4 ms·

I love when people say this. Because it tells me that they have never actually driven a sports car before. When tesla owners say "sporty" they mean acceleratio

I love when people say this. Because it tells me that they have never actually driven a sports car before. When tesla owners say "sporty" they mean acceleration. Yes Teslas have mad acceleration. Not disputing that. But thats not a sporty drive. If anything thats more what you would get from a muscle car, which offers pure torque at the cost of basically everything else, which is what Tesla offers. Tesla isn't a sports car, it is a muscle car trapped in a sports car body. Drive a Porsche, or Mercedes (C or S classes, the A classes are a joke), or BMW. These give you a sports drive. Smooth suspension, finely tuned transmission shifts, snappy steering, etc. These traits make up sporty drives. While power plays a component in that, it's not pure torque. I realize that Tesla doesn't have a transmission before someone spits that out to me. But look at the electric Porsches and BMWs who mimick a transmission range to give you that, it isn't just a linear line like a Tesla. That's the difference between a mechanical drive and an emotional one. This is also why neither of these company's current offerings can beat out Tesla in 0-60 time. They could come close or beat it if they wanted to, but their clientele isn't looking for that, they want a traditional shift and acceleration so they offer that instead.

websap 3y ago
Not really! As a customer, I could care less about how shifts work. With automatic transmission, whether it's CVT, Electronic, etc. is all gravy. Just give me an experience that makes me smile. For me personally, Teslas are some of the most fun cars I've ever driven. I've driven Mercedes C class and BMW 3 series. Teslas have way better acceleration, and the responsiveness of the steering is awesome for me.
- hawski 3y ago
  Off topic: you mean "I couldn't care less". As David Mitchell once said: "If you could care less about something then all you're telling us is that you do care at least a little bit because you could care less.
tjohns 3y ago
> That's the difference between a mechanical drive and an emotional one. I'm sorry, what? Who's to say a linear acceleration can't be an "emotional drive"? This is pure personal preference. You're extrapolating based on your own opinions, and I guarantee isn't a universal sentiment. Personally, I'd want a electric car that behaves like an electric car, not trying to simulate a transmission that doesn't exist. This has the same vibe as "mount a speaker to play fake engine sounds on a near-silent EV, because that's what people who grew up with muscle cars expect to hear".
- qball 3y ago
  >This has the same vibe as "mount a speaker to play fake engine sounds on a near-silent EV, because that's what people who grew up with muscle cars expect to hear". To be fair, a significant chunk of normal cars have this too. >Who's to say a linear acceleration can't be an "emotional drive"? Sometimes, you want to turn corners too (electric cars have a disadvantage in this area because they're a lot heavier) but in a typical city you don't really have to do that very much so the straight-pull power gets you 90% of the sports car experience. Not that that's inherently a bad thing- Mustangs are the only car Ford still sells for a good reason (and the base Tesla wouldn't sell if it had economy-car horsepower)- but if you want a car like that capable of turning corners with that speed then you need to spend a little (or a lot) more.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    After 2024, Mustang will probably just be a crossover EV.
woooooo 3y ago
I was with you on the suspension and steering but artificially limiting acceleration to mimic a shift is just dumb. "Sporty" should mean high-performance.
xenadu02 3y ago
For the record I drove a 2001 E46 M3 for years. My follow-on was an Infinity G37-S. I am very familiar with what sporty handling means.
seanmcdirmid 3y ago
> When tesla owners say "sporty" they mean acceleration. When you live in a city, this is the only sporty thing you can experience. You aren't going to speed down the freeway at 90 MPH, if ever, you aren't going to practice drifting or anything fun like that. It is a "sporty" sedan experience that is limited to leaving other cars in the dust as you quickly speed up to the 30 MPH speed limit. Oh, and it is still a sedan, so I can do that while taking my kid to his Chinese class. Tesla made and will make an actual sports car (the Tesla Roadster and its successor), so it is not like that segment has been forgotten for EVs. BUT there just isn't a huge market for those, or maybe it is better served by the cheaper WRX or BRZ (a $30k small sport EV roadster? Ya, I could buy that).

websap 3y ago

Not really! As a customer, I could care less about how shifts work. With automatic transmission, whether it's CVT, Electronic, etc. is all gravy. Just give me an experience that makes me smile. For me personally, Teslas are some of the most fun cars I've ever driven. I've driven Mercedes C class and BMW 3 series. Teslas have way better acceleration, and the responsiveness of the steering is awesome for me.

hawski 3y ago
Off topic: you mean "I couldn't care less". As David Mitchell once said: "If you could care less about something then all you're telling us is that you do care at least a little bit because you could care less.

tjohns 3y ago

> That's the difference between a mechanical drive and an emotional one. I'm sorry, what? Who's to say a linear acceleration can't be an "emotional drive"? This is pure personal preference. You're extrapolating based on your own opinions, and I guarantee isn't a universal sentiment. Personally, I'd want a electric car that behaves like an electric car, not trying to simulate a transmission that doesn't exist. This has the same vibe as "mount a speaker to play fake engine sounds on a near-silent EV, because that's what people who grew up with muscle cars expect to hear".

qball 3y ago
>This has the same vibe as "mount a speaker to play fake engine sounds on a near-silent EV, because that's what people who grew up with muscle cars expect to hear". To be fair, a significant chunk of normal cars have this too. >Who's to say a linear acceleration can't be an "emotional drive"? Sometimes, you want to turn corners too (electric cars have a disadvantage in this area because they're a lot heavier) but in a typical city you don't really have to do that very much so the straight-pull power gets you 90% of the sports car experience. Not that that's inherently a bad thing- Mustangs are the only car Ford still sells for a good reason (and the base Tesla wouldn't sell if it had economy-car horsepower)- but if you want a car like that capable of turning corners with that speed then you need to spend a little (or a lot) more.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  After 2024, Mustang will probably just be a crossover EV.

woooooo 3y ago

I was with you on the suspension and steering but artificially limiting acceleration to mimic a shift is just dumb. "Sporty" should mean high-performance.

xenadu02 3y ago

For the record I drove a 2001 E46 M3 for years. My follow-on was an Infinity G37-S. I am very familiar with what sporty handling means.

seanmcdirmid 3y ago

> When tesla owners say "sporty" they mean acceleration. When you live in a city, this is the only sporty thing you can experience. You aren't going to speed down the freeway at 90 MPH, if ever, you aren't going to practice drifting or anything fun like that. It is a "sporty" sedan experience that is limited to leaving other cars in the dust as you quickly speed up to the 30 MPH speed limit. Oh, and it is still a sedan, so I can do that while taking my kid to his Chinese class. Tesla made and will make an actual sports car (the Tesla Roadster and its successor), so it is not like that segment has been forgotten for EVs. BUT there just isn't a huge market for those, or maybe it is better served by the cheaper WRX or BRZ (a $30k small sport EV roadster? Ya, I could buy that).