Getting back on topic of the actual car for a moment
Small update on the current goings on. There's basically two things.
Thing one: been to a driver's safety course organized by a coworker for his Tesla Youtube channel viewers and colleagues. Was quite fun, and an interesting comparison to my previous cars. The guy is going to make a video about the course, which I'll post here in due course.
From all my previous cars, the A5 comes closest in terms of how the felt overall - no surprise here, since it's most similar: rather heavy, AWD, large wheels with low profile sporty tires, electric power steering. Tesla's stability control is less aggressive than most other cars (noted by myself, a bunch of others and the attending instructor), but does the job when it counts. Traction control is very good, as expected from electric motors on both axles. Interesting effects could be seen when attempting consistent repetitions of various exercises using cruise control - the damn thing picked up road markings and water jets as obstacles and reduced speed when going into a corner on the skid pad, and tried to steer itself ("lane departure correction")
Overall learned a couple things, and feel decently prepared for how it'll handle on snow and ice in the winter.
Thing two: winter tires! This has been a damn long story, mainly because of German TÜV and their insistence on Ordnung. Can be summarized something like this:
- Tesla only offers 20" wheels for the Performance at a stupid price for an extra set, so I didn't get any winter wheels with the car.
- Third party 19" and even 18" rims that fit over the Performance brakes exist and people use them all over the place, so I intended to do the same.
- German TÜV says "NEIN!" because the only factory option is 20", and no other sizes are listed in the COC document.
- Some manufacturers promise 19" and 18" with an ABE (permit) for the Performance, meaning TÜV would allow to mount them. Info comes direct from the manufacturer that such a permit is "in the works and almost finished", so I ordered a set of nice 19" wheels with Nokian WR A4 tires at a decent(-ish) price point.
- Wheels are almost shipped when it turns out the TÜV still says "NEIN!" and the ABE is issued in a way that prevents the rims from being used on the Performance variant - which was the whole fucking point.
- Einzeleintragung (extra examination and addendum to my specific car's papers by a local TÜV service center) remains an option, but costs money and can be made invalid later on. Plus, the leasing company doesn't exactly love the idea of "custom parts" (non-ABE wheels...) being mounted on their vehicle and the papers modified.
- I gave up, canceled the 19" and bought a set of Conti TS 860S tires in 235/35 R20 to be mounted on the original wheels the car came with. They are way expensive, and swapping the tires on the same rims twice a year will also add up in cost over the car's lifetime - but this seems to be the only sane option right now.
Result: I finally have winter tires, about a week after local temperatures dropped below the "7°C daily average" break point. Already started noticing that the PS4S ride much harder in the cold, and grip is noticeably worse than in the summer. Only had the Contis for a day so far, but they already seem to ride smoother and a little quieter - good signs. I also had good experience with older TS860 Contis on my C-class, so I hope these will do a decent job for the Tesla.
By the way, none of this hubbub would've been necessary, had I not gotten the Performance... Model 3 Long Range can use 19" and 18", and tons of reasonably priced aftermarket wheels with proper ABEs are available for it. But then I wouldn't have had the Performance, so there's that. Eh.