u/hi_im_bored13

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seIyuk5E8uc

" We do a full review of the new 2027 Tesla Model Y L three-row CUV. After speaking with the engineers and driving the latest updates and Full Self-Driving (FSD), we discuss the brand's strengths and weaknesses. Other options to consider include the Kia EV9, Rivian R2, Lucid, and more. "

Tesla reversed their stance on media & is now loaning cars & resources to more traditional reviews, 30 minutes of near universal glaze for the car, maybe its not your style, & no political commentary in the video, but the work they've done on the refresh is absolutely spectacular & I'm glad we have at least one western automaker w/ an agile philosophy still

The Y L for reference is a long-wheelbase Y originally designed & engineered for the chinese/international market(s), but after the discontinuation of the X its made its way stateside. Though its not a performance, it borrows the platform from one & technically sits above the standard premium in the Y range

> the CMF teams did a tremendous job with this generation of choosing materials. While it is monochromatic, it's completely grayscale unless you turn on the ambient lighting like I did with the orange, It's it's really black and white in here. But the pro is the material choice is tremendous. There's not one part of the middle console lower part where you're like, "Oh, that's where they cut the budget. That's where they they cheaped out on everything." Everything feels tremendous. The lower door pocket is carpeted so when you put things in, they don't rattle. You can fit big bottles in there. The the door panel itself has soft touch materials all over it. Looks and feels really well done and integrated

> Now they blend basically the best software in the space with very compelling driving dynamics at a price point in the mid low60s for this launch edition that's very very compelling

> But as a car, as you said, everything is working so well together that it's incredible what they've been able to do here for, let's just say, once they get more trim levels down to the $50,000 price point, it it's nuts and it's it's frightening to me. It's scary that they've been able to tie all this together and all the commodity brands are still after decades and decades of iteration, they're still struggling with a lot of the things that this car does

> Not only is it great on the software side for self-driving, it's really, really good car to drive dynamically. The ride quality, the comfort, the isolation, the steering, all the inputs are great. I mean, this is probably one of the best car experiences I've had this year by a long stretch in terms of like a box, a commodity box

Its not perfect, the door handles are still stupid, they raised concerns regarding their approach to servicing/repair & w/ EVs in general (albeit, I'd argue you'd be less likely to end up in that position to), but I have a fair number of friends where across auto/robotics/ml Tesla came up to them, gave them not a blank check but not far off, gave them flexibility & freedom in their work, & I am glad that its paid off for both sides

Even if you absolutely despise Tesla, which is more than fair given some of their history, I they set a good precedent for how the industry can operate in many regards, & you see this w/ the Chinese as well but they're restricted from being as strong of a force in American or European markets

Haven't seen very many folks talk about them, these are a modern recreation of the Carlsson OD-11 from the 70s. it has an impressive response for its size, full range flat from 28-20k, & absolutely fantastic (or at least fun) software as is expected from the brand

The two speakers, like the original, are meant to be placed near a wall & tilted towards the listener. They claim its "orthodirectional", not quite sure I'd agree, it sounds fantastic head on & after the sound has time to bounce around, but getting closer to it off-center its not fantastic

I'm not sure I'd pay the full current $999 retail price but its a neat project for sure. I have a bookshelf next to it w/ one of the old sonos/ikea bookshelf speakers & room correction done, & it helps to fill in the gaps of my room's tuning. Ideally, you would stereo pair two but I don't quite have the space for that

They were launched in 2014, but in that time they've added Airplay 2 support as well, & it comes with both optical & standard line in & you can turn off all wireless functionality if you'd like

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nODjwyaREM4

"We discuss the business and technology needs for self-driving software in modern cars

We drive the Model YL with the latest self-driving system to discuss the pros and cons of technology replacing human skills and what it means for the future"

Some fun questions raised on where the balance between technology & accountability lies w/ these modern ADAS systems, what the manufacturer's role in enabling that safety should be as well, how w/ America's car-centric nature this also adds some newfound freedom & accessibility for certain folks

Personally specifically on FSD, anecdotally, I borrowed a Tesla a fair while back (actually, my old car which I'd sold to him), at that time I used to use FSD (which was transferred over from a previous car for cheap, reason for the private sale, V13 iirc?) as glorified tacc system that could take exits & handle some locals in between, it didn't have the agency or agility to handle urban traffic

But, this time it surprisingly hit that inflection point for me where I felt it was significantly easier to babysit it, within NYC even, than to drive myself & I quite enjoy driving and pride myself on my driving. It was autonomously moving back for semis taking the corner, officer was managing traffic w hand signals and it well noticed that, it waited for the red then cut across 3 lanes on the turn, wasn't perfect but its just so head & shoulders above any other consumer offering as it stands, unless literally all your time is spent on the highway

&, they didn't touch on the car itself very much but the Model Y L seems like a fairly unique well rounded vehicle. its selling only in the stupid launch edition for the time being but at standard pricing it would near end where the EV9/Ioniq9 start

& yeah its a bit shorter, the slopped roofline hurts the 3rd row, not much space behind that 3rd row, but I think its very cool to see an LWB special originally designed for the Chinese market making its way stateside

video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKyJtVGOZwk&pp=ygUMdHlyZSByZXZpZXdz

Not particularly surprising results, the cc3 was the worst in the dry & the 2R best, similar for rain, similar for driving feel, vice versa for snow (probably, they only took the primacy), I just think more people should be aware of tyre options + the CC3 sport is a very cool offering

Unfortunately, we don't get it in the states. Michelin's statement on that is they couldn't meat the wear characteristics/timelines people expect in the states while making a better tyre than the outgoing american CC2

Though, people in europe have reported that within ~15k mi it wears down to past what is recommended nationally for snow tyres in a few regions so they might have been onto something

Bit annoying he couldn't test the PSS5, the PS4S replacement (awful naming), but last I looked at them the sizing started at something stupid like 20" in the states anyways

there has been quite a bit of gain in cheater-ish track compounds over the yrs but doesn't feel like theres been much improvement in the standard consumer space tbh, ps4s released in 2016 & the original CC in 2015

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-KEQwRXHJA

Personally a huge fan of Zygrene, don't think he gets enough love in this sub. Customer cars from real owners on real roads often w/ tasteful modifications. Plenty of track experience himself & standup guy irl

Difficult to justify any $3m car, manual doesn't feel as good as the s2000 he said so I will go cope in the corner, but it makes an incredible sounding case for itself, at minimum worth watching the video for the exhaust alone

Interesting he says the 720S etc. are in the same league as an experience. Would be incredible to see Porsche one day take such a raw, analogue powertrain & put it into an even more state of the art chassis

video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO-M2ZREIi4

In what is the most anticipated video of the year & more two absolutely Savage Geese get to drive Honda HART's special high-performance odyssey that their engineers race wheel-to-wheel, then set a lap time. They discuss the mods, how it drives, and the future of high-performance family haulers with the Honda Team.

For what it is, not bad at all

> Would you consider buying one? Other vans to consider are the Toyota Sienna and Kia Carnival.