Yahoo Autos 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance Tested: Blast Off
From the November/December issue of Car and Driver.
Writing about any Tesla feels like wandering into Dr. Nightmare's Malfunctioning Loaded-Shotgun and Land-Mine Emporium. Say something nice? Buckshot in the face. Criticize the product? Kaboom. Thankfully, we stocked up on tourniquets before a bright-red Tesla Model 3 Performance landed at our Ann Arbor office. Not that we needed to—the g-forces from this pocket rocket are more than capable of cutting blood flow to the extremities.
Unholy acceleration has always been a mainstay of Tesla's sport-minded models, and the new Performance is no different. A pair of motors motivates all four wheels to the tune of 510 horsepower and 554 pound-feet of torque. Thanks in part to a relatively svelte 4046-pound curb weight, the Model 3 Performance blasts to 60 mph in a supercar-adjacent 2.8 seconds and continues through the quarter-mile in 11.0 seconds at 125 mph. By the time you remember what the speed limit is, you've doubled it.
Adding to the drama, the acceleration hits your gut like a sack of bricks. The go pedal is a little touchy in the car's perkiest (a.k.a. Insane) mode, but you can knock it down a couple of pegs by activating more passenger-friendly modes that provide a few extra steps between Not Moving and Ahhh! What's Happening?!
The Model 3 Performance's new adaptive dampers, however, don't chill out as much. Even in its softest mode, the suspension provides flat cornering without impact harshness, but it never settles down as much as its counterpart in the single-motor Long Range variant. Some editors believed that the steering and suspension, while capable, don't really inspire confidence in corners in the way that, say, a Porsche Taycan does, making the M3P feel like a sanitary or clinical version of a sporty EV.
Regardless, the M3P proved a decent handler. With Pirelli P Zero PZ4 summer tires underfoot, the Model 3 averaged a reasonable 0.92 g of stick on our skidpad. Pretty much everyone liked the M3P's strong brakes too. Stops from 70 mph require 163 feet; from 100 mph, it's 338 feet.
Did we mention that this thing slides in under $57,000 before incentives? Make no bones about it—that's a bargain.
Usually, the main trade-off of a performance EV is mediocre range, but Tesla's electrical hardware continues to bring the fight to similarly priced competitors such as the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. The Performance's EPA range of 303 miles is lower than the 363 miles in the thriftiest Model 3, and this car managed 260 miles in our 75-mph highway range test. What's harder to achieve is shutting off the part of your brain that keeps begging you to jam the accelerator to the floor at every opportunity. Thankfully, the ubiquity of Tesla's Supercharger infrastructure means you're likely never too far from the ol' juice bar.
The singular most grating part of the Model 3 Performance is its ergonomics. In a car this quick, a speedometer placed so far to the periphery that it's distracting to check is less than ideal. In fact, Tesla's offloading of virtually every vehicle function, even drive and park, to a single central screen earned near-universal ire. It's less futuristic and more frustrating than you might think. The lack of common infotainment integration—think satellite radio and Apple CarPlay—is another pain point. That said, a low beltline and a gigantic glass roof make for a very spacious-feeling, if stark, cabin and an impressive view forward.
Overall, the Tesla Model 3 Performance exceeds our expectations. It's far from perfect, and it's definitely not for everybody, but this kind of performance at this price point makes it a compelling consideration alongside some of our favorite electric cars to date.
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