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Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

electrek.co

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Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#31

Post by toomuchtodo »

darknavi wrote: post #28
pnw wrote: post #18

My S was wrecked in a crash (I was unhurt luckily) and instead of replacing it with a new S I bought a Y instead, solely because of the yoke with the touch controls instead of a round wheel with stalks. I can't be the only person who reacted like that, because Tesla wouldn't even let you test drive a car with the yoke last I checked.

How do you like the Y coming from the S? We had a 3 and added a Y and now we barely drive the 3. Strictly a commuter.

Not OP but I own an S and a Y. The S has a generous air suspension while the Y feels like driving a deuce and a half; very rough suspension (although I’ve heard new Ys since a few months ago are getting something more fancy now). Higher ride height is also nice. Pros and cons. Still love the S even though she’s a chonk and rides low. Interior in both is spartan. Towing with the Y is a treat for trailers within its rating.

If you have to pick, I’d recommend a Y almost always over the others. It’s the optimal intersection of price and value across all models.

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#32

Post by devnulll »

I have 20k miles driving a Model S with a Yoke. While I'm not a huge fan, the yoke itself is only part of the problem. The bigger problems are:

1. The capacitive buttons for turn signals. They are dangerous. They require taking eyes from the road, offer no feedback, and are honestly dangerous.

2. The horn. It's not in the middle. It's off to the side as a no-feedback capacitive button. Every time I've needed to use the horn, I've been unable to find the button. I think recent S/X Updates have moved it back, but it's so dumb.

It's a feature set designed to look cool on Twitter. Not really for driving.

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#33

Post by AlexandrB »

vkou wrote: post #26
ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #20

Absolutely horrible design was the yoke. Almost crashed into neighbours' car due to it. Had to dump the car itself since I hated the steering so much. Who came up with such a dumb idea. This is as dumb as the touchbar on the mac pros.

It was probably a cost-saving measure, just like the touchpad in lieu of a physical console.

Is a boxy yoke cheaper than a round wheel?

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#35

Post by actuator »

Hellion wrote: post #27
Lendal wrote: post #22

It wasn't the shape of the wheel that was the problem. It was the unasked-for capacitive-touch turn signal buttons located on the left side of the wheel, instead of a turn-signal lever. The round wheel keeps those useless buttons, so is not a solution to the problem. You still have to use your left thumb to pick between these two buttons. They don't push in, have no feedback and they are often unresponsive, especiall…

Mercedes put a bunch of these in the $100k plus EQS. Car companies: we are begging you, please stop with controls without pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback. Copy apple if you need to, just cut it out!

Apple is not the only or the first manufacturer that did this, they wouldn't be copying Apple if they do this.

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#37

Post by scottLobster »

georgewfraser wrote: post #12

I have an S with a yoke and prefer it to a round steering wheel. 95% of the time it’s better: you can see the entire dashboard and your body can feel the angle of the wheel instinctively. 5% of the time it’s worse, during low speed maneuvers.

Depends on where you drive. I live in SE PA. Roads here tend to be winding, even in the suburbs. Like "slow down to 20 mph so you don't slide off the road" winding. Never mind going into Philly with its weird intersections and tight turns.

Maybe 5% of your driving it's worse, it would be more like 70% of mine. I don't need to see the entire dashboard, I can get all the info I need just fine through the wheel, which adjusts. Also, cars with HUDs are a thing if you go for top level trims.

But when muscle memory matters, I want a wheel to grab. One double-take because the yoke isn't where my instincts expect could be one too many, it's like taking the shoulder-harness off your seat belt so that you look better while driving. Just serves no good purpose beyond vanity.

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#38

Post by illumin8 »

Lendal wrote: post #22

It wasn't the shape of the wheel that was the problem. It was the unasked-for capacitive-touch turn signal buttons located on the left side of the wheel, instead of a turn-signal lever. The round wheel keeps those useless buttons, so is not a solution to the problem. You still have to use your left thumb to pick between these two buttons. They don't push in, have no feedback and they are often unresponsive, especiall…

I have a Model S Plaid and they do have haptic feedback when you press them, but the problem is they require muscle memory to know the exact place to press to get left/right turn signal or horn.

I'm 6'1" and the horn is particularly problematic because it requires stretching your right thumb an uncomfortable amount to hit it. It reminds me of using a very large smartphone and trying to use your thumb to reach a tap point at the top of the screen. Terrible UX. There have been several times I've needed to honk at someone quickly and been unable to hit the right button.

The other issue with the yoke is that it still requires the same amount of turns as a normal wheel, so 3 point turns and U turns become more challenging. I've adapted, but you also have to use the touchscreen to select forward/reverse, so 3 point turns are like this: - Turn the wheel hard left (hand over hand but you have to grab only the sides) - Brake, then slide reverse on the touchscreen (taking your eyes off the road) - Turn the wheel hard right (hand over hand again) - Brake, then slide forward on the touchscreen (taking your eyes off the road again) - accelerate out of the turn while straightening the wheel

I"m a pretty capable driver but this is way harder than it should be and I can't imagine my wife or many "normal" drivers being able to manage all of this, while taking their eyes off the road, and not causing an accident.

Tesla makes great cars, but it's amazing that NHTSA hasn't recalled the yoke yet...

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#39

Post by modeless »

timdorr wrote: post #16
modeless wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually isn't it more annoying? FSD will be turning the wheel a lot more than regular autopilot, but you still have to keep hands on the wheel frequently or it will disengage. It will only be better when hands on wheel is no longer required.

You don't have to keep your hands on the yoke during hard turns with the FSD beta. Even with a wheel, it would be hard to signal the right amount of pressure without disengaging when their is a lot of movement going on.

Yeah but with the wheel you can grip it loosely and let it slide through your fingers whenever you want. With the yoke you'll be forced to constantly let go and grab it again to silence the nagging.

Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X

#40

Post by modeless »

themitigating wrote: post #15
modeless wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually isn't it more annoying? FSD will be turning the wheel a lot more than regular autopilot, but you still have to keep hands on the wheel frequently or it will disengage. It will only be better when hands on wheel is no longer required.

Some new FSD systems only require that you look forward. There is a camera that monitors your eyes

Not Tesla's. They have a camera but it still requires wheel movement very frequently. Though Elon did say they'll remove that, who knows.
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