Trevor Wilson
2025-01-06 04:36:01 UTC
Reply
Permalink(Long Range All-Wheel Drive). Here is my experience:
It's a fucking hot Sydney day today (32+). I parked the Stagea in the
shade beside a Tesla which was beside a modified Nissan 370Z. I wandered
inside to be greeted by the lady who arranged my booking. She noted the
Stagea, but didn't know anything about it, assuming it was a lump of a
thing to go around corners (it isn't' as it is very well set-up). Turns
out she drives the 370Z. She knows MacQuarie Pass (a fabulous, twisty
mountain road South of Sydney*). Interesting.
I arranged to drive the least powerful, AWD Tesla. 4.4 seconds 0-100kph.
What I liked:
Power. Jeez this thing has nice acceleration. 60 - 120kph in an eyeblink.
Quiet.
Handles speed humps really, really nicely. The suggested speed sign says
25kph on the speed humps on the street that the Tesla dealer is on. The
Model 3 can easily negotiate them in comfort at 40kph. The Levorg can
only manage around 20kph.
Steering. Pretty good. Communicative, nicely weighted.
I kinda liked the idea of driving without using the brake pedal. It took
a few kms to work it out, but learning came quickly.
I like the display of everything around the car at all times.
Mirrors tilt down towards the gutter when reversing (just like the 23
year old Stagea!).
Seats were comfortable, but not as supportive as the Levorg seats, but
they were pretty decent. Air con routes air through them (nice).
Fit and finish. Very, VERY good indeed. As good as anything from Japan.
The Tesla people. I like them. The whole experience was pretty good and,
unlike the Lexus test drive I had, the sales-lady didn't insist on
coming along for the ride (hence the 120kph run). I like that the
sales-lady drives a manual gearbox, Nissan 370Z.
What I didn't like:
The glass roof. Fuck me. We live in Australia, not Northern Europe. NO
ONE needs a glass roof in the country. After 20 mins of driving, the air
con had finally managed to cool the glass roof. Give me steel any day.
BTW: The air con was excellent. I like the hidden vents.
Storage. For what is a fair sized car, the storage was pretty hopeless.
The frunk can take two shopping bags and that's about it. Maybe 3 dozen
cans and some ice. The back is not brilliant either. You wonder why I
love station wagons so much. I dunno why people buy sedans. I can chuck
a lounge suite into the Stagea.
The screen. Yeah, I don't much care for it. I like buttons and switches.
There is SO much information on the screen, I had to stop and figure
stuff out. That said, I like some of the information displayed. It is
most impressive technology. Much has been written about the lack of an
indicator stalk. I managed to be comfortable with the buttons long
before the end of my 40 minute test drive.
No spare tyre, but I can buy one.
All in all, I doubt I will buy a Tesla, but I reckon it was damned good
value for money. $70k on the road.
--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
www.avast.com