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First Drive: 2008 Tesla Roadster

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by Tideland Prius, Jan 24, 2008.

  1. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    So how fast is the Tesla Roadster really? In a few seconds, we're gonna find out because framed by its porthole-size windshield is a deliciously straight stretch of Skyline Boulevard, a knockout snake of a road we've never heard of before in the coastal hills above San Carlos, California. San Carlos, in case you're not Google-Earthing at the moment, is the inviting, northwestern Silicon Valley 'burb where Tesla decided to settle its unpretentious research and development quarters about four years ago. Through the trees, we occasionally glimpse Stanford's 285-foot-tall Hoover Tower some seven and a half miles away.

    Okay, then, I've got the brake pedal stapled to the floor. The mirrors are scoped for innocent traffic. Coast is clear. Dip into the accelerator and...remember that Mark Twain quip about the coldest winter he ever knew being a summer in San Francisco? Ditto that for this San Carlos place. Except it's now December, the Roadster's top is AWOL, and an Arctic front is leaning in from the gray Pacific. But back to business.

    2008 Tesla Roadster - First Drive - Motor Trend

    Video: First Drive: 2008 Tesla Roadster Video
     
    #1 Tideland Prius, Jan 24, 2008
  2. GeekEV

    GeekEV Member

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    *jealous* I want one so bad... Anybody got a spare $100k to give me?
     
    #2 GeekEV, Jan 24, 2008
  3. dipper

    dipper Senior Member

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    The latest update I got was production is supposed to start this spring. The 2-speed tranny is not going to make it. They are going to put in a 1-speed tranny and sell to the first batch with promise to retro-fit when the final spec tranny is ready (still a 1-speed, but can do 4 sec 0-60 as promised). Until then, the 1-speed tranny is going to do 0-60 in less than 6 secs. No info of top speed.

    Interesting to see what the final specs are going to look like compare to what Tesla promised originally.
     
    #3 dipper, Jan 24, 2008
  4. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    That's great news that they've gone to a single-speed. I opposed the two-speed tranny from the first time I read about it: Just one more thing to go wrong, and had they gone with a one-speed from the start the first buyers would be driving Teslas today. But they wanted to have faster acceleration and a higher top speed than they could get with a single gear ratio.

    I rode in one (as a passenger) when I visited them last year. It was locked into second gear due to work being done on the car, and it still had powerful acceleration. I wonder whether this single-speed release will be the old second gear, or a ratio in between.

    I met someone who claimed to have inside info, who told me that they were going to drop the price a bit, and then told me there would be "surprising news," but she refused to say any more.

    I want one. I'd buy one today. But if you get on the waiting list now, you have at least a year and a half wait, since the 2008 production run is all sold out. And we really don't know when they'll actually get to production. My Xebra is fun, but a Tesla would be more fun. After all, it has 33% more wheels.
     
    #4 daniel, Jan 24, 2008
  5. h2photo

    h2photo Member

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    I was just thinking the same thing....:D
     
    #5 h2photo, Jan 25, 2008
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