Finally saw a 3 on Turo last week, and rented it this past Saturday. The price was a little steep at $250, but I figured that if my alternative was to buy a car I had not yet driven, it was money well spent. 24 hours and 250 miles later, here are my impressions.
Overall, I loved the car. It's easily the most responsive production car I've ever driven, practically bordering on precognition of any steering, accelerator, or brake input. The steering is a bit heavy (not sure what steering mode I was in) but very sharp. By the time the accelerator touches the floorboard, you're going 30+. I've owned cars that pulled 0-60 just as fast, and I've done a few laps in a Lamborghini through a local service, but nothing else I've driven could turn intention into motion as startlingly quickly as this car, with the possible exception of a Formula Renault. At one point I zipped around a lazy driver so quickly that it felt like for one millisecond the car existed at the start point, the end point, and all points between simultaneously. The ride is a bit stiff, but my wife and I agreed that it's similar to my daily driver Prius C. Plus it's infinitely quieter inside.
The seats are comfortable, and it feels fairly roomy. At 6'1", I was able to adjust a front seat to my liking, then crawl in behind it just fine, though maybe not for a road trip. I picked up a friend of mine, who is 6'9", and he fit in front with about a fist worth of space between the top of his hair and the glass. He doesn't fit at all in 90% of sedans, so I consider that a big win. We absentmindedly neglected to put him in the back. Sorry for that.
Operating the touchscreen is easy to learn, if not entirely intuitive. Voice control works well for radio and navigation. Autopilot works nicely, though I did wish it kept more to the center of the lane. Occasionally, it will go right to the edge, which is not very comforting. That will likely improve. The audio system is very crisp and clear.
The first 100 miles of driving consumed 114 miles of range. Not bad considering I was not babying the car. Weather was clear, and 60-70 degrees. I bought a used Model S UMC in preparation for my upcoming 3, so I charged back up during dinner. The older UMC can charge at 40A, or ~9.2kW, which gave me a charge rate of 36mph. I did not try the Gen 2 UMC, but I know it tops out at 32A, which would have been ~7.4kW, and likely charged around 29mph. On average I was consuming 260Wh per mile. I charged the car to 100% overnight to avoid any fuel charges upon return. With the car charged to full, regenerative braking is limited, which increased consumption to about 320Wh per mile. I note the change in consumption because I had not seen that data anywhere else.
There were two notable things I did not like. First off, the armrest in the door continues back into the B pillar, which is fine, but there is no cushion on that portion. So even at 6'1", which I don't consider to be extremely tall, my elbow was resting on this rock hard plastic. Second, the car is reading speed limit signs all the time, but for some reason, it doesn't do anything useful with that information. For example, if you're on autopilot in a 65 zone, and the speed limit drops to 55, the screen will show that the speed limit is now 55, but the car is still going 70 or whatever you had it set at before the limit changed. That seems like a huge oversight to me. I was under the impression that it was an 'X miles over the speed limit' type of deal. Maybe that will come in a future update. Far too much is being made of the speedometer position on the touchscreen. It's not really much further out of your FOV than a normal speedo. IMHO, this is just journalists with nothing to say trying to find something to say.
In any case, I'm very glad I took the opportunity to rent one, and I think I'll probably take that approach on car buying forever. A 30 minute test drive only tells you so much. I learned a lot and made some fairly firm decisions. At first I wanted to get whatever fully-loaded version will eventually be available, but now I'm 90% sure the LR AWD will be plenty fast for me without Ludicrous, which is likely to be a $15-20K feature.. Still a little on the fence with PUP. I am not a fan of leather, and would rather not have the extra high-slung weight of the glass roof, but the audio system is really outstanding, I like the folding mirrors, and we still have no idea what the center console will look like in the non PUP.
If you have any doubts about whether first production is for you, the Turo route is an excellent way to gain clarity. I'm still waiting on a couple answers, but I feel a lot more informed after driving it for a day. Plus it was just fun as hell. I highly recommend it.
Overall, I loved the car. It's easily the most responsive production car I've ever driven, practically bordering on precognition of any steering, accelerator, or brake input. The steering is a bit heavy (not sure what steering mode I was in) but very sharp. By the time the accelerator touches the floorboard, you're going 30+. I've owned cars that pulled 0-60 just as fast, and I've done a few laps in a Lamborghini through a local service, but nothing else I've driven could turn intention into motion as startlingly quickly as this car, with the possible exception of a Formula Renault. At one point I zipped around a lazy driver so quickly that it felt like for one millisecond the car existed at the start point, the end point, and all points between simultaneously. The ride is a bit stiff, but my wife and I agreed that it's similar to my daily driver Prius C. Plus it's infinitely quieter inside.
The seats are comfortable, and it feels fairly roomy. At 6'1", I was able to adjust a front seat to my liking, then crawl in behind it just fine, though maybe not for a road trip. I picked up a friend of mine, who is 6'9", and he fit in front with about a fist worth of space between the top of his hair and the glass. He doesn't fit at all in 90% of sedans, so I consider that a big win. We absentmindedly neglected to put him in the back. Sorry for that.
Operating the touchscreen is easy to learn, if not entirely intuitive. Voice control works well for radio and navigation. Autopilot works nicely, though I did wish it kept more to the center of the lane. Occasionally, it will go right to the edge, which is not very comforting. That will likely improve. The audio system is very crisp and clear.
The first 100 miles of driving consumed 114 miles of range. Not bad considering I was not babying the car. Weather was clear, and 60-70 degrees. I bought a used Model S UMC in preparation for my upcoming 3, so I charged back up during dinner. The older UMC can charge at 40A, or ~9.2kW, which gave me a charge rate of 36mph. I did not try the Gen 2 UMC, but I know it tops out at 32A, which would have been ~7.4kW, and likely charged around 29mph. On average I was consuming 260Wh per mile. I charged the car to 100% overnight to avoid any fuel charges upon return. With the car charged to full, regenerative braking is limited, which increased consumption to about 320Wh per mile. I note the change in consumption because I had not seen that data anywhere else.
There were two notable things I did not like. First off, the armrest in the door continues back into the B pillar, which is fine, but there is no cushion on that portion. So even at 6'1", which I don't consider to be extremely tall, my elbow was resting on this rock hard plastic. Second, the car is reading speed limit signs all the time, but for some reason, it doesn't do anything useful with that information. For example, if you're on autopilot in a 65 zone, and the speed limit drops to 55, the screen will show that the speed limit is now 55, but the car is still going 70 or whatever you had it set at before the limit changed. That seems like a huge oversight to me. I was under the impression that it was an 'X miles over the speed limit' type of deal. Maybe that will come in a future update. Far too much is being made of the speedometer position on the touchscreen. It's not really much further out of your FOV than a normal speedo. IMHO, this is just journalists with nothing to say trying to find something to say.
In any case, I'm very glad I took the opportunity to rent one, and I think I'll probably take that approach on car buying forever. A 30 minute test drive only tells you so much. I learned a lot and made some fairly firm decisions. At first I wanted to get whatever fully-loaded version will eventually be available, but now I'm 90% sure the LR AWD will be plenty fast for me without Ludicrous, which is likely to be a $15-20K feature.. Still a little on the fence with PUP. I am not a fan of leather, and would rather not have the extra high-slung weight of the glass roof, but the audio system is really outstanding, I like the folding mirrors, and we still have no idea what the center console will look like in the non PUP.
If you have any doubts about whether first production is for you, the Turo route is an excellent way to gain clarity. I'm still waiting on a couple answers, but I feel a lot more informed after driving it for a day. Plus it was just fun as hell. I highly recommend it.