Does The Tesla Model S P85D's Latest Accomplishment Mean ANYTHING?

Does it mean anything? Sure does! It reminds me of a story where the VP of Sales just finished giving the Board the bad news of a terrible quarter, and he finishes by adding, "We would have continued to make stellar profits if someone had not discovered that faulty calculator in Accounting."

The Consumer Report result of a 103% score sounds an awful lot like those professional athletes that give "150% of themselves" in every game. I just can't take a person's "numbers" seriously when they don't know math.

The most respected consumer advocacy magazine in the nation just called the Model S the best car they've ever tested. It's so good it broke their scale. Of course it means nothing.

Sorry - but CR is not the most respected CAR reviewer - remembering that last year - The Chevrolet Impala beat EVERY BMW and MERCEDES in their testing. The problem is - we generally never get any real idea what they test for - what they look for - and what they expect to get. All reviewers bring their own personal biases to the party - and also what they want from a car. CR especially tests its cars as appliances - that get from here to there. In addition - the Tesla still is not a mass-market car from a manufacturer that we can expect to be here in 10 years.

something tells me that if CR gave such a stellar review to a gasoline powered favorite like a BMW M4 this author of the above article would have had a serious stiffy. But Tesla wins another round. When it comes to electric vehicles, haters are gonna hate I guess.

PLEASE proceed to the nearest price-fixing, cashraping Tesla dealer and buy one.

The favorable review by CR means nothing. While its great that Tesla continues to make ongoing updates to its Model S, I'm not sure how those updates has translated into vehicle sales.

For example, the "D" designation, while it is technically "cool" to say that the S is now AWD, it is kind of silly because the S is not really a snow vehicle, since most of them go out the door with 20" or 21" rims, sport tires, and thing has very low ground clearance. This is completely different than Mercedes selling a 4-Matic or BMW selling an X-Drive to consumers in the northeast, as those vehicles can be taken on a ski vacation, while the Model S, arguably, cannot. I would love Tesla to share their statistic about how many people (outside of California) use the Model S as their only car. For the people I know who have Tesla's, it is their 3rd or 4th car - and they drive it because its fun and cool. Its like the Miata was - a novelty vehicle.

I eagerly await the Model X launch. From what I can garner from the spy and show photos, the X seems to be merely a "high-body" Model S with awkward proportions. I am dying to know who the people are that purchase it. The S is a good-looking car, which is part of its appeal; the X I'm not so sure.

Time will tell.

Winter tires and air suspension that lifts up the car to offer ground clearance.

Model S is now my only car and I live in the Mid-Atlantic.

By 'Mid-Atlantic' - you must mean Virginia or Maryland. If you lived in a state where it snowed and was sub-freezing regularly (New York State, NJ, Northern Penna) you would have just said so.

The Tesla is a novelty product in cold-weather states.

And yes, BobM, CR is a very biased publication. I hear that 50% of a test's scoring is based on a single question - "Does this vehicle use fossil fuels?" That would explain the 103

We get plenty of snow and ice. Also the Model S is rather popular in Norway of all places, and yes, they get a bit of snow there too.

The D (AWD) definitely helps with the stability of the car relative to the RWD version in any situation with reduced traction. Unlike ICE AWD vehicles it actually improves both the power output and the efficiency and engages instantly. I would not have gotten the RWD version, luckily the D came out.

By the way the Model X has the same dual drive train as the Model S D