Yes, the 100s are pretty quick—but still a full second slower to 60 than my car.

Relevant:

https://www.topgear.com/videos/video...el-3-vs-bmw-m3

No huge surprises here, but an interesting comparison. On a longer track, with more laps, it would have quickly gone the other way.

Wait, doesn't the P100D do 0-60 in like 2 seconds? Do you mean without ludicrous mode?

I like him as a commentator, but they put a mediocre driver doing one lap in each car because that somehow makes the result more meaningful to non pro racers? :toetap::ack:

I don't know why people care about Tesla performance on the track. For a track day I'd take the BMW.

What's cool about Teslas is that the car's strengths be enjoyed in daily driving. With the Cayman I always felt like it's strengths were being wasted on my daily commute.

A regular 100D is 4.1 seconds IIRC. P100D is 3 something and with Ludicrous its in the mid-2s.

Yep- was fun to watch but the premise was a bit silly.

Yeah, I was thinking of the regular 100D. Might have been exaggerating a bit, but the Performance Model 3 pretty routinely clocks in the low 3s.

I rode in a Model 3 performance a couple weeks ago at an autocross. It was really badly driven, but the underlying abilities of the car were kind of amazing. It had very poor body control (needs shocks badly) but it did not feel like a 4,200lb sled. It transitioned pretty well and seemed relatively well-behaved, and in Track mode the owner could slide it around a lot. The grip was impressive, and even with the awful shocks it comes with, it transitioned pretty well. I don't care about the autocross competitiveness of the car, but the ride-along provided good insight into the playful nature of the car. It's worlds beyond the Model S, which always felt ponderous and reluctant, like an electric Buick.

I really didn't like the interior at all, it felt and looked really cheap to me and had some stuff that was slapdashed together 1990's GM-style, but the view out was outstanding. I still think they're heinously ugly on the outside, but I drive a Mazdaspeed3 every day so clearly I don't care that much about how my car looks.

I left that event pondering whether I could be happy doing the daily slog in one of those. It would let me sell the Mazdaspeed and the Boxster (maybe $35,000 in total proceeds from those cars) but I'd still end up with either putting down a big pile of cash to complete the purchase or carrying a loan. Neither of which I want to do. It did not feel like a $55,000 car. Marisa's CX-5 is much better built and has better materials inside. But I'm still thinking about the 3.

For sure. I think it starts to make more sense at the lower end (sr+ for high 30s). Mazda is killing it with their interiors recently.

It's impressive what the Model 3 can do - no doubt about it... I think a rwd one would be a fairer fight. Then again, I'm not sure you can get the full juice with a rwd. It was a little concerning that it was more ragged around the edge of traction even as an AWD car, but that's a minor chink on a solid win. It's also illuminating to hear how new levels of connection are found with the tires when you are not too busy being deafened by an engine. I've read the same in electric performance motorcycle reviews, not just noise, but the reduction of vibration allowing for more traction information reaching your fingertips and brain.

I'd try to remind myself when driving it on wet or snowy conditions. It's easy for fantastic tires to hold 4200lbs in line in good conditions. When traction is low though, the CoG could be deceiving. I'm not saying it would handle worse than another 4000lb car (say my 5-series) but you have learned to expect it to handle on par with something much lighter, so it could be a matter of surprising on the downside, especially as you're used to something that runs with m3's and caymans. In a traction limited scenario, weight would come forward again and the CoG benefit will not be as full as it is in better conditions. Just a minor note I'd have to tape on my steering wheel. Traction from a dig, or any on-throttle scenario should not be a problem with decent AWD programming.

Thankfully it didn't snow much around here this past winter, but it just digs and goes in the snow. One of the benefits of having two motors, I guess, though I suppose there are scenarios where the open e-diffs could be overpowered even there.

As the video explains a little, the raggedness on edge is a bug rather than a feature; it's Tesla programming in oversteer in certain conditions, like the Focus RS drift mode but more sophisticated and faster.

JV and Matt are right--the thing about the Model 3 is that its performance is so accessible, it makes it a near perfect daily driver. All of those times where you're idling around in your high HP M3, feeling the driveline bind, barely able to wake the turbos and or cams up...the Model 3 is just relaxing and languid there. And then when the time comes to light it up, it just...goes. No effort, no drama. Just, POW, you're gone.

There is no faster car in an urban setting.

The interior is spartan, but you get used to it in the same way you get used to any other minimalist decor. Is it "luxurious?" Yes and no, I guess. An Eames couch isn't particularly "luxurious" for its price point, but it has a clean elegance. The Model 3 is the same way. Most regular cars feel busy and extra in comparison.