasion and the SUV is actually a slightly slower variant of the Tesla stable.

What I wasn't prepared for was the cornering performance.

It turned like it was on rails. The low centre of gravity coupled with the all wheel drive and the constantly available torque made for an experience that simply felt like a video game.

There'd need to be a period of adjustment when getting behind the wheel to get all "Top Gear" with one of these as the feel was really like the vehicle was defying the laws of physics. It reminds me of my first track day on a sports bike. Once one learns to trust the rubber, some real driver-machine synergy can be achieved.

I also found the absence of gearbox downshifting quite notable. Despite the fact that modern vehicles are very snappy with transition shift times, I found that I was still expecting to notice transition reaction and the absence of that felt like holding a vehicle in a strong gear at revs but without the noise.

The torque on tap at a such a wide range of speeds was impressive and it just felt effortless. Heavy acceleration is accompanied by only a feint whine.

I also wasn't prepared for disappointment.

Spending some real time unaccompanied with the cars was quite enlightening. The three of us in our group all had the chance to critique the vehicle. I've already covered many of the surprising deficiencies when it comes to features and inclusions in my large Tesla showroom review here but what stunned us all this time around was the woeful lack of build quality.

The materials are very cheap and fitment is poor. The seats scuff easily and just the use that the cars got on that day was enough to show evidence of wear. The design of the front door sills make it almost impossible to avoid scratching the scuff panels. The bevel around the main display was uneven and the seats appeared to rely on glue rather than stitching which I could see was already separating. Not sure how that would deal with the first hot day.

Falcon wing door articulation points seemed clumsily covered and positioned when closed from the inside and looking under the bonnet revealed some particularly cheap plastic shrouding held in by plastic plugs and screws that easily popped off. Even when refitted, the panels had a lot of play in them. The main screen was laggy too. When dragging the map, the image jerked. Even my phone does a better job of rendering motion fluidly.

You'd want to be happy with the compromise in this area in particular if spending this amount on a vehicle and know that it's the performance and the street cred that you're buying, not a quality build.

All in all it was a really fun day and it was particularly neat to watch a number of Model S vehicles lined up on the taxiway giving way to Cirrus aircraft that were taking off as part of an aircraft display that was happening in tandem.