TMC member voip-ninja recently took delivery of a dual motor Model 3 and put together a nice comparison of his new ride and his previous BMW 340xi.
He put a $1,000 deposit on the Tesla back in April 2016 after the “big reveal,” and it took nearly 1,000 days for Tesla to deliver the car.
“I finalized my order for the Tesla back in June,” he wrote. “Right up until the month of June I was not convinced I wanted to own this car. I had read about Tesla’s catching fire, shoddy quality of the vehicle assembly and I was worried about things like just one giant touchscreen for instrumentation.”
He decided to rent a RWD Model 3 to decide if it was the right car. “After the rental, which I was thrilled with, I committed my order,” he wrote.
Here are voip-ninja’s initial impressions:
- “Compared to my 340xi the handling on the Tesla is better. Noticeably better. It points and turns much faster and the forward seating position (there is no engine so the cabin is forward of where it is in traditional cars), low center of gravity and near 50/50 weight distribution make it a joy to drive spiritidly. The one downside to the handling is the suspension, which is firmer than on the BMW. It soaks up bumps well enough but there is some extra springiness in the suspension I find a bit objectionable. Some of this could be due to the very high (45 PSI!!) tire pressure that Tesla recommends for optimal range. My car came with 18” rims (the standard “aero” wheels), I’m not sure if I could take driving it with 19″s and definitely not 20″s. As these will be my winter wheels I probably have some time to figure it out.”
- I was initially concerned that the giant center display would be a turn off… but it’s not. I can always see the speed out of my peripheral vision, the screen is enormous and incredibly responsive. It does not have CarPlay but neither does my current BMW. Bluetooth works well with my iPhone X… it does contacts, music, and of course my phone acts as a key (works perfectly so far). Backup key is a plastic credit card that has an RFID chip. You hold it up to the B pillar to unlock the car and you tap it to the center console to enable drive. The phone as a key is more convenient.
- Power/speed wise there is no comparison between the 340xi and the Model 3 with dual motors. Both cars show similar 0-60 and 1/4 mile times (4.5 seconds and 12.7 seconds approximately). However, with the BMW you only achieve these times with sport+ mode enabled and in more or less perfect conditions. With the Tesla you squeeze the accelerator and the car simply takes off like a rocket… instantaneously. Turbo lag isn’t “almost” nonexistent. It is nonexistent. The feeling of thrust is similar to what you feel in a very large 400+ horsepower V8 car like a Corvette but the responsiveness just doesn’t have any comparison in the world of gas burning cars.
- “Interior wise the car is nice, but it’s not on the level of a BMW/Merc/Audi. It just doesn’t have that “bespoke” feel, but it is quite a lovely airy modern cabin. The lack of gauges and buttons and stuff feels weird at first but you quickly get used to it. Interior storage is fairly useful (much more so than S or X) but not on level with BMW. I still can’t find a good place to store my sunglasses in this thing.”
To read voip-ninja’s full comparison, check out the post here.