Full size truck to AWD Cybertruck review —non-truck guy

[CTInProcess]

Amazing review! I’m so glad that after testing all other EV Trucks available you still had the Cybertruck on top! Be sure to post once it is delivered!

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[Stuck4ger]

Expert-level review. Brilliant.

Interesting, because I was worried about making it too long and boring and didn’t mention so much. I put quite a bit of time into working with the squircle, trying to find fault with it but like so many have mentioned, it just seemed awesome regardless of the one and two-handed variations I used. It sounds incredibly lazy and stupid but the single thumb turn signaling takes so much less effort than hitting a stalk and the fact that the wheel doesn’t rotate a complete 180 degrees means there is less conscious thought (as compared to a new stalkless Tesla sedan) about which button to press if the wheel is upside down.

 

[Cyber Bear]

Beautiful review. Thank you for sharing, I greatly enjoyed reading it.

Wise choice. I’ve had my CT since Feb 5th. Except for the famous accelerator issue which took a few minutes to take care of, I’ve had no issues! Rides beautifully and always look forward to getting behind the wheel. Enjoy.

 

[mdcoleman]

Interesting, because I was worried about making it too long and boring and didn’t mention so much. I put quite a bit of time into working with the squircle, trying to find fault with it but like so many have mentioned, it just seemed awesome regardless of the one and two-handed variations I used. It sounds incredibly lazy and stupid but the single thumb turn signaling takes so much less effort than hitting a stalk and the fact that the wheel doesn’t rotate a complete 180 degrees means there is less conscious thought (as compared to a new stalkless Tesla sedan) about which button to press if the wheel is upside down.

Not at all-spot on, and covered all the high level bases perfectly.
As many already know and have stated elsewhere on the board, SBW is by and far the top feature. Squircle, yolk-whatever you want to call it-is expertly engineered and brings satisfaction beyond words to myself and many others. I have very few negative remarks when it comes to the obligatory Q&A in every parking lot, but one of them actually related to the yolk. FSD will solve this one, but I can’t knee-keep anymore with the lower 1/3 of the wheel being non-existent! Minimal sacrifice, if any, and TACC takes away 90% of the driving effort on freeways, so I know I’ll live.

I whiffed about 14 times on day looking for the blinker stalk on the left side, but after a few hours, the buttons are clearly more natural.

Seattle guy here as well, and it sounds like you were mainly testing in a non-highway setting. I’m anxiously awaiting your review of TACC when you use it on the longest, most beautiful parking lot we call I-5 in the stop-and-go from Everett to Olympia. Wife and I drive around from the south end to Port Townsend area often to see her folks, and there is absolutely no headache at all upon arrival, even after sitting in the friday afternoon southbound gridlock over the bridge and up through Gig Harbor.

 

[mhaze]

I have a 2007 FJ Cruiser which has suited my needs well for 270,000 road and mountain miles. But I’m not a truck guy, yet I reserved a CyberTruck with the intention of making it my one and only vehicle,...

How does the turning radius compare, FJ to Cybertruck?

 

[Stuck4ger]

Not at all-spot on, and covered all the high level bases perfectly.
As many already know and have stated elsewhere on the board, SBW is by and far the top feature. Squircle, yolk-whatever you want to call it-is expertly engineered and brings satisfaction beyond words to myself and many others. I have very few negative remarks when it comes to the obligatory Q&A in every parking lot, but one of them actually related to the yolk. FSD will solve this one, but I can’t knee-keep anymore with the lower 1/3 of the wheel being non-existent! Minimal sacrifice, if any, and TACC takes away 90% of the driving effort on freeways, so I know I’ll live.

I whiffed about 14 times on day looking for the blinker stalk on the left side, but after a few hours, the buttons are clearly more natural.

Seattle guy here as well, and it sounds like you were mainly testing in a non-highway setting. I’m anxiously awaiting your review of TACC when you use it on the longest, most beautiful parking lot we call I-5 in the stop-and-go from Everett to Olympia. Wife and I drive around from the south end to Port Townsend area often to see her folks, and there is absolutely no headache at all upon arrival, even after sitting in the friday afternoon southbound gridlock over the bridge and up through Gig Harbor.

My gf has a 2024 MX with FSD so I’m very familiar with its capabilities as well as with the frustrating limitations of TACC. I am really hoping that Elon’s “late June” timeline for CT FSD will at least come to fruition prior to my CT’s forecasted Oct-Dec delivery date.

 

[Stuck4ger]

How does the turning radius compare, FJ to Cybertruck?

I’m guessing the raw “tight turn around on a road” numbers are similar but there’s more to it than that. I didn’t take the time to really investigate it because I’d rather learn to parallel park the CT without 3 observers to critique me but the rear wheel steering changes it significantly — enough that the standard distances and rules of thumb for reversing the steering wheel do not apply. I don’t expect the CT to be way easier to manually parallel park than the FJ but I do expect it to be easy to watch it autonomously park itself beautifully and expeditiously!

 

[mhaze]

...... I can’t knee-keep anymore with the lower 1/3 of the wheel being non-existent.....

Sounds like another product for the add on market! "Missing lower section of Squirckle, Knee Compatible"

 

[HaulingAss]

I’m guessing the raw “tight turn around on a road” numbers are similar but there’s more to it than that. I didn’t take the time to really investigate it because I’d rather learn to parallel park the CT without 3 observers to critique me but the rear wheel steering changes it significantly — enough that the standard distances and rules of thumb for reversing the steering wheel do not apply. I don’t expect the CT to be way easier to manually parallel park than the FJ but I do expect it to be easy to watch it autonomously park itself beautifully and expeditiously!

When I had the Cybertruck for only a few days and hadn't parallel parked it hardly at all, I went to the La Conner WA Brewpub and parked in a notoriously difficult parallel parking spot. The road has a kink in it right where the parallel parking spot is, and it's right in front of the windows of the restaurant. I like sitting inside and watching all the people who have never encountered a Cybertruck check it out as my wife and I eat dinner. It's free entertainment! I've also watched a number of people struggle to parallel park there.

Anyway, I've had surprising difficult parking here in my Tesla Model 3, Mazda CX-5 and Volvo S80 in past years. In the new-to-me Cybertruck, I backed right up to the curb with both wheels, in one go, using the backup camera. The first thing the host said to me when I walked in was that I did a commendable job backing that big Cybertruck into that spot. Apparently, it's good entertainment for the staff to watch people make multiple attempts to get in and up to the curb (which is mandatory because the two-way street is super narrow). Some people just drive away after a few attempts.

I'll admit there is a learning curve to parallel parking the Cybertruck, but it really liked snaking right up to the inside curve of that curb. It has to do with the way the back wheels steer away from the curb as you bring the front wheels into the curb. On a straight curb, you want to back deeper towards the curb before you crank the front end in (than you would with a front-steer only vehicle). My inexperience backing the Cybertruck worked wonderfully in my favor in this situation.

 

[SteelMyHeart]

The steer by wire makes the blinker buttons much more useful. One of the criticisms of the new model 3 is using a roundabout and using the blinkers to indicate when you are exiting the roundabout is challenging when the wheel is upside down. Cybertruck has no such problem due to SBW. The other Tesla models would benefit from SBW. However, I do concede that 48v architecture in every model and the SBW tech may not be cost effective for 3 and Y yet. For X and S would be great. Hopefully someday soon.

 

[HaulingAss]

The steer by wire makes the blinker buttons much more useful. One of the criticisms of the new model 3 is using a roundabout and using the blinkers to indicate when you are exiting the roundabout is challenging when the wheel is upside down. Cybertruck has no such problem due to SBW. The other Tesla models would benefit from SBW. However, I do concede that 48v architecture in every model and the SBW tech may not be cost effective for 3 and Y yet. For X and S would be great. Hopefully someday soon.

All of the roundabouts in my area are too small, too tight, and the traffic moves through too quickly to make blinker use in roundabouts useful. Going into the roundabout, everyone already knows you are turning right, there is no other option. Exiting the roundabout, you can't turn on your blinker until you have passed the last exit before the one you intend to take. By that time, it's too late to be beneficial to anyone. The drivers waiting to enter the roundabout cannot rely on your turn signal because so many people misuse them anyway. If they do rely on your turn signal, all it does if give them a one-second jump on entering the roundabout.

When the roundabouts were deploying in my area a decade or more ago, the local paper interviewed a local traffic engineer about proper turn signal usage in roundabouts. He gave the stock answers, explaining how to turn on your right turn signal when entering, how you had to be sure to turn it off as you entered the roundabout if you weren't taking the first exit, and then to deploy the right signal again when you had passed the last exit before your intended exit.

The results were hilarious! A few accidents ensued. Only half of the people used their turn signals anyway. As a driver, it felt rather frantic trying to follow the "legal" rules. After about a week, common sense said roundabouts have a negative benefit from turn signal usage and I quit using them. Within a couple of months, it was really rare to see anyone use their turn signals in the roundabouts. Now, I can go through 20 or 30 times without seeing a single turn signal activated.

Maybe there are some roundabouts where turn signal usage is a good idea. I've never found one. Best advice is to watch the lines people are driving and don't go until you're sure you won't be impeding anyone. I've never heard of a ticket resulting from not using turn signals in a roundabout. I didn't use them in our Model 3s with turn stalks and I don't use them with the thumb clickers in my Cybertruck either. Never had a problem.

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