Multi Tesla (and now Cybertruck) owner review - including off road modes

[CyberKurt]

I purchased VIN ~3000 2013 Model S 85 in 2015 used and drove for 60k miles, then purchased 2018 X 100D in 2018 new. Have driven most Tesla configs thru the years. VIN 41XX AWD Cybertruck delivered 3/29 at Libertyville, IL service center. I have over 2500 miles in 3 weeks included two trips to Indianapolis and Iowa City from northern Chicago suburbs.

Overall the vehicle has exceeded my expectations. Primarily it does well as a full cab pickup. Lots of space and comfort inside and can haul a ton, literally. It absolutely shines on highway road tripping. Stable, comfortable and a rocket sled. not as good as Cayenne or Q8 on highway, but awesome. Handles way better than it should around town. Suspension and ride height settling are really dialed in for differentiation. Towed my motorcycle, like it wasn’t there, will test trailer vs. in bed for sport bike and ADV bike soon.

overall length is 2 feet longer than X, wheelbase is 3 feet longer but is it is noticeably more maneuverable than the X due to rear steer and steer by wire. Almost wrecked not turning X wheel enough after one week. SBW is just better, great feel programmed in feedback. Low speed cameras are very helpful to retrain brain on the dimensions and handling, much more capable than expected. Faster than X. Definitely feel the 1k more weight and heigher center of gravity, but super capable.

I don’t have much off road road experience, mostly in 2 door wrangler on dirt, mud and forest 2 track trails. Overland mode was great at mud and rock course. Confidence inspiring but vehicle felt big. Baja mode was
Like magic. Absolutely crushed the bumps and let you go way faster than reasonable on the open sections. Also finally getting to dial in donut mode in a Tesla off road was super fun! Will be doing much more of that.

tinted front windows and windshield, also in process with ProctectaClear coating. Both done by great local detail shop. They never did this costing before, did apply ceramic to all plastic and tonneau cover. ProtectaClear definitely stops the finger prints. Application was not perfect. I have been further experimenting and think I have the process dailed in. Seems like it is the most cost reasonable solution for keeping the stainless look without going crazy with fingerprints etc. it did awesome off-road, no pins stripping damage to body or coating dragging through brush!

Donut video was too large to upload, I will down convert to add later.

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[AnthonyJ]

How does it feel, in terms of windshield visibility and ride height compared to the X? Does it feel like you are riding noticeably higher? Thanks

 

[CyberKurt]

Definitely feels higher than the X. X felt small after driving CT for a week. X was best car I ever drove for comfort and visibility as I have a tall torso. Not as much headroom in CT but still good. If the visors could fold out of way reasonably glass forward would be similar. I removed rear view mirror as it blocked my vision to right, on screen works much better with larger field of view.

 

[aaronsurfs]

I purchased VIN ~3000 2013 Model S 85 in 2015 used and drove for 60k miles, then purchased 2018 X 100D in 2018 new. Have driven most Tesla configs thru the years. VIN 41XX AWD Cybertruck delivered 3/29 at Libertyville, IL service center. I have over 2500 miles in 3 weeks included two trips to Indianapolis and Iowa City from northern Chicago suburbs.

Overall the vehicle has exceeded my expectations. Primarily it does well as a full cab pickup. Lots of space and comfort inside and can haul a ton, literally. It absolutely shines on highway road tripping. Stable, comfortable and a rocket sled. not as good as Cayenne or Q8 on highway, but awesome. Handles way better than it should around town. Suspension and ride height settling are really dialed in for differentiation. Towed my motorcycle, like it wasn’t there, will test trailer vs. in bed for sport bike and ADV bike soon.

overall length is 2 feet longer than X, wheelbase is 3 feet longer but is it is noticeably more maneuverable than the X due to rear steer and steer by wire. Almost wrecked not turning X wheel enough after one week. SBW is just better, great feel programmed in feedback. Low speed cameras are very helpful to retrain brain on the dimensions and handling, much more capable than expected. Faster than X. Definitely feel the 1k more weight and heigher center of gravity, but super capable.

I don’t have much off road road experience, mostly in 2 door wrangler on dirt, mud and forest 2 track trails. Overland mode was great at mud and rock course. Confidence inspiring but vehicle felt big. Baja mode was
Like magic. Absolutely crushed the bumps and let you go way faster than reasonable on the open sections. Also finally getting to dial in donut mode in a Tesla off road was super fun! Will be doing much more of that.

tinted front windows and windshield, also in process with ProctectaClear coating. Both done by great local detail shop. They never did this costing before, did apply ceramic to all plastic and tonneau cover. ProtectaClear definitely stops the finger prints. Application was not perfect. I have been further experimenting and think I have the process dailed in. Seems like it is the most cost reasonable solution for keeping the stainless look without going crazy with fingerprints etc. it did awesome off-road, no pins stripping damage to body or coating dragging through brush!

Donut video was too large to upload, I will down convert to add later.

What is the donut mode you speak of? Just putting 100 to the rear in Baja Mode?

 

[CyberKurt]

Correct, in Baja mode it allows wheel
Spin and showers of dirt/rocks. 100% rear is like driving my old mustang in the rain, it will spin the fronts as well.

 

[ChiTownCT]

Yet to see your CT around chicago.. Im down in Plainfield, waiting for beast VIN

 

[bongulous]

I’m in the Chicagoland area as well. Where did you get your tints done and how is it? Looking for detail shops around me but since you had yours done would love to know where at!

 

[Derektsla]

I purchased VIN ~3000 2013 Model S 85 in 2015 used and drove for 60k miles, then purchased 2018 X 100D in 2018 new. Have driven most Tesla configs thru the years. VIN 41XX AWD Cybertruck delivered 3/29 at Libertyville, IL service center. I have over 2500 miles in 3 weeks included two trips to Indianapolis and Iowa City from northern Chicago suburbs.

Overall the vehicle has exceeded my expectations. Primarily it does well as a full cab pickup. Lots of space and comfort inside and can haul a ton, literally. It absolutely shines on highway road tripping. Stable, comfortable and a rocket sled. not as good as Cayenne or Q8 on highway, but awesome. Handles way better than it should around town. Suspension and ride height settling are really dialed in for differentiation. Towed my motorcycle, like it wasn’t there, will test trailer vs. in bed for sport bike and ADV bike soon.

overall length is 2 feet longer than X, wheelbase is 3 feet longer but is it is noticeably more maneuverable than the X due to rear steer and steer by wire. Almost wrecked not turning X wheel enough after one week. SBW is just better, great feel programmed in feedback. Low speed cameras are very helpful to retrain brain on the dimensions and handling, much more capable than expected. Faster than X. Definitely feel the 1k more weight and heigher center of gravity, but super capable.

I don’t have much off road road experience, mostly in 2 door wrangler on dirt, mud and forest 2 track trails. Overland mode was great at mud and rock course. Confidence inspiring but vehicle felt big. Baja mode was
Like magic. Absolutely crushed the bumps and let you go way faster than reasonable on the open sections. Also finally getting to dial in donut mode in a Tesla off road was super fun! Will be doing much more of that.

tinted front windows and windshield, also in process with ProctectaClear coating. Both done by great local detail shop. They never did this costing before, did apply ceramic to all plastic and tonneau cover. ProtectaClear definitely stops the finger prints. Application was not perfect. I have been further experimenting and think I have the process dailed in. Seems like it is the most cost reasonable solution for keeping the stainless look without going crazy with fingerprints etc. it did awesome off-road, no pins stripping damage to body or coating dragging through brush!

Donut video was too large to upload, I will down convert to add later.

Good review. Everything you said compared to the X is spot on! You can feel the weight and more body roll, but it’s more maneuverable than the X for sure!

What was your final strategy for ProtectaClear? I had a local shop do the same thing and end result wasn’t great. The shop did excellent work and the coating seems to work well, but the application process and surface finish isn’t very good. I’m going to try another coat after it’s fully cured, but we couldn’t get a good smooth finish no matter how many times they did light coats or heavy coats, or stripped it and started over!

 

[Cyber Man]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. How’s the body roll compared to Cayenne? One of the most important reasons I drive Cayenne is the way it handles the corners. I would love to hear from CT owners on how the body roll stacks against Cayenne.

 

[Jager]

Great review!

Look forward to your comparison of bed vs trailer transport of big, heavy bikes like the GSA (one of the bikes I own).

 

[CyberKurt]

I’m in the Chicagoland area as well. Where did you get your tints done and how is it? Looking for detail shops around me but since you had yours done would love to know where at!

Chicago Auto Pros. I have had several Teslas and other cars tinted and the Red Vinyl put on the motorcycle in the picture above. Always great work. They did a full video shoot when they did my truck.

 

[CyberKurt]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. How’s the body roll compared to Cayenne? One of the most important reasons I drive Cayenne is the way it handles the corners. I would love to hear from CT owners on how the body roll stacks against Cayenne.

on the highway the Cayenne noticeably more nimble. When CT is in sport mode (lower suspension 8,5” clearance and focused handling) it does awesome hitting gaps in lane changes and corners ramps at speed. If in comfort (10” clearance and relaxed handling) highway lane changes still great (it auto lowers to 8.5 at speed), but corners and ramps at speed feel a bit uncomfortable.

Acceleration is available and better than nearly all others on road up to triple digits. Higher speed power much better than X.

Cayenne has less roll and handles better because of lower weight and feels sportier due to smaller size. CT feels plenty fun and has noticeable better acceleration than base Cayenne, especially without all the downshifting.

I took a rental Cayenne off-roading in Greece and it was capable of every situation I tried,, which was limited as I did not want to pay for damage. CT was a completely different league with tires and clearance.

 

[SentinelOne]

Great review! Thanks for sharing. How’s the body roll compared to Cayenne? One of the most important reasons I drive Cayenne is the way it handles the corners. I would love to hear from CT owners on how the body roll stacks against Cayenne.

wow, tough challenge, Porsche is tough to beat in handling...they use unicorn dust on their suspension!

 

[CyberKurt]

Good review. Everything you said compared to the X is spot on! You can feel the weight and more body roll, but it’s more maneuverable than the X for sure!

What was your final strategy for ProtectaClear? I had a local shop do the same thing and end result wasn’t great. The shop did excellent work and the coating seems to work well, but the application process and surface finish isn’t very good. I’m going to try another coat after it’s fully cured, but we couldn’t get a good smooth finish no matter how many times they did light coats or heavy coats, or stripped it and started over!

The shop used about 25% of a quart with two coats. Still have rainbow streaks and not smooth in many areas. I have added additional coats in several panels to try different methods. Rewatched video from Protectaclear and thought their website said 75% of quart for single coat. I think this is the issue is that the detail shops are used to thin coatings of ceramic coat vs industrial Karo syrup.

putting it on much thicker in direct sun had the best finish so far. I need to see how it finally sets up after full 4 days.

The stuff that was way to thick and ran on recoat has nearly set smooth after a day. I will be testing xylene “repair” vs full strip.

biggest issue so far is bugs. Drove car after hours of first coating when raining and no sun. Got bugs smashed on before fully cured. Cleaned off but scuffed (looked like cloudy wax) finish. Recoat melded with base like advertised and it looks near perfect so far.

overall bugs hitting drying coating in sun is an issue. May try in garage with heat .

 

[cyberHoward]

I purchased VIN ~3000 2013 Model S 85 in 2015 used and drove for 60k miles, then purchased 2018 X 100D in 2018 new. Have driven most Tesla configs thru the years. VIN 41XX AWD Cybertruck delivered 3/29 at Libertyville, IL service center. I have over 2500 miles in 3 weeks included two trips to Indianapolis and Iowa City from northern Chicago suburbs.

Overall the vehicle has exceeded my expectations. Primarily it does well as a full cab pickup. Lots of space and comfort inside and can haul a ton, literally. It absolutely shines on highway road tripping. Stable, comfortable and a rocket sled. not as good as Cayenne or Q8 on highway, but awesome. Handles way better than it should around town. Suspension and ride height settling are really dialed in for differentiation. Towed my motorcycle, like it wasn’t there, will test trailer vs. in bed for sport bike and ADV bike soon.

overall length is 2 feet longer than X, wheelbase is 3 feet longer but is it is noticeably more maneuverable than the X due to rear steer and steer by wire. Almost wrecked not turning X wheel enough after one week. SBW is just better, great feel programmed in feedback. Low speed cameras are very helpful to retrain brain on the dimensions and handling, much more capable than expected. Faster than X. Definitely feel the 1k more weight and heigher center of gravity, but super capable.

I don’t have much off road road experience, mostly in 2 door wrangler on dirt, mud and forest 2 track trails. Overland mode was great at mud and rock course. Confidence inspiring but vehicle felt big. Baja mode was
Like magic. Absolutely crushed the bumps and let you go way faster than reasonable on the open sections. Also finally getting to dial in donut mode in a Tesla off road was super fun! Will be doing much more of that.

tinted front windows and windshield, also in process with ProctectaClear coating. Both done by great local detail shop. They never did this costing before, did apply ceramic to all plastic and tonneau cover. ProtectaClear definitely stops the finger prints. Application was not perfect. I have been further experimenting and think I have the process dailed in. Seems like it is the most cost reasonable solution for keeping the stainless look without going crazy with fingerprints etc. it did awesome off-road, no pins stripping damage to body or coating dragging through brush!

Donut video was too large to upload, I will down convert to add later.

" I have been further experimenting and think I have the process dailed in. " - Can you share your process for Protectaclear that may make my first attempt better.

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